Third Eye Blind

Armand [REDACTED] // Thirty-One // Divination Professor at Hogwarts // Seer // Muggleborn // Unapologetically and Violently American

[charles-nolans-blog]

“Why, what are you missing?”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“You know, teacher things. Some files, an exam key, some American money.” He paused. “And a houseplant, for some reason. Whoever this thief was had some weird tastes.”

[quinn-nolans-blog]

“Forgive me for sounding out of line, but is it really appropriate to be swearing at students Professor?”

[dearxarmand-blog]

Armand turned, seeing the student behind him for the first time. “Oh. Nolans. Sorry, didn’t see you there.” He smiled. “Yeah, it’s probably not the most professional thing I could be doing, but...” He glanced back at his desk. “You see anybody go through here?”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“All right, who’s been going through my shit?” This wasn’t the first time he’d come back to his office to find things not where he’d left them, and it was starting to get on his nerves.

[empyxreal-blog]

The entity wandered a bit further forward, turning slightly to the side as they glanced towards the Seer. Memories reawakening countless lifetimes swaying through their subconscious. They’ve witnessed the beginning, they’ve seen worlds grow from lifeless husks to flourishing with life though they were born from the void. From the passing of eons when time and yet been known it swirled with compacting ethereal mass. Varus narrowed icy hues towards the seer’s presence, “I will spare the younger generation for they may live to carry out what others could not. However if they repeat the mistakes of their predecessors, they too will meet Oblivion.”

Varus turned fully towards the Seer, gazing at his presence, “I’ve constantly had high hopes for your kind across the cosmos. But too many times have I been disappointed.” The air hummed as it vibrated, the books and furniture across the room shook as it lifted up the air pulsed as they returned to their originally state. “Teach your underlings well, Seer. Show them what you’ve shown me if you do not the human kind will never change.”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“Are you God?” The question slipped out before Armand could get any control of it, and he reached for the cross he wore around his neck. He couldn’t exactly say he practiced anymore, but he could never bring himself to take it off, or to completely let go of believing. “I always wondered why God would let all those tragedies happen, but I guess... I guess you’re the same god who gave people free will and then drowned them all for disobeying. Guess that answers that.” He shook his head. “But there’s got to be something I can--Everybody deserves a second chance, don’t they?” He could feel panic creeping in now; he’d pored over the Bible as a child enough to know that trying to save the damned generally didn’t work out well. “There’s got to be something I can do,” he said. “Please. Just tell me what I have to do to save these people.”

[littlelioncov-blog]

“Stupid gossip rag,” Marcus growled as he crumbled the paper up and threw it over his shoulder. “Once I find out who writes this shit I’m going to end them.”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“Something bothering you, Mr. Coventry?”

[empyxreal-blog]

The entity stood motionlessly staring ahead focused on whats at hand. “To take back what was given…What good has come from all this?” they begun walking slowly towards a nearby wall placing the palm of their hand on it. Turning towards the Seer icy blue hues gazed towards him. “This very castle is hallowed ground…All I see is the horrors of the light… False promises…history continuously repeating itself across the world.” they said as Varus removed their hand from the surface of the wall

[dearxarmand-blog]

“No,” Armand said, realization creeping through him. He couldn’t let Varus hurt or kill these people. He had to do something, say something. “You can’t do this.” It was the wrong thing to say, and he knew it immediately, but he just kept going. “Of course some people use magic to do bad things. No-majs do bad things, too.” He thought of the man who’d shot him, wounded God only knew how many people just to get to him. That monster hadn’t needed magic. “And what about all the people who use magic to make things better? All the healers, and--” His breath was coming quicker, more desperate. “You’d kill every kid here because of a few bad people out there? They’re just... They’re kids.”

[beauxdropout]

Nessa was really starting to regret not bugging Professor Armand about this before, after all he seemed to be enjoying the conversation as much as she was. “Oh yes, definitely! His jawline is definitely one of his best features.” Nessa nodded in agreement, her grin matching his. “Exactly, harmless fun! Well kind of, he says he hates it but he never asks me to leave him alone. Wait…actually he constantly tells me to stop bugging him… Oh well!” Shrugging her shoulders, Nessa smiled brightly up at her professor.”So should we talk about your obsession with his jaw, or are we pretending it never happened?”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“He also does his hair well,” Armand said, sounding for all the world like a besotted teenager, before he burst out laughing. He probably should have been worried about this student chasing after a professor, but Scorpius seemed not to welcome it, and to tell her off. Scorpius didn’t seem like the type to run into that sort of ethical problem, anyway. “What about it?” He shrugged. “It’s nice. I don’t have to be into him to appreciate the aesthetic.”

[professorbentley-blog]

Ben’s smile lit up when old memories came to light. “Those poor souls.. no one is ever safe. I am just waiting until I meet my match with these students but so far.. none.” A sigh left his lips when the cat was already out of the bag. “Basically. James is chasing a tail he can’t catch and it’s impeding on my time with him. And that’s as selfishly as I can put it.”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“Wait, it’s true?” Armand asked as a grin began to spread across his face. “Damn, I wish I’d thought of that when I was in school.” But his smile fell as Ben kept talking. He knew that story. “Is this some kinda whacked-up Holmes and Watson thing?” he asked. “What’s this lady’s deal, anyway?”

[professorbentley-blog]

Bentley grinned at Armand’s words. “I can only imagine what stories they’ve told. And it’s probably not even the best ones…” He found himself trailing off. It was becoming more often that James would dodge doing anything with Ben. Cordelia. Bentley’s nose scrunched momentarily. “And he pretends that she isn’t the reason.” He muttered out loud to himself.

“Well–not everyone can be blessed with a full head of hair.” He returned to the conversation at hand.

[dearxarmand-blog]

“Well, if it helps, I’m sure none of the stories they told me were actually true. They say the two of you snuck an aging potion into a professor’s drink at the start-of-term feast, and there’s no way that one’s true.” He looked at Ben inquisitively, one brow tipping upwards. “She? What, does James have a wife now or something, stopping him from doing crazy shit?”

[empyxreal-blog]

Varus observed the Seer, seeing the shifting pattern of his aura alter once they looked into the others past. The rhythm was peaceful. They closed their eyes  seeing through Seer’s. Pieces of Varus memories reawakened more so of their past, from when they came to be. It became clear. Their they laid aimlessly floating in the dark embrace of oblivion, waiting…watching the worlds and it’s inhabitants stray from the path that they had promised. To maintain peace, however only suffering and war had followed instead. The power they had given onto each world was nothing but a war bringer. For the first time a sadden expression fell onto their faces. Hues begun to open slowly as they stared at the seer, silent for a moment before lips parted, “My gift has brought nothing upon this world…what you’ve seen Seer…is my judgement. It was not the first time I had done such things.” they stood up from their seat as they stared down at the male. “Many worlds have met the same fate…I thank you for igniting my path once more I know now what I must do.”  they said as they turned their back on the other

[dearxarmand-blog]

It always took Armand a few moments to come back to himself after a vision, and this one was especially jarring. Varus’s words seemed to be coming to him muffled and echoey, as though they were both underwater. But somehow, he understood them, and as soon as he did, he froze. No, Varus couldn’t mean... They couldn’t mean to do the same thing they’d done before, could they? To kill so many and destroy so much, and so easily. Why had they done it before? Why did they need to do it now? And most importantly, what the hell could Armand do about it? “Wait!” he cried to Varus’s retreating back. “What are you planning to do?” His voice was ragged, a pained whisper, and he was afraid to hear what Varus would say in reply.

[professorbentley-blog]

Not a good time (Armand/Ben)

Whenever the school year was in session, Bentley always took the opportunity to dig up whatever he could from the shady sellers that hid within the cracks of Knockturn Alley. It was a breeding ground for many illegal items that somehow the Ministry turned a blind eye to.  Apothecary was a hobby that James pursued. So naturally the two were out scouring constantly within reach of Hogwarts’ grounds.  In this case Ben was in need of stocking up on a few unusual things.

There was something about tonight that just hadn’t felt right. He could feel it in his bones. The air was still humid from the summer that they had left behind. Bentley excused the uneasy feeling over the fact that it was just James missing from the equation. He wondered what was so important that James had to duck out from their initial plans. The impending doom of wondering around Knockturn Alley was upon him. Bentley pulled on his mask of complete control of whatever happens–happens.

Bentley approached the pair of men that were lounging in the walk way between the Betting shop and a worn down tattoo shop. The two always had the appearance as though they were dragged through a chimney. The men smelled of mildew and cigarettes. The rugged appearance seemed to only enhance the trust that this grimy pair could get anyone what they needed. It didn’t mean that they wouldn’t try to screw you over on the price.

“Hundred galleons."It came from the shorter stubbier one. Bentley cocked his head when he thought he heard it wrong but neither man cracked from their harden exteriors. It was an outright ridiculous amount to pay for clabbert’s blood. He knew he just wanted to string these men along in a conversation.

"What will you even do with hundred galleons?” He had his eyes narrowed down at the stubby man. It wasn’t the first time that Ben had negotiated prices with the man. “I won’t do any more than fifty galleons.”

“Ninety.”

“Sixty.”  Both men remained unaware that Bentley had already pickpocket the shorter one. Just as Ben turned to touch the shoulder of the quieter one, his hand slipped into a empty pocket with a hole in it. His mouth squeezed his lips tight with dismay.  He withdrew his hand and gave a small chuckle as the man met his eyes. The bigger man shot a look to Ben with some suspicion but it dissolved as the conversation continued. “No more than sixty-five.”

“This..” The stubbiest one began to dig in one of his pockets. When one turned up empty, the man didn’t hesitate to dig into another pocket. “This vial is one..” The seller paused again as he went for another pocket. Bentley quickly retrieved his hand from another pocket and buried his hands into his own. “I–do you have it?” He gruffly asked as he went down to dig through his pair of pockets.  As the other began to shuffle through his own pair of pockets, Bentley took a mindful step back.

[dearxarmand-blog]

Armand had been feeling funny all day, like he’d eaten something he hadn’t taken well to and now his stomach was twisting in protest. Most people would’ve just shrugged that feeling off, but Armand put quite a bit of stock in those sorts of feelings. They’d been the preliminary makings of his Sight, and he’d learned to trust it.

He didn’t realize why he was feeling so vaguely wrong until he wandered into the History of Magic classroom, and when he picked up one of the textbooks lying about, he lost himself in a vision. Hundred galleons. Fifty. Ninety. Sixty. Do you have it? That fucking--Confringo! The vision was so fast, more auditory than anything else, and he didn’t even have time to pass out before he came back to himself. He caught himself on the desk before he could fall, and it only took one look at the hastily-scrawled name on the textbook to put the pieces together. Bentley was in trouble.

Armand thought about getting high to try to force a vision, but if Bentley was in trouble, he wouldn’t be able to do much if he was high, so he just left the grounds--even though he really wasn’t supposed to--letting his feet carry him where they would. Hopefully, they’d lead him in the right direction. And with a little help from some floo powder, they did.

He rounded a corner, chasing the remnants of the Sight and the sporadic visions he was having until he heard Ben’s voice, and he pressed his back to the wall, listening. Clearly, this was some sort of illicit deal, and if his vision was right, things were about to go south fast, and Ben was in trouble. And he’d had enough personal experiences with crazy armed people to know it would be a very bad idea to get involved. But he did anyway, because he was an absolute idiot.

“What’s going on?” he asked, stepping around the corner and into the little alleyway, taking in the sight of the men there for the first time. They looked... creepy was the only word he could find for it, and Armand slipped his hand inside the pocket of his robes, feeling for his wand as discreetly as he could.

[professorbentley-blog]

Ben let out a low chuckle as he imagined the portraits distaste for him and especially James and him as a pair. “They hardly recognized us. I guess the years haven’t been so good on James..” He then murmured over to Armand as if the kids would even listen to their conversation. “I think he’s trying to hide his receding hairline.” 

[dearxarmand-blog]

“I’m pretty sure they recognized you two the minute y’all opened your mouths,” Armand said. “They told stories about you, you know. Crazy stuff. I couldn’t believe half of it was true.” He laughed, running a hand over his head. “See, that’s why I just went with this look. Don’t have to worry about gray hair or a receding hairline if I’ve got... We’ll call it super-short hair.”

[empyxreal-blog]

Varus followed the Seer towards their classroom after sometime they watched the other climbing the ladder briefly before they started to follow them. Varus hadn’t said anything back to the other about the ladder. They glanced around once they were inside the classroom they wandered towards a seat to rest upon as they awaited for the Seer to return

[dearxarmand-blog]

Armand didn’t use crystal balls too much in his personal Divination sessions; he much preferred playing a yes-no game with the Magic 8 Ball. The crystal balls tended to trigger visions, and he liked having those as little as possible. “All right, let’s take a look,” he said, setting the crystal ball down on the table and sitting across from the student. He placed his hands on it and looked into it, and then everything went white.

The first thing to hit him was the smell: smoke and rot and something he recognized immediately as the stench of death. He knew he was in a vision, and he squeezed his physical eyes shut, willing his inner eye to open. When it did, he wished it hadn’t.

The bodies were innumerable, piled haphazardly in a ditch as though there had been no time or thought to bury them properly, and the sight nearly made Armand sick. He turned away from it, and he saw a church, with mourners gathered--but were they mourners? They were too far from this mass grave to be mourning anyone, rushing out the church and away down the street with cloth held over their noses and mouths, as though they were frightened to breathe the same air these corpses once had... And then it hit him. He remembered this scene; he’d read about so many like it when he’d studied the Middle Ages. The Black Death. He wasn’t in the future, but the past.

As though the realization had summoned them, when Armand turned he found he was facing Varus, who stared at him with eyes so flat and emotionless that Armand thought he could see the whole universe through them. And then Varus began to shift, their hair growing and their body filling out into curves, and Armand snapped back into reality.

“Shit...” He was breathing heavily, and he yanked his hands back from the crystal ball, only too eager to be free of the vision. “What was that?”

[solemnlyscor-blog]

Bloody toads...Bloody first years

[solemnlyscor-blog]

He debated about stopping Armand but wanted to see how far he would take this. Scorpius had to admit, he was impressed. “How about you take a breath before you pass out,” He said with a roll of his eyes. “I don’t care what you’re doing up here. It’s none of my business. I’m not the boss and I may be a lot of things but being a snitch isn’t one of them. So rest assured your secret is safe with me.” His lips twisted up into a grin and he shrugged. “But now that I know this is all here, what’s your price? Merlin knows I’ll need something to get through this year. I have a feeling after today alcohol won’t be enough to keep me sane.”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“Hey, this is my job. I’m allowed to get a little anxious some fancy-ass Pureblood’s caught me red-handed,” Armand said with a grin. “But you’re not gonna report me, so we’re cool, yeah?” He summoned glasses for the whiskey and set them down next to Scorpius before rummaging around in his desk, pulling a joint out of a battered Ziploc bag with a little “A-ha!” He handed it over to Scorpius with a grin. “Told you, I’m not a dealer. You want some, you can have it. It’s not like I don’t have enough.” He looked back at the nearly overgrown plants. “I used to only have one. It got all outta control, and... I would’ve felt bad throwing them out.”

[solemnlyscor-blog]

Bloody toads...Bloody first years

[solemnlyscor-blog]

Scorpius cringed at the southern drawl but didn’t make a comment in fear that Armand would only continue using the ridiculous accent to piss him off. “Some professor named Chambers. I don’t remember her first name. She lasted until I graduated but I don’t know if she was the one you replaced. She was passionate about the subject though. I guess after she was blinded by a potion she gained the sight. She dropped everything to devote her time to it. Ended up at Hogwarts teaching until she didn’t anymore. I lost contact with a lot after I graduated so your guess is as good as mine.” Scorpius drummed his fingers against the edge of the table and blew out a puff of air. “No wine. Gives me a nasty headache. I’m game for a scotch and a…spliff if you are.”

[dearxarmand-blog]

“Chambers, huh?” Armand mulled the name over. “Was her name Kelly, and did she feed the fish?” He chuckled a bit before realizing that Scorpius wouldn’t understand the reference. “Um... Yeah. Never mind. It’s a muggle thing. Video games. My brother was really into ‘em. I didn’t know you could get the Sight that way, though, like, after you’ve lost another sense. I always figured all Seers were born with it.” He’d never really had much cause to talk to other Seers. “Sure, I’ll get--Oh, shit.” His eyes widened in shock. “Shit, the plant. Look, it’s not what it looks like, I’m not some kind of dealer or anything, I swear. It’s...” He scratched the back of his neck. “Medical reasons. Sort of. Not really. But it helps with the visions. I’ve never given drugs to a student, though, I promise. Not pot, not--” He swallowed hard before he could confess to any other illicit drugs. “Nothing.”

[beauxdropout]

Vanessa had to bite down on her lower lip just to keep from laughing. This was probably the most she’d ever talked to Professor Armand, and she had to say that so far she’d been loving every minute of it. Prof. Malfoy was already used to Vanessa, and could practically predict what ridiculous thing she was gonna say next. It was nice to catch someone off guard. “Oh no please go on, this has been very entertaining for me.” A grin spread from ear to ear as she watched him struggle with what to say next. “He’s my little exception, although I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about my professed love for a professor to another professor. Just let me know when you start to feel uncomfortable.” 

[dearxarmand-blog]

“What, it’s entertaining to you kids to watch an old man make a fool out of himself?” Armand asked, the corner of his mouth twisting into a grin. “Is it because of his jawline? He has a great jawline,” he said, before bursting out laughing. “I’m so sorry, that was so inappropriate, please forget I said anything.” Despite being embarrassed, though, he couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off his face. “This is absolutely ridiculous, and for the record, I don’t condone any of it. But... Well, he already knows you like him, so it’s not like I know anything he doesn’t know. You know?”

[empyxreal-blog]

Varus remained silent as they pushed themselves from the wall they were resting against, turning towards the Seer the entity gave a small nod before answering the other, “I’d appreciate it. Thank you.” the being begun taking severely steps forward waiting for the professor.

[dearxarmand-blog]

Armand had always walked in long strides, and it didn’t take him long to catch up to Varus, leading the way to his classroom. Once again, he was a little embarrassed by the ladder. The number of times he’d been tipsy (or otherwise intoxicated) and fallen off that thing or hit his head was absurd. “Sorry ‘bout the ladder,” he said as he went up. “The classroom kinda came this way. Now have a seat, and I’ll find a ball, okay?”