Private Message to Professor Dolohov

[alt_justin]

Professor,

Thank you again for the loan of the books and for the pleasant afternoon's conversation last week. I'm quite enjoying the D'Angier-LeBrun, what; his depictions of the use of battle magic on a mid-19^th century campaign are jolly well evocative. And it's been some time since I had a chance to read in French. I've gone through the first three exercises on the Arabic figures, as well. I'm afraid I've not yet started Norton's Impractical Duellist but I expect to get to it by Thursday or Friday.

I hope you spent a pleasant Easter Sunday and Monday. (I had meant to look for a modest service in New London but didn't find one to my liking. I expect it's even more difficult for Eastern Orthodox, what. Perhaps by next year I shall have found a parish. Though I'm aware that's not fashionable in the Protectorate, it somehow feels wrong not to go a few times a year.)

I say, I had a question related to our project for the end of term. I was flipping through ibn Waḥšīya's Commentaries and I know we've not covered Essay #24 yet, but, as you know, our group work figures heavily on Calidus' instruction regarding the use of compulsion magic in combination with elemental intensifiers, so I thought I'd see what ibn Waḥšīya had to say on earth elements. But in the third section--I say, it seems as if it could be a translation irregularity. He's discussing the effect that certain wand woods (oak, thorn and yarrow, specifically) may have when the spell being attempted also includes metalliferous components (iron, for the most part, what, but also in certain cases silver or gold). Footnote number 17 mentions using quartz as a focus to balance the effect, but, I say, from the context, I wonder if it's more accurately translated as any sort of crystal? If it's an accurate translation then could you provide any insight as to why aiming the spell through quartz would produce a more reliable, powerfully-focused spell than, say, diamond or glass? (One can well understand why a coloured stone would taint the result, what, but it would seem that if clarity is desired, any type of clear crystal would do. Quartz is notoriously not perfectly clear, however, which makes one wonder why it would intensify the spell effect or nullify the interaction of iron with a wand of yarrow, for example.)

You see my confusion, what.

Perhaps there's another resource that addresses this same anomaly? If so, I should be very interested in reading it. I'm sure it will be pertinent to at least a portion of our survey.

Looking forward to your answer,

-Finch-Fletchley

Comments

[alt_antonin]

You are quite welcome, Mr Finch-Fletchley. Should you run out of reading material before the end of the week, do feel free to let me know; I would be happy to have you back for further exploration of the parts of the library we did not reach due to the distractions of our conversation.

I did have a pleasant Easter Sunday, yes; I trust yours was likewise pleasant, though I suppose holidays do bring home your separation from your family. Christmas and Easter, as well as several holidays you have likely never heard of but that my mother's family celebrates, are always bittersweet for me for that reason.

Still: Христос Воскресе. (You may consider that a challenge to decipher the meaning.)

I do know of a Church of England congregation that continues to worship in New London whose observations are not entirely watered down; I shall provide you the address. You are correct that I am, to my great sorrow, one of the few Russian Orthodox faithful remaining in the Protectorate, and have not been able to attend a proper Divine Liturgy since my return, but they have made me welcome enough on the occasions I have joined them.

As to your inquiry: you have rediscovered a question that occupied many fine minds throughout the 18^th century. As it happens, the translation is accurate; several scholars likewise questioned whether other clear crystalline structure might do better, and the great minds of the Arts spent a good thirty years experimenting with all sorts of options. To everyone's surprise, the only material that performed even remotely as well as quartz was a particular variety of achroite tourmaline. No one has ever been able to explain those results satisfactorily; the conclusion, after quite a great deal of ink had been spilled in the analysis, was that the interaction depends on some factor we have yet to be able to measure.

That conclusion having been reached, most practitioners simply accept it and move on; to the best of my knowledge it has not been revisited in centuries, nor has the vast majority of the work been re-done under more modern methods of measurement and observational rigour, although I believe the Department of Mysteries has been making motions in that direction recently. Should you be looking for a question to study in more depth for your research project next year, I would be pleased to accept a proposal to -- at the very least -- rerun the experiments that were previously conducted, to see what further research might be warranted. I cannot say that Mysteries would be willing to be forthcoming without certain guarantees of confidentiality, but I would be happy to speak to some of my contacts there and see if there were any modern reference they were willing to part with.

Material interaction and magical focus is not my speciality, but I do believe I have some references beyond the 18^th century academic slapfight (which is worth studying if for no other reason than to be amused by it). I'll turn them up and pass them along when we return for next term.

In service,
A.

[alt_justin]

Professor,

I say, I had no idea I was opening a two-century old debate! It does sound well intriguing, but I've a feeling other subjects for research will present themselves with more immediate practical application, if you follow me.

I would like the name of the parish, but it's interesting you should think I miss my old life. I say, that's not precisely the case. Naturally one is not immune to nostalgia, what, for some of the amenities which were readily available outside the Protectorate. But I assure you, despite my current--disappointments--I am still jolly thankful to have found my true homeland. I shall always be grateful to my mother, regardless of her defect, for providing me a fine early education and many material advantages. But, in the end, we both knew there were more important things she could never provide. So it was only right to leave. Indeed, it already seems a lifetime ago.

I rather doubt I shall need more material before our return to school but perhaps if there are titles you think would make a good sequel to my current selections, you'd be kind enough to bring them? I presume I am to continue in your office during the evenings, so with your permission, I could exchange these volumes for new ones then.

-Finch-Fletchley

[alt_antonin]

No, of course I was not intending to imply you regretted your decision -- not in the least; you are clearly thriving here. Only that one's thoughts, on holidays, inevitably turn to the absent friends and missing family with whom one would once have celebrated the holiday. Or mine do, at least.

I do not doubt you have been collecting a number of questions that are worth further exploration as you go, and yes, you strike me as the sort of scholar who prefers his research to have immediate tangible benefit. (An attitude I have learnt, despite it not being my natural inclination; in another world I would alternate teaching with burying myself in research so arcane less than a dozen people could even follow the formulation of the question. But this is not that world, and what I have been called to suits me well enough.) Still, if you are interested in following the question a little, you may find it is less academic and more practical than you might think.

I will bring a collection of things you might enjoy reading. Our evening sessions will indeed continue -- for your own protection as much as disclipline, I trust you understand -- and I see no reason why you ought not make free of the library while you are there.

In service,
A.