The Recruitment of Jericho

The grounds of Eden were silent. Too quiet, in fact. It was a quiet that generally preceded an ambush the moment a foolish traveler crossed an unseen border. With a loud pair of snaps indicating that someone was apparating in, that tense tranquility was nigh irreversibly broken.

Lilith MacDougal steadied herself by clutching onto her son's arm, dizzied from the magical travel. She should have come by thestral. Or the Floo. Or anything else that didn't make her quite so dizzy.

"Are you alright, Mo-" Jericho started to ask, but had a hand clamped over his mouth before he could finish.

"Shh!" Lilith commanded. It was about all she dare speak until her stomach stopped doing laps around her middle. She shook her curly-haired head to get her bearings. "This way, and keep quiet!" the witch hissed, pulling on the teenager's arm.

"Not so fast!" a voice echoed. In an instant a ring of fire circled Lilith and Jericho.

As a wizard stepped through the flames, Lilith rolled her eyes. "Macnair, you know good and well I serve the same Dark Lord as you."

"Your whelp triggered the alarm, not you," Macnair smirked. "I'll let him through if you'll pay me a price, Lilith." Suggestion dripped from his words and a lingering glance not at all on the witch's face made it clear what sort of price was on his mind.

Lilith put on a sweet smile that was anything but. One look at her dark eyes would remind one of a snake sizing up its prey, debating whether or not to make the observed a meal or let it go. "Much as I'm sure your wife doesn't mind you, love, you're not my type. Not to mention if Corvus were to find out... he'd have your hide," she answered, murmuring the last four words slowly for emphasis. "That is, if the poison in my lipstick doesn't kill you first."

Macnair scowled and wordlessly extinguished the flames. She had two excellent points. Corvus being jealous seemed more plausible than poisoned lipstick, but the witch was a Potions Mistress. Doubting her and taking the risk without having an antidote would be suicide if Lilith were telling the truth. "Fine, then. On your way."

With a grin Lilith wrapped her arm tighter around her son's and urged Jericho to walk with her. As they passed Macnair, Lilith gave the wizard a flirty wink in the same turn as she stomped on his foot and continued walking.

* * *

No longer needing to use her son as a living cane, Lilith walked beside the teen. Her hands rested at her hips in a show of general impatience. She couldn't wait for Jericho to agree to join the Purists, and hoped that this meeting between her two favorite men in the world would end on a note that pleased them all.

A few paces away from the door to the study, Lilith flung out a hand to stop Jericho. "Wait here." She took the remaining few steps, paused to listen, and then knocked on the door.

"Enter," Came a voice from within the hard-wood doors of the study. Corvus, who had been re-reading a list of names, promptly stopped and stood up to greet them.

It could only be Lilith and if he wasn't mistaken, Jericho. The tripped alarm did not go unnoticed. Corvus was surprised though, at their speedy arrival. Years of knowing Lilith had taught Corvus to wait a little bit before Lilith would arrive at a certain place. Usually because of her insistence at using Thestrals. Instead of being annoyed at this little eccentricity, Corvus was amused. Ergo, he always allotted a bit more time for Lilith.

Not the same can be said to anyone who dared to be late for a meeting with him. He doesn't give the same treatment to anyone else.

Lilith grinned wide at the reply, pulling the door open with one hand and beckoning Jericho closer with the other. Jericho knew that once he was close enough he would be expected to hold the door open so his mother could pass first. Considering she was expected here and Jericho wasn't quite as much of a regular that was probably the best course of action this time. In most other instances it quite frankly annoyed the teenage wizard.

The witch smoothed out her dress before walking in. Corvus was a very orderly wizard. Lilith herself was more artsy and eclectic with not only her garments but decor as well. "Corvus," she murmured quietly, "I hope the day has treated you well thus far?" It took quite a bit of her self control not to tack a term of endearment onto the end of that, as per her usual mode of speech. She knew Corvus didn't like to be referred to by such things. Occasionally she let one slip to see how it would be received, but didn't push the envelope too far when it came to Corvus.

Jericho stepped into the study and took in its various features. He slowly closed the door behind him so that it didn't disturb the conversation in progress. Jericho then settled his brownish-amber eyes on Corvus, offering a small smile and a polite nod. "Sir."

Moments later, Corvus was face to face with Lilith and her son, Jericho. Corvus smiled at the pair as he greeted them both in turn. Lilith with a short peck and Jericho a quick handshake. Then he gestured for them to sit, as he returned to his seat.

"Quite well," was the reply to Lilith's question. "Everything seems to be in order. I must admit, I'm rather surprise at the speediness of your arrival, I wasn't expecting you so soon. Not an unpleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless."

In the same moment that Corvus gave Lilith a peck on the cheek, Lilith did the same unto Corvus. She had been bluffing to Macnair about the poisoned lipstick at that time. At the gesture to sit, Lilith plucked up a part of her dress and stepped over to her chair of preference to sit and get situated.

Jericho shook Corvus' hand briefly. He circled the empty chair in the route that was furthest from Lilith's reach and sat.

The lumps of chocolate that were Lilith's eyes grew brighter as she beamed to hear Corvus was well. She fiddled with a pendant around her neck as Corvus mentioned the speed of her arrival. "Yes, well... as the business of the day is rather important, and my son prefers a broom over the back of a thestral, I decided that apparition was the best course this time," she explained.

From within a magically-enhanced pocket, Lilith produced a small black and silver box. She smiled down at it fondly before taking out her wand. Settling the same affectionate countenance upon Corvus, Lilith charmed the box to hover over to him. "Your potion," the witch told him. She cast an additional spell to open the box so he might inspect the contents. Within were twelve vials, four long and three tall with the floor of the box possessing a sort of auditorium-stepped format. Each bottle was of plainly-blown glass, corked and labeled with decorative labels attached via thin green ribbons.

"It's the strongest I can make. You'd scarcely need more than a single drop, or two for more stubborn cases, as opposed to standard veritaserum's prescribed three," Lilith elaborated animatedly.

Corvus listened with interest as Lilith entailed their favourite modes of travel. He noted the teen's preference for broomsticks and was further satisfied with his upcoming plans.

Corvus spared a look at the potion before his eyes rested at Lilith. "Excellent, as always." he reached out, took the liquid and pocketed it. "I am sure I would be not less than satisfied with the result." He thanked her.

He gave Lilith a lasting smile before turning to Jericho. "Now, if you would indulge me further and graciously provide us a bit of privacy, I would like to speak to Jericho alone." Even though Lilith gave her word that she would not interfere, Corvus was well aware of silent signals. No, her leaving would be the best possible way to ensure Jericho was a genuine volunteer. "I believe you've some business with Miss Grey?"

Lilith beamed at Corvus' compliment and thanks. It was always a great pride of hers that any potion made by her hands satisfied the client that requested it. If they wanted the very best that's what they got. With Lilith one truly received what they paid for, unless they were her own child or Corvus.

The witch glanced in the direction of her son when asked to leave. Jericho could feel his mother's eyes on him but did not turn to look. Lilith's lips tightened slightly at the mention of the witch who was more or less her competition. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she sighed and stood, taking care to readjust the fall of her skirt before moving. The woman walked over to her son, gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "When you're dismissed feel free to head home, dear," she murmured fondly, gave the boy's hair a good ruffling and strode gracefully toward the door.

Before opening the door to leave, Lilith turned back around. "Do have a pleasant day, love," she bade to Corvus, performed a sort of curtsy-bow, and stepped backward out of the study.

Jericho's face went from slight embarrassment at the kiss, to a slight smile at the hair ruffle, and back to neutral in the time it took for his mother to leave the room. He knew good and well why he was here: his mother had briefed him on it. A great surprise took the lad when he realized Corvus was likely the driving force behind Lilith's lack of overwhelming persuasion, or any persuasion at all. The only things his mother had said was what he needed to be there for, and to be polite. Even though Jericho knew, he decided to break the ice: "You wanted to see me alone, Sir?"

Corvus offered Lilith a dismissive nod before turning back to Jericho. He had watched the exchanged between the mother and son carefully. "Quite right. Your mother can be rather -" Corvus paused and smiled. "- difficult at times."

Corvus' disposition changed to a more leisured state. He wanted Jericho to be relaxed, people were more likely to make sound decisions when they had a level head. Instead of asking his proposition immediately, Corvus routed to small talk. It wasn't actually as useless as one might have thought. It was surprising how much information one could acquire - how much useful information when one asked about the weather. "How were your O.W.L.s? All well I hope?"

A wide smile crossed Jericho's face in response to Corvus' choice of words. "Yeah..." he murmured with relief that someone other than him noticed this, too. Of course, with the times Corvus had intervened on Jericho's behalf proved the older wizard saw the same. It was just a relief to have that shared observation.

"Pretty well," Jericho nodded. "Nothing below an E, and managed five 'O's." Although Lilith had told him he could've done better on those classes in which he scraped an 'E' Jericho was quite proud of what he had accomplished. "I've also made Quidditch Captain this term..." The lad knew Corvus had already been given this piece of news via Lilith, but wanted to tell this to Corvus, himself.

"Very good." Corvus nodded and then smiled imagining what Lilith might have said to this. Ever the perfectionist, it was a trait that allowed her to be a wonderful potioneer. "Though I suppose your mother thought otherwise?" He could virtually see Lilith telling Jericho off for not getting all O's though the grades Jericho acquired was no small feat.

"Yes, I had heard about this. It's partly why I inivited you here. I wanted to congratulate you myself." A flick of his wand and a champagne glass appeared in front of both Jericho and himself. Another wave and it started to fill with a golden sparkly liquid. Corvus gave him a wink. "I wouldn't mention this -" he nodded at the alcohol "- to your mother. It's high time Slytherin was headed by a proper captain - someone to remedy the dreadful loses in the past years." He tilted his glass to Jericho. "To Slytherin." After all, Corvus was a Slytherin himself. He occasionally glanced on the well-being of the house, especially on the Quidditch front.

Jericho genuinely smiled at the approval. It seemed like the teenager didn't get enough of that from his parent, and it wasn't often that he saw any other kin. Ergo, Corvus' approval meant quite a lot. When his mother was brought up Jericho performed a sheepish sort of grimace. "Erm... Yeah, you could say that. She'd been hoping I would get straight O's like she did when she was at school. I'm not sure 'upset' would quite be the right word..." The lad shrugged it off in the moment that followed.

The Slytherin's face remained just as it was, unsurprised and not at all disappointed Corvus already knew. Jericho knew going in that Corvus knew. At the congratulations from the wizard himself Jericho grinned and nodded his thanks. He became instantly curious at the flick of a wand, and tried not to look too intrigued at the champagne glasses that appeared before them. The young man listened intently to what the slightly older wizard had to say. "I won't tell if you don't," Jericho chuckled, accepting the glass with its shimmering liquid. "Thank you for the congratulations and your faith in me, sir."

As Corvus tipped his glass toward Jericho, the teen did the same. "To Slytherin," he echoed, taking a small swig of the drink. The contact of alcohol on largely-virgin taste buds was pleasant and almost electrical upon his tongue.

"I've been considering a new racing broom," Jericho ventured, not sure if Corvus really wanted to talk Quidditch. "Reports claim the Shooting Star's just come out with a 3000 model that's outdone the last Nimbus and Firebolt makes. Are you partial to any particular brand of broom, sir?"

"I try not to be partial to anything to be honest but I did quite enjoy the Comet series when I was younger." Corvus confessed. "Unfortunately, I haven't been riding much now-a-days." Corvus, like his siblings was actually a natural flier. However, unlike his siblings, he never really had a true interest at perusing a Quidditch Career. He respected the sport and enjoyed the spectacle of it once in a while but he did favour to do other things with his time.

"I have read about the new broom the Shooting Star had unleashed." Corvus continued on. "The reviews really are admirable. They might really have out done themselves with the model."

"But," Corvus looked slightly pained. "I was hoping to give you a Shooting Star 3001 as a congratulatory present." As he spoke, he pulled out a long case from the floor and brought it up to the desk between him and Jericho. "But if you prefer the 3000 series, that could be arranged as well.

Jericho nodded and filed this bit of information away for future reference. A notion crossed the young man's mind but he wasn't sure if he should say it or not. It seemed too much like when Jericho had been a young boy searching Eden for someone to play with while Corvus and Lilith were otherwise indisposed. "Would you be interested in a friendly race sometime before school starts, then, sir?" he asked, deciding to follow the old saying of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

The young wizard smiled, glad to hear even a man like Corvus kept up with such events. It made the topic easier to discuss. Jericho's expression faltered a little as the other wizard's countenance turned pained. He wondered why...?

A Shooting Star 3001?

Jericho hadn't a clue such a broom existed. However, when Corvus brought the case into view the teenager's eyebrows rose with instant curiosity. "A 3001? I wasn't aware they had made one yet," Jericho admitted. "Might I see it, sir?" The wizard scooted to the edge of his seat and leaned forward to show his interest. He was clearly no longer interested in the 3000 model if there was something better on the market.

Corvus chuckled at the invitation of a race. He hadn't flown on a broom for quite sometime thought that wasn't really a deterrent. "Perhaps when the weather is more agreeable."

Corvus watched Jericho carefully with a slight smirk on his countenance. "But of course, the broom is yours now." Corvus pushed the case closer to Jericho.

"You see, because of the advancement of the 3000 broomstick series, they had initially created the broom itself - as they sell it hundreds of Quidditch stores world wide - more than two years ago. However, before could sell it to the public, they needed to ensure the broom's optimum performance. This prompted a two year - well shall we call it a testing period? - where a hand full of the 3000 broomstick series were distributed discretely to certain individuals to be used at their leisure. During that time, the Shooting Star Company's current chairman, an ambitious fellow, had already set his design team to create another broom, one superior to the broom that they had made the product of which is the broom in your hands."