[1]
His instructions to Fauna Blake had been short and direct: 1pm, in the practice rooms. Try not to eat too many chips at lunch--you will want your stomach settled.

Adon himself had not bothered to eat lunch yet, which made him a bit more impatient than usual.  He sighed as he leaned against one of the practice room walls when he heard the far door open.  Crossing the room, Adon smiled widely, holding a hand out to Fauna to shake.  "I'm glad you made it," he said in his clipped, Israeli accent.

It was unfortunate, really, that trainee interviews and tests were occurring on his final day in London.  While preparing for the lengthy, mandatory trip to Israel, Adon could not help feel that parts of him--his brain, for one--were already across the Mediterranean Sea in anticipation of training other new recruits. Almost the same thing, really. Only Muggle. And heavily armed with rifles, rather than wands.

It was this connection that solidified his approach.  Though Adon wouldn't play the drill sergeant with Fauna Blake. She seemed an upstanding sort of girl, not the sort to talk through a lesson, giggle with friends, or act out against authority simply because she was 18 and was stellar at exuding a grating sort of teenage arrogance.  No--She was respectful.  Sharp.  And besides, she shared her chips with him. 

Of the recruits he had met--and Adon was not adverse to partiality--Fauna Blake was easily the favorite. Which was why he would do his best to simulate real battle experience.  It would not be to her advantage to go easy on her.  But he'd do this without trying to lose the sort of buoyant, squirrely sort of exuberance that most trainees had.  It would do well to have a few less jaded souls on Level Two.  Optimistic, but prepared.

"I'll start by asking a few questions--a self-assessment.  Then we will practice some sparring--like what you likely have encountered in dueling club and your Defense coursework.  After this, I will test your ability outside your comfort areas.  The spells I will be using will be to bind or stun. They will not injure or maim.  This being said, do not feel the need to necessarily take the same precautions." He gave a smirk. "I want you to do your best and exercise your best judgment."

He paused before frowning slightly.  "But before we begin, do you have any questions for me? There will not be much opportunity, once we begin."

1.	Thread title from this song.

Fauna's stomach flopped as she opened the door of the practice room and walked in to find Auror Eleor waiting. An abundance of chips wasn't the problem, since she hadn't been able to eat much during lunch, and just knew her palms were clammy when the Auror shook her hand. He smiled as he greeted her. It was easy to see why Witch Weekly made such a fuss over him. He had an amusing and confident manner and seemed to know it, yet not in that 'I walk on water, why don't you like getting kidnapped' way that Auror Pratt exuded.

She smiled nervously as he explained, glad that he took the time to outline the process.

"That makes sense," she nodded, trying to sound positive. All in all, what he described sounded fair and a lot safer than she was expecting. Somewhat like the lessons she'd had with Raynor and Radley at Hogwarts, though this was an actual test, and she was not the calmest test-taker. Fauna was suddenly reminded of how she'd knocked over a huge pile of books during her Charms NEWT, and embarrassed herself during the Defense practical. Yes, she'd managed E's in those classes, but not without unnecessary fanfare.

"How are things, uh, scored? If I mess up once, am I out?" Fauna said in a joking tone, though she was half-serious. Mostly serious!

Fauna Blake looked nervous and seemed to be suffering from sudden fawn-onset: that sort of wobbly, weak-kneed response that manifested itself in the immidiate inability to keep knees locked while walking.  Well, perhaps it was not so bad as all that; Fauna was no fawn, but she did seem, already, ill-at-ease.  Adon tried to remember if he had felt that way.  He did not suppose he had.  Even as a new recruit, he had always had something up his sleeve that had put him at a distinct advantage against... well, anyone.  When he had entered the IDF force, he had had eight years of training in magical spells--which could always be used in a pinch.  And by the time he had entered Auror training, Adon had distinguished himself as one of the top hand-to-hand combatants in the IDF, with an unspoken specialty in covert use of magic.  The confidence wasn't arrogance, so long as he didn't let his guard down; and the confidence wasn't boasting as long as you could back it up.  And he had.

He had been confident--even in unsure situations--because he knew his own ability.  Now, the situation was a bit reversed: he, unlike Fauna Blake, knew exactly how the next half hour to hour would pan out, but he didn't know her ability.  By the end of an hour, though, they'd both know everything.

“Hmn,” he mused.  “I’m going to modify that question for you, because the answer will be more helpful."   He filled his lungs with a breath, which he released in a cleansing sigh.  His brows knit as he schooled his expression to that of the most thoughtful of pupils: "Auror Eleor, what are you testing for?” 

Quite delighted, quite pleased, he smirked: “Fauna Blake! What an insightful question! Thank you," he added in convincing sincerity, "for asking.” He winked before resuming his matter-of-fact tone.  “I’ll be looking at a variety of areas: the strength of your spells—and the speed at which you are able to cast them, your resourcefulness, your grace under fire, your originality, your resilience.” He allowed a moment for the list to register.

“The way I conduct the test will be governed by your responses—not a checklist of things I expect you to perform at a certain level.  It’s not NEWTs, and it’s not dueling club. It’s combat simulation.  There will be moments where you will be caught off-guard, and you will be confused.” He looked at her levelly, adding with pointed words, “And if you do well, those moments will not last long.”

“I’m going to see what you are capable of, and how far that takes you.  And this will require taking you just beyond that threshold.  So there will come a moment in the test—or several moments—where you won’t pass.  That’s not failing—necessarily.  That’s just telling me you’ve reached your limit in that area.  And we’ll take that into account when giving your final assessment in determining if that’s far enough—afterwards.  Once I have a fuller picture of your strengths and weaknesses.”  Adon pulled out his wand.  Flicking it, a ghostly table and chairs seemed to materialize in the middle of the room, the transfigured objects slowly taking a substantial, material form.  He tilted his head, considering her as he crossed the practice room to pull out a chair.  “Does that still make sense, Blake?”

Adon’s expression grew softer—as did his tone.  “Just do your utmost to do your best, last as long as you can, and that should cover you as well anything.  We can’t ask anything more than that.”  Easily, he settled himself in the chair, gesturing across the table to the other vacant seat.

Well, really, he could ask more—even if she couldn’t give it.  He was, undeniably, going easy on her.  But she wasn’t insolent.  She wasn’t arrogant.  She wasn’t bumbling.  He was going easy—but in this case, that was just being fair.  He didn’t see any particular reason, right now, to go hard on her.  He’d save that for a few minutes’ time, when it really mattered.

“Have a seat, by the way—and I can ask you some questions.  Not an interrogation, by any means; you probably got that out of your system with the interview,” he teased.

A hesitant, but amused smile spread across her face as Adon modified her question, then answered it like he had done this thousands of times before. The speech wasn't stale or boring. It had style, punctuated by the slight wave of his wand and the sudden appearance of a table and chairs. He explained that this wasn't a NEWT, or the dueling club, making it clear he understood she'd just graduated from Hogwarts. She hadn't popped up out of the earth a paperwork filing, coffee-fetching Auror trainee, after all!

If only some of her professors at Hogwarts had been so informative and helpful. Though she could easily imagine an Adon Eleor teenaged cult forming, made up of wide-eyed fifteen year olds hanging on his every word. Fauna wasn't quite hanging, but she was listening attentively, she told herself.

"It does, thanks," she replied, looking thoughtful as she crossed the practice room with him. He'd answered her question and the questions she hadn't even known to ask.

Fauna hovered by the second chair, her expression more relaxed due to his reassuring words.  That was until he mentioned the interview.

She shot him a quick, startled glance, then sat down. Was this - the brightly lit room, the offer a of a seat - because Eleor had people skills, or was it because he'd heard how badly she'd reacted to getting locked in a cupboard with Eddie 'I'm not a creeper, I'm a dad!' Pratt? Fauna could only hope for the former.

"Er, yeah," she forced a smile. "Questions I can handle," she added a little too quickly.

Adon raised his eyebrows in surprise. "There'll be more than questions, later..." he cautioned quietly, if not a bit bemusedly; this wasn't the interview.  She ought to have expected the scope of this meeting to be a bit more expansive.  Pressing his lips together and looking at her thoughtfully, he considered his first question--shuffling the order up a bit tended to yield different results, he found.

She already seemed a bit on-edge.  Adon'd tried earlier to relieve some of the tension, but it'd bubbled up rather quickly with the first sniff of assessment.  "Alright," he said in the same mild tone.  Something was off. He could, perhaps, get to the root of that issue--and check for any triggers or emotional points first.  "Have you ever been in a duel, fight, or a combat situation before--outside of Hogwarts and duelling club? If so--can you, tell me a bit about how it was provoked, and what spells you cast?"

(G-modding approved by Adon/Melissa!)
 
Fauna's face flushed slightly when he reminded her that the sparring came after the questions. She knew that, but she hadn't been thinking when she'd commented on it. Actually, she'd been thinking she was glad this wasn't an interrogation. Auror Eleor, even with his reassuring bundle of social skills, couldn't be expected to understand what she'd meant.

She shifted in her seat to try to make herself comfortable, focusing on the first question. At least she could avoid talking about Hogwarts! Her 'fighting' experience at school involved Storm's unique classes and teaching style, Maeve and Kitty's reign of horribless, and posters stuck over her face, none of which she was too keen on detailing.

But if Hogwarts was out, what could she tell him?

"Not really," she looked vaguely disappointed. It felt like she should talk about something and prove she had a bit of life experience outside the sequestered castle walls.

"Unless werewolf attacks count?" Fauna studied his face as she pushed back a mix of emotions.
 
Adon raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, "Yes, I would certainly consider that."
 
She nodded, gathered her thoughts, and went on. "Well, the first one, in October, we were walking in a group back to Hogwarts. From Hogsmeade," she clarified. "There was Professor Greyfriar, and his friend, and a few students and me. The werewolf just... came out of the trees and lunged at Greyfriar. I tried Stupefy at first, but... that only seemed to make it madder."
 
Fauna mouth thinned in a rueful line, and she glanced away. "We were really lucky Vlad Dragulia was there. He had a knife on him, he was flinging spells like Incarcerous and other things. The only spell I casted that did much of anything wasn't even at the werewolf," she explained, hesitating because she wasn't certain if this was the kind of information he wanted to hear. Fauna would have loved to say 'and then I kicked its arse!' but that clearly hadn't happened.
 
"I wasn't sure what else to do, so I put a disillusionment charm on Sasha and Bea - the other students, and told them to get help. They left, and the Aurors came a few seconds later, and I went with Greyfriar to St. Mungo's."

She paused in case he had questions about it, privately thankful that her voice had remained steady.

“That is good,” Adon said, nodding—face impassive.  Too much encouragement would lead to a premature feeling of laudatory security. Which didn't seem to be a risk, really, considering how self-conscious the girl seemed.  He was half of a mind to tell her to stop shifting, to just... be an Auror.  Not very constructive criticism, however.  Still, difficult to watch the girl so uneasy, considering he was about to test her.

What she said, however, gave him hope and made him feel far less like he was about to kick a puppy. Even if she hadn’t remembered from her classes that spells have no effect on werewolves, she had caught on quickly enough in the moment—a feat, perhaps, even more critical.  She’d focused where she’d be of most help: ensuring the safety of others.

It was the sort of thing Dree would have done—and likely would have done better than Adon.  Adon—well, he would have been the one going at the werewolf with the knife.  Though, in his discussions and practice with Bagnold, he really supposed he’d have used—

Beside the point.  Adon felt he was getting a sense of her combative reasoning process, and her arsenal of spells.  Even, perhaps, how she might respond under pressure.  But that would be determined in a moment. There was one question left—to determine emotional vulnerabilities or strengths that could either cripple or facilitate an operation.

“And why do you want to be an Auror?”

Fauna was half-expecting, half-dreading further questions about the werewolf attack in October, or the attack at the Ministry in March. When he asked why she wanted to be an Auror instead, she blinked for a second, wishing she knew what he thought of her so far. Or maybe not. His neutral expression could be masking a negative opinion as much as it could a positive one.

She started to shift in her seat again, but stopped once she started speaking. "I want to help people. And I feel like I could be good at it."

The words tumbled out of her mouth more easily than she'd expected, and were very similar to what she'd told Grace very recently and Auror Raynor all those months ago. Fauna meant them. But she doubted such a simple answer would be enough explanation for Auror Eleor, who didn't know her well yet and couldn't see the changes she'd gone through in the past year.

She paused, glancing away as she collected her thoughts, then looking back at him.

"It kind of started last August," Fauna began quietly, feeling hesitant about bringing up what was probably an emotional and touchy subject for them both. "When I found Akiva at the Shrieking Shack. It made me think about, well... it was a shock at first. I didn't really understand how someone could hurt another person so badly." She still wasn't sure she could. "The more I got to know her, the more I started paying attention to things I read about in the paper and things I was hearing. Around that time, I was... encouraged to get extra help with Defense," she said vaguely, uncertain how much Raynor would want her to explain.

"Bad things kind of just kept happening as the year went on. To people I care about, to strangers, to me. I could have tried to ignore it, I guess, but I didn't want to. With the Defense stuff, it started small, but I got a lot better at the class, at defending myself in general. I never used to be... um, I never used to think I could do that. I was usually the one getting picked on."

Fauna paused again, pushing back a flicker of embarrassment, worried she'd over-explained. "I know I have a lot to learn," she added. "But that's why I want to be here." She admired what the Aurors were doing and wanted to be a part of it.

"I'm sure you could," he said, looking across at her, schooling his expression--though no amount of schooling could keep his eyes from flashing a bit at the name Akiva. So she'd been the student to find her.  Interesting, how moments like that steeled one's resolve.  Sounded like this girl had had several such moments. And that she valued her ability to be there for others.

There were those who entered this profession interested in justice, others in mercy.  Justice could slip easily to a spirit of retribution, whereas merciful Auror-ing could easily lapse into mere remedial measures: comforting the injured, preventing harm from coming to those victims of wrong-doers.  But there was a level of dog-hounding-hunting-and-catching that was often required of this profession--which Adon suspected might be an area for improvement for Miss Blake.  He suspected she was the sort to parry and fend off enough hexes and curses, but forget to cast them back herself.  Someone who used her evenmindedness in order to steady others in the thick of things. But what happened when she was no longer steady? How would she bring a duel to a close?

There was no need for follow-up questions, to probe further. Adon had a glimpse of the girl, her priorities, and now he was going to test both of this theories--and her abilities in tow.

"Alright," he said, pushing away from the table which, upon coming into contact with his wand, vanished in a puff of smoke.  He took a few steps away from the remaining chairs, making his--then hers--vanish with a slashing motion.  "When you are ready, Fauna Blake, come to the center of the room, here and face me. Before we get into the thick of it, we're going to test the strength of your defensive shields and wards." He extended his wand, gave a slight bow, to indicate the beginning of a duel.  "Defend on three.” Adon would start small. Indirect. So he didn’t explode a prospective trainee the first week of training.  “One, two--Carpe Retractum![1]”


Well, that was basically three.

1.	Intended to bind the target in ropes and draw the target towards the caster

Fauna studied Eleor's inscrutable face for a moment, then nodded. She much preferred his short, respectful reply to Pratt's derisive one, no matter the fact that she'd told Eleor more in these few minutes than she had the other Auror during her actual interview.

She stood when he did, watching the table and chairs vanish with dismay. That meant she wouldn't be able to resort to her usual tactic of chucking furniture in the air and hoping for the best. Fauna glanced up. Since she wasn't facing a transformed werewolf, she'd refrain from collapsing the ceiling too. A real duel! She could do this.

In the middle of the room, Fauna settled into a comfortable, but alert stance, drawing her wand and facing him. She offered a slight bow in return, the movement making her feel like she was back in the Great Hall in a dueling club challenge.

But she was jolted back to reality sooner than she'd expected! Ropes came hurtling at her. There was no time to even curse the irony.

Fauna threw her weight to her right side, raising her wand as the beginnings of a spell formed in her head. The ropes caught her left arm and leg and tugged her forward. She stumbled, nearly losing her balance.

A second later, she sent the ropes back at Eleor in a half-formed knotted web,[1] her thoughts racing ahead to her next step.

1.	Some kind of transfiguration spell or charm, spoken aloud

Nearly stumbling over her feet, but not on the ground. Recovered quickly, but not completely, he noted coolly as he flung the net aside.  Still, there was a level of ingenuity in the counter--however ineffective.  She hadn't just blocked, she'd rerouted and adapted. It was a sort of quick-thinking elegance, akin to something Jonas might have pulled.  It was the sort of thing Adon wished he were clever enough to do, this "using your opponent's force against you" Zen shit.

Adon preferred using opponents' momentum to speed them along the process of tripping over their own feet. There was a muffled crack in the padded practice room as Adon vanished.  When he reappeared, standing behind Blake, it was in order to buckle her left knee from under her--and place an arm tightly around her waist.

There was another crack; they were outdoors now in some area that was open and green--and had once been the location of the Quidditch World Cup.  It was a bit breezier than Adon had thought it would be--and he'd wished he'd thought to wear his cloak.  Surveying how she'd done, Adon backed away, wand dropped to the ground.  The ground rumbled slightly, before the silent descendo caused the patch upon which Fauna stood to slowly sink.

The great thing about dueling was that Fauna had less time to doubt herself, blush over the unexpected arm around her waist, or dwell over her lunch flip flopping in her stomach. But the apparation still caught her off guard. When they appeared in an open field, the blurry shapes in the distance slowly became trees, and the blurry shape as she twisted around slowly became - oh shite - the Auror, casting another spell as she recovered her bearings.

She turned to fully face him. Her first thought upon the ground moving was that it wasn't fair, she'd passed apparation and should recover more quickly! Fauna hopped back, and kept hopping to safe patches in the ground, waving her wand to seal up the cracks[1]. At each frantic wand wave, bumps and ridges reared up out of the earth. Fauna then sent a ripple through them, right to the origin of the trouble: Eleor.

Without waiting to see if that would trip him up, she flung another spell in his direction: the stoneweight charm[2]. Mischievous students often used it on unsuspecting, full to bursting backpacks, and it had caused Fauna to go down like a sack of gurdyroots many a time!

1.	Like Reparo?
2.	Opposite of the featherweight charm

This wasn't going to take long, he contemplated with a little regret as he watched Blake stumble to fix the deep fissures in the earth.  He stood where he was--on steady ground, not sure if he ought to go with his initial plan which had been, until a couple of seconds ago, to immediately send another spell in her direction.  If her first impulse was to control--not deflect--she'd find herself seriously in over her...

Good.  She'd given up on that idea, rechanneling some of the energy he'd cast in his direction rather impressively, considering she had not heard the actual incantation used.  With a returning confidence that this was not a total mistake, Adon returned to his course of action, apparating once more; by the time he'd rematerialized behind her, she'd cast something--he couldn't be certain what--in the direction where he'd once stood.  He hoped she hadn't been holding back on his account--that would prove rather worse for her than for him.  He hoped, in fact, for a time when he would be forced to deviate from his course of action--and not because she couldn't keep up.

She'd not done particularly well with the disorientation or unsteady surroundings.  He aimed his wand level.  Time to see how she worked while impaired.  In a slow, drawing motion, Adon pulled his wand slowly towards himself. "Abigo spiritus!"[1] he said, quite clearly.  It was, perhaps, unkind to steal a trainee's breath from them in the middle of a firefight--particularly when they were already breathing so heavily--but Blake needed to learn--and learn now--when to work on incurring damage, and when to retreat back to damage control.

1.	The breath-taking spell

Her 'trip-up' spell had missed. This Auror was quick with the apparation! Fauna had never seen that tactic, at least from the other students that she'd studied alongside, and she hadn't tried anything like it before. She'd only earned her apparation licence that spring.

Fauna pushed back the short burst of dread and disappointment that she wasn't doing so well so far. Couldn't think. Had to react. Do more than react: act.

This time, she whirled around, and waved her wand, forming a shield -

Hearing his spell out loud helped, and Fauna knew she'd dispelled it when she sucked in a breath without trouble. This gave her an idea.

"Efflio!"

Maybe a strong gale of wind would knock him off his feet!

Dust blew into his eyes, and Adon squinted, feeling them water, feeling his balance sway--

He had taken several precious seconds just to regain his bearings.  Okay.  That had been well-executed.  Adon had hoped to test her wordless spellcasting, and her ability to deal with impairments--but due to proper deflection, she hadn't needed to do either of these things.

Adon Apparated once more, reappearing so close behind Fauna that his chest nearly touched her shoulderblades.  He laid his wand tip against her throat.  "Talk--don't act," he said levelly.  The last thing Adon wanted was an actual foot to his groin.  "What do you do now?"