hollowchild | IC Inbox

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Ah, hello. You've reached Sophie, but I must be in the midst of something. If you have a question about self-defense or Teachers' Council, leave a message letting me know what precisely you're interested in and I'll get back to you.

...everyone else, do as you do, I suppose.

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Would I ask if I didn't?

Yes, I think you would.

[she sighs]

Because I had to literally trap you here to keep you from running away, that's why. Which I can't do again, incidentally. I can't. So you will have to be a modicum more reasonable in the future.

...I'm very used to running and burrowing myself in other work so I can compartmentalize everything and blank my mind. And if you try to trap me again I can't promise I won't bite you.

Yes, I know. But I did it for a reason beyond torturing you, you know.

And I just told you I can't. I'm not being facetious, I really can't. You shouldn't bite me, though, my blood tastes awful.

...your blood still fascinates me, by the way. [Because that's not a bizarre as fuck thing to say.]

You aren't using me for a potions experiment.

[she bops him lightly on the forehead with the tip of a finger. it'd have been the nose, but not today]

What do you want to know about it?

Mostly the coloring, of course. I don't use human blood often though.

You know, if you had to see one of my frequent nightmares, the other one would have been more helpful. In any case, there are realms of power in my world. I'm...actually not entirely sure why so much of my blood is black. My mother was a Saraman, and the Saraman line crossed with Elder creatures, who are of the Onyx realm. But my mother was at least part human, and my father is just human, as far as I know. I've never seen him bleed. My blood was red when I was younger, I suppose it changed somewhere along the line.

Anyway, the red in it now is...I don't know what it is in Asgard, actually. But that's what taints me. I drew on the power of the red realm, made myself part red essential. That...went poorly, and then I drew on gold. Which was also not an excellent long-term choice, but it served my purposes of that moment.

I've never heard of anyone's blood changing colors. How do you mean you draw on the power of the red and gold realm?

I mean I looked at the Devil's power, saw where it went, and then...became it, I suppose. It's power, but essentials are living manifestations of it, so I made myself a partial manifestation of that power.

What are the downsides to that?

...you saw the Devil, Draco. All that fear and hate and utter meaninglessness. That's what I put in me.

I know I saw him but I just...it's a hard concept to grasp, okay? You understand.

It's strange, because he's always been real to me, and most people here think that's laughable or a lie. But there are plenty of other things I find hard to conceptualize.

...and really, you didn't see him him. He gets worse than Baltasar. You really did see the wrong nightmare.

[and it's pretty messed up that you can be so glib about that, sophie]

Anyway, gold power is...miraculous. But dead. Which is why that was a mistake too.

I don't think it's laughable or a lie, but it's just a hard concept to grasp. It shouldn't be hard since there are dark wizards in my world, but at the same time it's hard to put them on the same level in my head.

...so maybe we can find a way for me to see the right one.

Because they're not. A wizard is a human, or at least a mortal thing. The Devil was never a human. The body you saw is the corpse of my father's twin.

[and nope, she doesn't really appreciate how many points of horror that adds to the buffet]

I know. But I just...it's the same concept. Evil things doing evil things. [He's just giving her a level stare though. Well?]

A similar concept. People have free will, though. They can change. The Devil is what he is, there's literally nothing else he can be, no possibility of change. That's why they're called essentials.

I suppose that makes sense. And there isn't anyone else that can change him? Anyone he fears?

Change, no. Fear? Well. He ran from me in the end.

[she says it with a bitter sort of pride]

...heh. So you're the Dumbledore of your world.

[she laughs]

Hardly. I am the opposite of a hero, Draco. Or a savior. I'm not selfless or a champion of the greater good. I haven't saved anyone, probably not even myself. I'm just Sophie.

...before he died, Dumbledore was telling me a story about a boy who made all of the wrong choices. Sometimes now I wonder if he meant himself. [And judging by his expression, Dumbles is a hard subject, too.]

I'm not sure there's anyone who isn't that boy sometimes. Or a lot of the time. All anyone can do is what they can do. Even if that doesn't seem like enough.

[she sighs into his hair]

You'll have to tell me about him someday, if you think I'm like him somehow. Not today, though.

Another subtle hint? [He doesn't mind though.]

...no, not today. It's going to take a very long time, I think, to talk about Dumbledore. I think the only ones I can really talk about from home without fail are my mother, my dormmates, and Pansy.

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