October 20, 2024 – 7:46 PM
Last modified: October 29, 2024 – 6:37 PM by Samuel Griffith.
Samuel Griffith — Played by Lou
October 5th, 1894 — Prof. Griffith's Office
Alchemy classes were over for the week and Professor Samuel Griffith had cleaned up the classroom and retired to his office. This was a space that had changed considerably since he took up tenure at the school. The circumference of the room expanded by means of magic and held space for many rows of shelves and crates. They contained all the things one needed for the art of alchemy — and of such things, there were many and a great variety. Some were valuable, some were odd, and others were dangerous. There was an odd amount of blood in vials; a surprising number of bones; a locked and chained chest that emitted a threatening glow; tomes adorned with warding glyphs.
Perplexing was also the creature that lived among the shelves and knew them and their contents better than even the alchemist himself — it was a creature made of white candlewax, roughly half the size of a man and of slender figure. Its face was entirely featureless, apart from two indents where the eyes would be on a natural being.
It hovered behind its master. Samuel Griffith was sketching out something complex and circular on a piece of parchment. Upon hearing steps approaching the open door of the classroom, he looked up, expecting to see a student. Instead, he saw Headmaster Black enter his domain.
"Headmaster," Professor Griffith said and stood up. "What affords me the honor of a visit?"
His tone was measuredly neutral. Griffith was a man sharp and tall and, to some, imposing. He looked like he was wrought of ancient bloodlines, but he was not — a fact both he and the headmaster were very acutely aware of. The matter of that and their closeness in age, which meant they had been in Slytherin alongside each other and had some history, perhaps explained the subtle air of disdain that entered the atmosphere with the arrival of Headmaster Black.
October 29, 2024 – 9:30 PM
Phineas Black — Played by MJ
“Standard practice, Griffith,” Phineas drawled, half-entertained by the way the new professor had stood up to attention, and half-irked that Griffith was a few inches taller than him. (Looking down on people was easier when one could physically do it, after all.)
“There’s no need to sweat,” he said, in an oily tone, raking his gaze around the place and over Griffith, more critically than admiring. “It is just important for me to see how each new professorial appointment is shaping up.” And settling in, he might have said, if he were trying to be kind – but he would rather attempt to keep Griffith on his toes.
This was not strictly standard practice; or, at least, Phineas was treating this appointment more seriously than some others. Because alchemy was one of his own preferred subjects, related to Potions, and ought to be accessible to only a brightest and most noble few; because Samuel Griffith was an enigma to him now more than ever, and now that he was a little too close for comfort – encroaching on Phineas’ own territory – he had to make certain he was not to become a rival, or a threat. He glanced along the rows of shelves, and the occasional oddity among them, with a dispassionately-curled lip. “You seem to have made yourself quite at home?”
November 8, 2024 – 1:01 PM
Last modified: November 8, 2024 – 1:02 PM by Samuel Griffith.
Samuel Griffith — Played by Lou
Samuel, who was disquieted by this visit but far from the point of perspiration, stood still at his desk while Headmaster Black looked around at the changes he had subjected this place to.
"Merely a matter of good breeding," he replied to the comment about him having stood up to greet his visitor and looked down at Black with a rather sardonic expression.
"Quite; I have undertaken a few alterations to suit my preferences. I am used to having a rather expansive laboratory at my disposal. Moving was no uncomplicated endeavor," he said measuredly.
Yes, he had made himself at home. The classroom he left as it was, with its whimsical stained windows. It might not be to his taste, but he could see the value in tradition. The old-fashioned quarters of the Alchemy Professor he had thoroughly warped to suit his preferences. The dimensions of the room were changed. It extended magically in directions the tower it was situated in should have no space for.
Some of its areas and contents he had deliberately obfuscated from the direct line of view a visitor would have when entering his space.
He had taken no consideration in thinking about the impression it would make on a man such as Professor Black. He thought now that Black might interpret it as Samuel taking liberties and displaying a certain propensity to feel entitled to rule over what he saw as his domain—he would not be wrong in that assumption.
"How might I be of assistance, Professor Black?" Samuel said, paying lip service to politeness. Manners, in his opinion, were obligatory, even when his guest was one he disdained. And already, he thought, Black was showing himself to be unpleasant.
"Might I offer you something to drink?"
He did not much expect to be taken up on the offer, but he was very content to create an opportunity for Black to be impolite.
December 8, 2024 – 6:13 PM
Phineas Black — Played by MJ
“No, indeed, thank you,” Phineas replied, declining the drink with a wave of his hand. No matter how innocent the question, he simply didn’t trust anything offered to him in an alchemist’s lair. But that was a smaller detail than Griffith’s answer about moving in – was he complaining about the office’s size? Bragging about what he had been better used to?
Phineas was already finding he liked Griffith no better now than he ever had. “But I should like to receive a copy to review of your lesson plans for the year, to see any changes to the curriculum you are making from your predecessor,” he demanded, with a careless wave. (Privately, this was less about what the students were to learn and changes to the curriculum, and more about what Phineas could learn from Griffith’s past career from his inclinations and areas of supposed expertise there.)
“I have to say, I was surprised at your return to Britain after so long abroad,” he added, “and indeed to your return to Hogwarts. What provoked it?” (Failures and ruin in Europe, he rather hoped.) Phineas had only kept up an awareness of the alchemist in the professional spheres – he certainly didn’t care for the man socially – and although the board of governors could approve staff appointments to the school, now that they were under Phineas’ roof he felt quite at liberty to pry.
December 22, 2024 – 12:18 PM
Last modified: December 22, 2024 – 12:20 PM by Samuel Griffith.
Samuel Griffith — Played by Lou
Samuel delayed his answer. His voice remained deliberately measured when he spoke.
"The lesson plans will be on your desk by tomorrow morning. You received my notice about including advanced transmutation in the curriculum, Professor Black?"
Samuel
had informed Headmaster Black about his intentions for the curriculum. He was aware that his predecessors had excluded this form of Alchemy; It was deemed too dangerous for students since it dealt with releasing great quantities of magic in a fashion that was rather difficult to control. However, Professor Griffith had not received any indication that Headmaster Black opposed this change. This, he knew, could mean a number of things:
- Professor Black trusted his ability to keep his students safe and supported ambitious magical endeavors.
- Professor Black did not trust him but he delighted in the possibility of students hurting themselves and he hoped it would get Professor Griffith in trouble.
- He had not read his notice.
- He had read it but not understood what advanced transmutational Alchemy meant and he was too arrogant to ask for clarification.
Except for the first option, any of those could be true, Samuel supposed. He moved away from his desk. His hand reached out to adjust one of the vials on a nearby shelf. The waxen homunculus shifted slightly in the shadows behind him; perhaps it sensed the tension in the room. Samuel turned to face Black.
"As for my return—I have been back in London for a few years. My work in Europe had reached its natural conclusion. I ran a laboratory in Doubt Street for a while. It might have escaped your notice; being headmaster of this institution does remove one from the banalities of life in London. Some of your old friends were my clients," Samuel said and cocked his head slightly to the side. His work in London put him into contact with many of his and Black's old housemates. Pureblood families, despite all their declarations, despised each other almost as much as they despised the lower born and the impure. Of course, there was plenty of gossip about the house of Black, told in the sitting rooms and parlors of the Malfoys and Rosiers and the whole ilk of them. He continued:
"Teaching was not my first consideration, I admit. But I found myself drawn to the possibility of shaping the next generation's understanding of Alchemy. Still too many treat it as parlor tricks—turning lead to gold, and the like." His lip curled at this sentiment.
"I intend to restore respect for the discipline."
He held Black's gaze:
"Unless, of course, you have concerns about my methods of instruction?" The question lingered in the air; the edge beneath the polite tone was barely perceptible.
January 10, 2025 – 12:50 AM
Phineas Black — Played by MJ
Phineas made a noise in his throat, a snort that he had only barely disguised as a cough. What could he say? He simply did not trust the fellow. (Phineas’ instincts had admittedly let him down before – see: his flighty wife – but he trusted them now, that Griffith was a slimy piece of work.)
He had rather wished Griffith would remain in his self-imposed exile on the continent, but of course it was not to be, and the alchemist was back like a bad rash – throwing Phineas’ old friends in his face, apparently. (Fortunately, Phineas had grown up enough since his schooldays that he did not bother with friendships any longer. But he did not appreciate the insinuation that he was removed from the rise and fall of alchemy and arcane magical progress, just because he removed himself from gutter-gossip.)
He nearly snorted again at the thought of Griffith, odd duck that he was, restoring respect for just about anything – but just smirked unpleasantly. Of course he had concerns. “Oh, indeed, I received your notice,” Phineas confirmed, presently trying to recall a single facet of it and failing. “But I must warn you not to get your hopes too high, in this new position of yours – the student body will hardly appreciate your great prowess. Your – advanced curriculum will be quite wasted on them, I think.” Phineas took this as no reflection on his leadership at the school, obviously; seventeen-year-olds were just like that. “Parlor tricks will be all they’re after, I’m afraid.”
Merlin, he so wanted to see Griffith forced to explain the basic tenets to his new classes ad nauseaum, until he lost his mind from boredom: that would be a treat.
January 25, 2025 – 4:55 PM
Samuel Griffith — Played by Lou
"We need to suffer many fools for the few who are worthwhile," returned Samuel with a polite smile. He thought to be suffering a fool, certainly. Once again he questioned how someone like Phineas Black had gotten to be a teacher at all, and to be the headmaster of this institution. The extent of his feeling seemed to be dispassion and displeasure, interspersed by disdain. What had he to offer?
Surely, there must be a more suitable candidate to lead a school of this importance for all of wizarding Britain; someone like himself.
He smiled coldly at Phineas, waiting for him to either find something to complain about, or to turn around and leave.
February 21, 2025 – 1:02 AM
Last modified: February 21, 2025 – 1:02 AM by Phineas Black.
Phineas Black — Played by MJ
Oh, he did not like that smile one bit. Something about Griffith filled him with a kind of implacable fury – if he had had leave and could have dredged up any suitable excuse, Phineas would have dismissed him on the spot. This school was full of fools, and indeed most on his staff roster were well-meaning dullards and dimwits, primed to coddle and congratulate their pupils on mediocrity.
Griffith was no simpleton, much as Phineas yearned to find him so. “Brave words.” So he smiled back – well, his mouth made a thin grimacing line – and continued pretending to survey the office and its contents so that he did not need to look at Griffith directly.
Presently, he did look over again, hands clasped behind his back. “I shall stop in on one or two of your classes this term, I expect,” he declared (this was not the standard procedure for his professors, but he thought it wise to keep the new Alchemy professor on his toes with the possibility. Griffith seemed too full of ego to take the warning for what it was, besides). “I look forward to seeing how you fare.”
Badly, he hoped.
