Bloise Chang

Bloise had always been a welcome company. Although he seemed too formal for Marlene’s liking, he was nothing short than a genius when it came to potions and, because of this, she had spent a lot of her spare time at Hogwarts trying to soak up his knowledge. Potions and dueling were two different goliaths of discipline and, although Bloise had been patient ( at the best of times ), it was not something Marlene had excelled at. Still, she would always remember how he indulged her quest to become a well-rounded witch and, during that time, the two had become closer than most of her fellow Ravenclaws. 

Marlene followed him dutifully into his shop, a sort of shame weighing heavily on her shoulders as she considered the potential tragedy that Bloise had saved her from. She had been reckless, fueled by emotions that she normally kept buried deep beneath poise and, had it not been for his intervention, a whole host of things could have happened to her. At this comment, although it was more of an astute observation than a question, Marlene felt that he was owed an explanation for his heroism.

“Aye..” she trailed off, judging how honest she could and should be with him. One one hand, Marlene was sure he could be trusted with her truth but did she want him to see that side of her? She took a moment and wandered the familiar shop, taking a small vial in hand and reading the label that was indicative of his neat and flourishing handwriting before setting it down; deciding that she had stalled long enough Marlene sighed. “I don’t know. I just feel like I… never mind,” she finished abruptly, turning on a hundred pound smile and turning it’s brilliance upon Bloise to try and avoid the conversation.

“So! What are you working on that you had to take a jaunt all the way to Knockturn Alley?”

Bloise used his formality like a shield, it protected him and protected the others around him from his own actions. He knew there was a great deep-seated rage inside of him, one he couldn’t control that could be disastrous, letting it out in small bursts when he could was the only way to ensure everyone else could be kept safe. The same had been true back in school, his manners, his aloof nature, they were all there to keep his temper in check and not for some strategic need to be popular; as it happened he’d just ended up being the object of his fellow students’ admiration and romantic interests.    

Bloise watched her like a hawk. Having placed his own shopping down behind the counter he awaited and explanation and almost got one, until Marlene seemed to collapse on the idea and make a brave attempt at changing the subject. He watched her for a moment, “Hmm,” he made the small noise, let the silence stretch on and answered her question. “Wolfsbane. I required a large amount rather quickly and conventional sources proved unfruitful.”

He paused a moment, eyes continuing to rest steadily and heavily upon Marlene before continuing, “However, you’ll find I am not so easily distracted from the true topic at hand which would be your temper nearly wrecking itself upon a rude individual in Knockturn Alley. That place is dangerous, its inhabitants all the more so. You are not a helpless person Ms McKinnon but I never thought you reckless. Unless something has pushed you to be so.” he deductions were all spoken in a soft, logical tone, not accusatory so much as proving several facts.

She hid a smile at his noncommittal response. She was well aware of how Bloise and her brother knew each other. It interested her that he had wanted to join the Order and fight. He was a quiet man, and more soft spoken than others. Unassuming. But the Order needed people like that too. They couldn’t all be hot heads.

Amelia fell in behind Bloise, glad to get to what she had really come here for. Not that she didn’t enjoy speaking with him and catching up. In times like these, Amelia felt it was more important than ever to check in on people. But she had other things to do, and staying here too long made her antsy. Opened her up to more questions about why she needed more sleeping draught. 

She had waited as long as she could before coming to ask again, and tried her home remedies. But she longed to slip into blissful dreamlessness and shut off her brain. The abyss was an attractive place these days. 

“You’re out of your regular stock? Must be in demand,” she commented as she followed him to the workroom. Again, her interest was caught. She liked to see how things were done, and watching Bloise’s exact preparations would be educational as well as enjoyable.

Bloise had spent a great amount of time schooling himself to following discretion of valour and keeping his temper in check. It was somewhat legendary and had run rampant in his younger years. At least now he had some coping mechanisms to try and ensure it wouldn’t worry his sister or cause problems for others.

Usually such times of ‘coping’ involved him sparring with training dummies or mannequins until his hands were beaten bloody... More than once he’d slipped to St. Mungo’s it was so bad. They hadn’t asked many questions but Bloise was pretty sure ‘a potioneering accident’ would only be accepted so many more times. There was little else he could do though, for now it was all he had.

“There are several people who have a need of an easy night’s sleep these days.” he said with a small nod as he led her to the backroom and gestured to a stool she could sit on while he worked.

Perhaps she wanted the conflict, wanted to find something that made sense and, seeing as how pain and death was all that she had been accustomed to, maybe that was exactly what Marlene was looking for. The man was much larger than she was, twice her size in every way, but she didn’t back down. Her wand was gripped from beneath the fabric of her sleeve, white-knuckled and waiting, but what she didn’t expect was for one Bloise Chang to come rounding the corner to place a hand on her shoulder. He could tell that she was tense by the way that her body jumped at the sentiment, her hard eyes softening as she looked up at him as both saviour and distraction. 

Did she truly need this?

She didn’t know what it was about Bloise but he immediately served to soothe the situation and the man who Marlene was sure was not one to retreat, quickly shuffled down the darkened alley until it was only the two of them back. She had always admired him for his potion affinity and his poise, as if he could simply glide through a situation unscathed. 

Reluctantly her wand was tucked deeper into her sleeve and she lightened at the end of a sigh, her body turning to face him before she nodded in agreement and moved to start the walk towards Slug & Jiggers. There was silence as they marched, at least at first, until Marlene found the words that would diffuse the situation. 

“Didn’t take you for one to frequent these parts, Chang.”

Bloise saw the immediate situation was dealt with and watched the other man walk away. He knew how skilled Marlene was, he was no duellist (though he considered himself more competent than most when it came to combative magic) but Bloise was well aware that Marlene would likely school him if she were ever to fight him seriously. He let out a quiet breath and began to lead the way towards Slug and Jiggers. Despite what’d just happened he was still completely calm, Bloise had a legendary temper if pushed to that point but he preferred not to burden other’s with his own emotional issues if he could avoid it. So he kept them pushed down as best he could and it worked very well... Until it didn’t. Then he beat his hands bloody on a training mannequin.

“Knockturn Alley does have its uses.” he told her softly as they moved through the less reputable crowd. “Despite it’s proclivity towards the illicit there are several traders here who manage to access ingredients which would take me months to acquire on a regular basis.” And they sold them at a fair price.

Usually, he’d have preferred the genuine channels but the needs of the Order couldn’t wait; they required his potions to ensure that as many bases were covered as possible. Right now, he’d required a large amount of high quality wolfsbane and could not risk waiting for his other suppliers.    

If he were bring truly honest, Bloise had given Caradoc up for dead a month ago. He wasn’t overly close with the man but he’d often delivered him ingredients and considered him a brother in arms due to their shared alliance in the Order. But, he was a private man. He’d grieved behind closed doors, even lit a candle in the other’s name and burned it full, then worked to move on with his life, all the more determined to see the monster’s who killed him pay.

Only... he wasn’t dead. The man had likely wished he was several times judging by the little he’d heard; he’d spent a hard day’s sparring to work through the small amount of news he’d been given. But what stuck with him most was the other’s new state: a werewolf.

He didn’t hold it against Caradoc, but the other now needed something specific, something he could provide: Wolfsbane Potion. It was complex and he’d not made it before but he’d studied up, using his own money to order extra ingredients and eventually managed to make several cauldron’s full of it.

He’d brought half a dozen small bottles with him as he was escorted to the other’s room and tensed at the sight of him, still sleeping but so far from the vibrant man he’d dealt with. Bloise sat rigid in the chair, not making a sound save the gentle scratch of a quill on parchment as he wrote out instructions to go with the potions he’d made, intending to leave those with Caradoc and not take up his time until he saw an eye crack open and look at him.

where: knockturn alley when: may 2nd, dusk who: any and all !

Marlene had been left numb, wandering without any true destination because, as adamantly as she denied her own heart’s journey, she could not go to the place where she was needed. The news of Doc’s discovery, and the circumstances surrounding it was kept under the strictest confidence, and it had only been due to her insistence and history that she had been told; she left Moody with a promise of secrecy but, when the whole world teetered on crumbling foundations, where did one go to seek refuge?  

The small redhead narrowly avoided the lumbering shoulders of passersby, uncaring if she made rough contact with elbows that caused her to wince with the sharp brilliance of pain … she barely felt a thing. Her feet were weary but she didn’t stop, simply clutched her robes tighter to her slender frame and continued forward, allowing the darkened alleyways with it’s twists and turns consume her. Everything was in cool contrast to how she felt, a supernova of emotions and anxieties all compressed and angry with no way of escape, and it was entirely her fault. There was no appropriate outlet, no one single person she could call and let forth a stream of emotional conscience that would save her from inner turmoil. There was only a select few and they were either unavailable, currently compromised themselves, or dying in a hospital bed.

The final contact of shoulder meeting chest was rough and it nearly pushed the air from Marlene’s lungs. Gasping she whipped around with a fury, hands clenched into tight balls as she all but marched back to catch up with her unwitting assailant to grab them by the elbow roughly. 

“Do they not teach manners where you’re from or would you prefer I teach you some?”

Bloise didn’t frequent Knockturn Alley often, he’d never cared for the place but sometimes needs must and certain ingredients for more complex potions often found their way into the sordid hands of those who frequented the place before he could order them. So he needed to venture into the alley and purchase as much as possible to avoid making another trip anytime soon. Niniane often offered to go for him but he’d sooner let her into Azkaban then go to Knockturn Alley on an errand.

It had been a successful venture though. Bloise had several loaded bags clutched tightly in one wrist and was making his way through the packed alley back the Slug & Jiggers when he heard a noise a little further ahead and looked up to see a familiar figure accosting a rather portly looking Wizard demanding an apology. Bloise took in a quiet breath, Knockturn Alley was not a smart place to begin a fight in and one could very soon escalate if not dealt with. Bloise hated getting involved in such things but he marched a swift path towards the pair and placed a gentle hand on Marlene’s shoulder before speaking.

“Manners cost nothing and I think it would be prudent to offer my friend an apology Sir, believe me when I say she could very easily blast you back to Diagon without a moments pause.” he never raised his voice, if anything it was softer than most but ever since he was a child Bloise hadn’t spoken very much, so when he did people tended to listen and the same was true here. The unattractive man seemed to deflate from his growing irritation as Bloise cooly watched and muttered out a half-hearted ‘sorry’ before huffing off back down into the further darkness of the alley.

“That’s kind of you. I agree that it would be exhausting, and I don’t know that I’d like to make a profession out of it,” she replied, shaking her head. It was an important part of Amelia’s day to day life and job, to be sure, but she also got to work with people whom she could be honest and open with, and that was important to her.

While Amelia’s family had always encouraged lively discourse, she had been raised to maintain a certain level of propriety outside of her home. The Ministry had introduced her to people who didn’t care about small talk, and who encouraged her to be herself with them. Of course, there were always those she still had to remain guarded with, but that was just life. 

“He is,” Amelia nodded. “By a couple years.” She was glad they were so close in age…so close in general. Life without Edgar was unimaginable to Amelia, and yet, something she found herself imagining on a regular basis in her dreams. It was partly why she was there. 

“I was hoping you could make up another sleeping draught for me,” she said, her meandering ending in front of his counter. 

“I would rather loose a limb myself.” People seemed to think (especially in school) that Bloise was cool because he was quiet, polite and excelled at pretty much all subjects. When he spoke other’s tended to listen but that didn’t mean he enjoyed having eyes o himself all the time.

So, it was easier to only talk when necessary. Ironically that had only increased the amount of attention people paid him when he talked... Still, he supposed it could’ve been worse. “That’s why I like it here. My sister is very good with people, she thrives on conversation.” he smiled softly, talking about Niniane always seemed to bring that little smile to his face.

“Yes, I’ve met him once or twice.” Bloise supposed it wasn’t technically a lie, but it wasn’t his place to tell Amelia about The Order; if anything he understood the deep need to keep a sister as safe as possible during these times.

Alastor fought the urge to roll his eyes. He has hardly a customer, given their affiliation with each other but regardless, Bloise’ proprietary made all the sense in the world. “We’re alone, aren’t we?” He asked with a wink, slipping hands into his pockets and stepping closer to the workbench where Bloise was stationed. “Absolutely I can wait.” Where else would he go? Home? To an empty bed with walls that threatened to close in on him any chance they had?

Minerva couldn’t leave the grounds save for school holidays and he could only visit so much during the week, an allowance provided to him by Dumbledore- one he really shouldn’t have. So long as he moved mostly unseen, and stayed in her chambers, they were safe. Mostly because he was an exception to an incredibly strict rule. 

“How have things been? Busy?” Slug and Jitter’s was always quite the successful little shop, but with the way things have been going of late… the wizarding world was keeping to their homes more and more for fear of the Rebellion and the things they were capable of…

“We are, but I respect your opinion and I wouldn’t want you to suspect I do nothing back here except badmouth my customers between brewing, Sir.” he said quietly. When the other agreed to wait Bloise nodded and moved through the workroom with a grace born from familiarity. He deftly grabbed several phials from the shelves, holding them between his fingers and used his free hand to grab his wand from the table. “Incendio” he soft command set a merry fire brewing beneath the cauldron.

Dirk poured the contents in and used his wand to add a little water then tapped the cauldron to start it stirring. A sleeping draught was easy enough, just a few more things. He took lavender sprigs and gently dropped them in, nodding as the potions turned it’s signature purple colour and began to thicken a little more.

“And you’d know all about that,” she said, gesturing to the scales that carefully weighed out the potions ingredients. If there was one place that required balance, it was the potions lab. 

She smiled as he went on, essentially proving they were on the same page. Life was all about balance, though unfortunately, it was not often as easy as balancing between a mere two things. No, there were many different things that claimed Amelia’s time and attention, all of often equal importance (and all of high importance themselves). 

“I think it really is a learned skill,” she replied. “Though there are those to whom it seems to come naturally as well.” Amelia could talk about things she was interested in or passionate about, but getting to that point in the conversation could be difficult and tedious. She was always so afraid of saying the wrong thing as well. Often it was easier to let the other person lead the conversation. Amelia often learned more by listening anyway. 

“Edgar,” she nodded, confirming. “It’s too true, I suppose. I’m just glad I’m not in business with my brother. Then we really might just kill each other.” It was an over exaggeration, of course, but having a sister himself, Amelia was sure Bloise would understand.

Bloise smiled softly and nodded hie head, looking at the perfectly balanced scales before returning his gaze to Amelia.

“You’re correct. Balance is an important thing for me, in my work and in my life. It helps makes things easier.” Bloise had found that repeatable schedules and routine did wonders for keeping his emotions levelled and keeping him from falling too deeply into any of his own feelings.

“Perhaps you’re right. In that case it’s a skill I have little interest in developing outside of a select group of people.” Amelia was one of those for her politeness if nothing else. He could and would offer input about subjects with which he was familiar, but outside of that why would he bother unless he had to. “I think it’s a rather exhausting affair, but credit to those who’ve made it their trade.”

Alastor glanced at the younger wizard, the ghost of a grin flickering across his features. “Touche, my friend.” Cases were never just cases. They all affected him, the question was merely, how deeply. The one he was handling right now? It was up there, one of his worst and the reason the Auror had darkened the doorstep of Bloise’s business.

There were many he could turn too but none quite so discreet, none who would do as he asked without asking more in return. “Yes well, I don’t blame you. People suck.” It was a petty response but his mood was as dark as his aura tonight and honestly, if he weren’t so desperate for some kind of relief, he wouldn’t be in the presence of another at all.

“I need… a potion.” A sleeping draught, in fact. The Auror reached for an idle object on the shelf closest to him, a vial of some description. He didn’t bother reading the label, merely thumbed it between his fingers. “I just need… peace.” That was the most he was willing to admit out loud, but Bloise had known him long enough to know what he was after… “Do you have anything readily available? If not, I can come back.”

Bloise inclined his head slightly, though he didn’t smile in return. It was no disrespect to the older man, Bloise just wasn’t a man who smiled often, he preferred to keep all his emotions muted unless he lost control; and it wouldn’t do for something like that to happen anytime soon, there were too many counting on his skills.

The next response did gain a small, surprised curl of his lips, “I wouldn’t dare put it so bluntly in front of a potential customer, Sir.” he said after a moment’s pause, thought he did quite agree. People were messy and complex and rarely held to formulas. Potions though, made sense, follow a recipe and you’ll have a finished concoction turn out perfectly.

For a moment Minerva’s mind drifted to Alastor. The fact that he was out there in the thick of everything gave her so much anxiety but still she put forth a face of contentment and control. He was powerful, and he was good at his job — probably the best that ever was — but she still had her fears, because more than anything… she knew her own limits.

If something happened to him? She wouldn’t survive it mentally, even if she continued to move forward physically.

“None of us can ask anything of the other. We are bound by duty and our commitment to this cause, but it doesn’t mean that even if you tell me you can’t ask me that I won’t. She’s your sister; your blood. I get that… but she’s one of the many I’m fighting for — one of the many I’ve sworn to die to protect — so please don’t tell me you can’t ask me to do something I’m going to do anyway.” Minerva would come to be known for that expression; the one that accepted no rebuttal and was final in its posture. She was who she was for a reason.

“But,” she continued, offering a shake of her head, “I won’t stop you from keeping an eye on your sister as well, only remind you that if you let yourself get tangled up like that, something worse could happen in your rage. If someone notices how you react in these situations, they’ll use against you, Bloise.”

She didn’t reach a hand out to touch him again, instead, she stared blank-faced and resolute at him, exhaling slowly, “We all have a lot to lose, and I don’t want any of us to have to actually sacrifice in that way. We will, but I’ll fight tooth and nail so we don’t.”

Bloise had always been fiercely independent, even as a student he’d hated group work, preferring to work alone and still hand a complete piece in since relying on someone else to do their part of the work seemed like opening himself up for a lesser mark when that person underperformed in their role.

Only his sister was exempt from this judgement. He trusted her and knew she’d never let him down, they worked well together.

He looked down at the other’s words and sighed quietly, “Yes Ma’am.” he said quietly, “I’m sorry for the inclination of your capabilities and dedication.” Though he hadn’t really overstepped that far. “Just because I worry for my sister does not mean I won’t completely work to do all I can for every other order member and the civilians we’re trying to protect.” His determination to try and help as many as he could was one more aspect of his behaviour that led to his lack of sleep. But, the results were good, even if his self care could do with some improvement.    

“I am adept at containing my emotions, Professor.” he said with a small nod, “I’ve had a great deal of practice at containing them when it is appropriate to do so and letting them out when I may.” he gestured at his hands, “No one was supposed to see this. I would not have acted out if I’d known you had been close by.”

A letter to Bloise’s old Jiu Jitsu teacher.