Slipping out of the castle

It was only the start of term and already Elija needed a break. The crowd of students, the loud buzzing of hundreds of people and even some of the staff were immensely annoying for him and he had to get out for a while to clear his head. So, when he finally managed to get through dinner in the great hall without hexing anyone, Elija slipped out of the entrance of the old castle and swiftly walked towards Hogsmeade. Of course he could have apparated or even summoned a carriage, but the fresh air would help to clear his head and settle his thoughts. The soft breeze of a late summer night was blowing through his dark hair, messing up the normally orderly strands.

From afar he could see some of the older students that were spending the last warm days of the year outside, playing games, chatting and some, wonder oh wonder, were even reading in their textbooks. He nodded to them when they greeted him as he walked past.
The long stroll to the village was spend in contemplation because many things were on his mind. His little Slytherin student that seemed to attract trouble, his work for the order and last but not least his nephew who seemed to be drifting further and further onto the dark side. A sigh escaped Elija as he thought about him. If there was only a way he could get to talk to the boy without revealing anything, but the young Slytherin seemed to be very suspicious. Deciding that he needed a drink, Elija past by several shops before entering the Three Broomsticks, where he ordered a firewhiskey and sat down in a secluded corner.

Sanguini was frustrated as she entered the Three Broom Sticks, the nerve of some of her students. They were so very disrespectful, she admitted that not all of them were disrespectful out loud but their eyes and expressions said everything she needed to know. Not to mention with her keen sense of smell and hearing she could sense even more rolling off of the students. Sometimes she thought this condition was a curse, she didn't want to always know more about people then they were willing to show. So here she was, venturing outside the castle where the smells and sounds that had been assaulting her ears would vary at the very least.

She was just about to take a seat when she noticed a professor from Hogwarts sitting in a corner by himself, Professor Prince if she remembered correctly. She made her way over to his table."Good day to you Professor, would you mind if I joined you?" She asked the man.

Taking a sip of his drink, Elija pulled out an old piece of parchment covered in his neat script and smoothed it out on the wooden table. From this postion in the inn, he had the wall in his back and the door in clear view, as he prefered because he could take in the whole room without turning.
His eyes went back to the writing in front of him and skipped over the words he had noted down, spells, curses and rituals of all natures told of a vast experience and knowledge of the dark arts.

Elija heard someone approaching his table and subtly flicked his hand to make the parchment appear blank and raised his head to face the person standing in front of him.
He raised to his feet and inclined his head, which was his take on a bow, when he recognized his colleague. "Good evening, Professor Hazelwood. Please seat yourself." he said smoothly, pulling out a seat for her.

She felt the distinct use of a spell but said nothing, what ever the man was reading was his own business and he had ever right to his privacy, so she thanked him for pulling out a seat for her and sat down. "How have your first lessons went? I can see we had the same idea and required a break from the castle." She waved down a waiter and requested a drink.

Elija waited till the woman had taken her seat, till he sat down again as well. Taking another sip from his whiskey, he nodded thoughtfully. "So it seems. I'm really not used to being around so many people and especially the children are grating on my nerves." he said, his voice low and slightly tired. "My first lesson was passable, although I had to assign a detention already. Some students just don't know when it's enough." he shook his head, thinking back to the lesson and the two fighting girls.
"How were your classes going? You're teaching two subjects right?" Elija asked her, not sure if he remembered it correctly,

She raised an eyebrow. "Detentions already?" She felt bad for the man if he was already handing out detentions, she hoped she wouldn't end up with students that fight. "Yes I'm teaching two subject, Potions and History of Magic." She sighed and leaned back in her seat a bit, relaxing for the first time in the last few days. "No detentions being handed out from me yet, however I hate seeing the look in their eyes that they are bored or think they know more then I do. I can hear all and any whispering, my heightened senses are torture." She gently swirled her drink and took a sip, setting in back down on the table.

Elija chuckled deeply and said in an amused tone "Yes detention. And it was definitely neccessary for the girl. I'm just very glad that all of my students at least pay attention. It will mostly be the Slytherins and Gryffindors we will have to look out for this year I think."
The whiskey burned pleasantly in his throat and he closed his eyes, relaxing in his chair. "I still have to say that I was quite pleased with the student's participation in my class. I still have some hope for them." he opened his eyes slightly and smirked at his colleague. "Two classes would be too much for me though."
He raised his brow when she talked about hightened senses and leaned forward in his chair. "Heightened senses?" he asked curiously. Elija had already suspected that this woman was not a mere human, but didn't think it polite to inquire about it before.

She studied him and seemed to get an amused look in her eyes. Her mouth turning upward only barely to signify a smile. She didn't realize that all the professor were not made aware of her condition. She only hoped he would take it well, seeing as they were in a public place she wouldn't have to worry about him hexing her if he was offended by such things. "I thought the headmaster would have informed all of the staff, I have made it no secret that I am a vampire." She continued to study him to read his reaction to her words.

Eyes widening slightly, Elija listened to her words. A vampire, now that was interesting, he had met some in his life and it was always an experience he remembered. Leaning back in his chair again, he studied his colleague with new found interest. "That's ... fascinating. I must have missed this announcement, but then again I tend to drift off during staff meetings from time to time." he said chuckling. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but when have you been bitten? Was it a long time ago? You don't seem to have a problem with it, so I suspect that it has been some time already." he looked at her intendly, hoping to not have been too pushy, but he couldn't help himself. He always needed to get as much information as posssible.

Her smile widened, his interest, almost eager questioning only fueled her amusement. She was rarely met with excitement when she announced what she was, yes there was always questions but it usually came from the fear she would hurt someone. " I was turned around the age of thirty, and I am currently over eighty years old. so indeed I have had time to adjust to this way of living. It does take a while to get used to." She tilted her head to the side. "I actually don't know if the Headmaster told the staff or not, perhaps he did. I must admit I would of thought there would of been some fear, it would have been understandable. But I can not smell or detect any fear of me from you. That is most surprising. Have you perhaps met some of my kind before?"

Nodding his head in thought, as his colleague told him a bit of her turning, Elija could only try to imagine how she must have felt after realizing what had happened. Many questions were spinning around in his head, had she known what was going to happen, had she maybe even wanted to be turned? Or had she been attacked?
Elija almost missed her next words, so deep he was in his thoughts. His head snapped up and he looked into her eyes steadily.
An amused smile slipped onto his face and he laughed lowly. "Fear? Oh no, I'm not scared. I have meet your kind before and I found that they are not more or less violent than the average human being. And I'm quite proficient at defending myself, so I'm not scared." he told her chuckling. "Have you often the problem of being faced with fear when others find out about your nature?" he asked interestedly.

She smirked "You are not concerned at all for your safety? Well perhaps I should be hissing or baring my fangs more. I have a reputation to keep up you know?" She teased him playfully. In all honest it would be nice to have a friend among the staff she could trust and talk with. So far talking with the man came naturally. However trust was something harder to give and even harder to believe in. "And yes, I have seen the end of a wand many times in my face, I am very accurate in deflecting spells as a result.

Smirking at his colleague, Elija said smoothly "No, not at all concerned, though I'd be interested in seeing you baring your fangs at me.' He chuckled at the thought of her climbing over the table with elongated teeth to threaten him. No doubt she would look quite impressive doing so, he thought smiling to himself.
Working next to a vampire was surely going to be interesting and so far it looked as if this term wasn't to be as boring as he first thought. At least the outlook was improving somewhat.
"It's a shame how ignorant uneducated people can be." Elija drawled. "Though I'm sure you are capable of standing up for yourself, it's still sad to see prejudices colour people's interaction with each other." He said and raised his glass to take another sip.

"Perhaps I will save it for another time when we are some where less public. "She grinned. "So ask it of me another time." She was actually enjoying herself which was a rare thing she found in a persons company. She nodded at his statement. "You seem very educated for someone who is as young as you are, it's quite surprising yet refreshing. I look forward to conversing or perhaps even debating with you in the future. I have nothing against any of the other professors but some of them seem so very dull." She meant it not to offend but simply being that she was older and had seen many things, and no doubt would outlive most people she met, which made it difficult to find anything interesting to keep her attention.

Her words amused Elija immensely. Luckily, she didn't seem to be the type, easily offended by his sense of humour, instead giving it right back to him.
"I will definitely have to remember that." he told her smirking. "And I take that as a complement. I'm not that young, though I guess to you it must seem that way. I spend the last years since my graduation at Hogwarts with my studies and I also travelled quite a bit to see more of the world than just england and scotland which are beautiful countries, but I don't like to limit myself in any way." he said intently. Unlike most Ravenclaws, he did not like to be locked away in a library, but enjoyed to be outside and experience as many things as he could.
Her comment about their colleagues made him laugh and nod slightly. "I have to agree. Most of them seem to focus on ... shall we say rather superficial things."

She nodded. "Yes, and that poor new professor was so nervous at the feast, have you talked to her lately? I wonder how her first lesson went. Hopefully the students won't take advantage of her kind nature." Sanguini looked down at her glass and noticed it was empty. "You know..I can eat and drink, similar to a normal witch or wizard, however I have found that it is mostly out of habit or for appearance. I no longer find food satisfying. It can be a disappointment sometimes." She frowned and tried to think if she could even remember the sweetness of apples, or the burn of fire whiskey as it should be. Tastes were now dull, barely whispers of flavor on her tongue if any at all.

Elija snorted with laughter as he remembered their colleague. "I agree, the woman was rather nervous. Unfortunatley, I have not had the time to talk to her again, although I did want to do so..." he trailed off. He could remember his impression of the woman and his thought that there might be more to her than just excitement and nervousness.
Raising his brow slightly, he listend to her words. "Mhm ... that must be weird. Eating without tasting. I can hardly imagine how that must be." he told her honestly. Elija enjoyed good food and drinks, especially when his personal houself prepared it. "A disappointment ... yes, I guess that would be so."
He looked at her intrigued. "So the only taste you have is blood?"

She looked up and met his eyes. "Really? Why did you want to talk to her again?" She was curious as to why he would want to converse with her. Did he find her that interesting? She did admit to herself at the welcoming feast that she was amusing but amusing enough to seek out for another conversation she hadn't decided. "Ah yes, the only thing I can really taste is blood." She smiled. "However to a vampire not all blood is the same. I can tell the differences between human and animal. And no one's blood tastes exactly the same. It is no joke when I tell you that some people taste good and some taste bad" She laughed softly.

Smirking slightly, Elija nodded at her. "Oh yes, I did want to talk to her again... Have you not noticed the way she behaved when our dear colleague..." he drawled the word "dear" sarcastically, as he didn't much like the woman so far, "Walburga entered the hall? She became so stil and tense... and the way she mixed up her house's name? I don't know about you, but it would never happen to me. I think every child knows the founders by heart, yet she didn't get them right."
He shrugged "I just sensed a puzzle and I love puzzles." Elija told her and smirked again.
Her words spiked his interest again. He had always wondered how blood would taste for a vampire. To him, it all just tasted like warm iron, but to her it must be completetly different. "That's immensely interesting, you know? Why do you think you can taste a difference? Do you think that the person's magic might colour their blood? Or even their character?" Questions were spilling out of him again, but really, she shouldn't have given him a starting point like that, he thought.

"Yes, no one would dare mess up there own house's name. I had found that very strange. Did she even attended Hogwarts? Perhaps she attended a different school? Although that wouldn't explain her reaction to Walburga at all.." She trailed off then addressed him in an accusing tone. "Now see what you did? You have me thinking of it and curious as well!" She laughed.
"I suppose since my senses are heightened my taste is as well, well my taste of blood since that is all I crave. And I can tell a lot from someone's blood, blood is your DNA. It holds the secrets of who you are, and for a vampire the spilling of your blood can spill your secrets as well." Her gaze never wavered from his. "It isn't a hundred percent accurate mind you, but even magic levels can be sensed in blood. Not to a fledgling though, no, you have to be more experienced and in tune then that. Some never get a knack for it, or find it a waste of time to dwell on it and favor only focusing on the fact that it is food."

An amused smirk slipped onto Elija's face while he listened to his colleague's own thoughts and he laughed along with her at her accusong tone. "Yes, I'm horrid, I apologize." he said with a slight sarcastic undertone.
"I really need to get to the bottom of this, otherwise I won't be able to rest my mind..." he told her, shaking his head, slightly annoyed with himself and his endless curiosity.
Elija was amazed by what she told him about her sense of taste. It was impressive that she could tell by the blood of a person so much about their magical strenght and ability.
"Fascinating... truely fascinating..." he mumbled more to himself than anyone else. "So would you also be able to tell the intend and nature of the magic as well? Say, would a death eater's blood taste different from someone of the light sight?" he asked her interestedly.