"Perhaps, Professor Erickson, that is a reason for you to revisit your own lesson as you have had your students do." Apedemak waited for the Professors lead in the conversation. It was not wholly appropriate for them to be talking so candidly about Armand's past; but, he had opened the door and Apedemak would certainly not prove to be wanting in any regard. His golden eyes stared patiently at the Herbology Professor.

"It has been a consideration, though it would mean for care of two of the plants afterward. As is, I may have my hands full with multiples from other students who do not wish to keep theirs. I may do so one day, however. The arrangement of the petals may be interesting. The point, however, is that what is reflected in the soul mirror is fairly basic. The base of your personality... personalities... and those things which leave a mark on your soul. You can see, for instance, that both of us are divided, though in different ways. You and I, we already know this about ourselves. Others may not, and we may not wish them to know, lest we need to explain it. Very few find themselves horribly shocked by what the plant reveals about themselves. But what it reveals to others is why it winds up locked away."

-------------------

After class Armand pulled Cassandra into his office, shutting and locking the door, throwing up several wards. Most of which he and Slade had created together. He made his way to his desk and brought out a bag of runes. They seemed the same that were used for divination, though he carefully chose them and laid them in a pattern around his office. After a few minutes, the walls shimmers and he seemed to somewhat relax. "Let's start basic..." He pulled a key with a green ribbon from his pocket and unlocked the safe which held his konkagami. He pulled his plant out and set it on his desk, then turned and locked the safe again. No need to reveal Apedemak's unnecessarily.

Cassandra watched carefully as to which runes the professor was laying. She looked around her as the room shimmered... then her eyes fell onto the plant he had removed from the safe. She tilted her head to one side like a bird and looked at it. Maybe it was the lighting, but it seemed much darker than hers... or Xana's. It was fascinating... so many colors... Cassandra began thinking of the meaning of the colors and her breathing slowed a lot. She turned to her professor, looking to in his eyes for a moment, before she said, "It doesn't frighten me, if that's what you thought."

As she looked at the plant he pulled a pensieve from his desk. "No, but it shows you what you're getting into," he said as he flicked his wrist, taking his wand into his hand. "And this..." he said, as he pulled a strand of memory and dipped it into the bowl, "is to show you why neither you nor Xana is ready to deal with this." He pulled two others and dropped them into the pensieve. "And no, Xana doesn't know about any of this." He made his way around his desk, sitting and leaving Cassandra to view the memories... of the werewolf, the muggles, and Goya.

Cassandra looked over to Erikson and said "Very well..." She touched the shimmering fluid with her hand and was transported into the Professor's memory.

As she watched the first two scenes unfold, her body tightened and cringed, but she stayed in the the memories, not withdrawing from them. As she watched Goya however, her skin turned white as a sheet, and she pulled away from the pensieve with a scream of agony havinging seen that horrible display of... power.

Armand, meanwhile, had been thinking of what she was seeing. His expression turned cold as he pushed away all emotion, not wanting to deal with any of it again. When Cassandra pulled away with a scream, he stood, moving over to the pensieve, taking the memories back. "That may not even be the worst of it," he said, his voice quiet and strained. "Slade and I were completely powerless. Us, who have had far more training than you, who have had far more... experiences than you. I can't have that happening to you, Cassandra. None of it. I don't want you in our place, I don't want you in Kellein's place. I want you out of it. Completely, if I can so help it. I want you close enough that I can keep an eye on you and make sure you aren't in The Game, but I want you far enough away that I don't have to see you in such horrific situations. Do you understand now?"

Cassandra nodded. She understood now. Kellein... poor sweet Kellein... If only Alex knew... NO! "You need to remove any trace of Kellein's death from me!" She was frantic now... "Please... I have been practicing occlumency, but if Alex... I... if I'm off guard... please professor." She walked up close to him. "I will need to remember this conversation, just not the image of Kellein. Please." She pleaded with him.

He nodded, pulling his wand. As he altered her memory, he was careful to leave most of her memory intact, including that she knew there was something she did not want to remember. As far as she was concerned, it was because the memory was far too much for her to handle, rather than for the sake of Alex. But the memory if that particular time in the pensieve was now gone. "The knowledges involved... I've also been trying to keep Xana from those. She is not ready for them, and every time we have tried to talk to her about it, she's tried to run, escape. Which is bad because with Slade gone, I am supposed to be her counsel. Thus my closeness to her." He considered slightly. Perhaps if Cassandra seemed useful enough... Thanatos may know it all already, but on the off-chance... "We are attempting to make up, however. It seems to be going well," he lied.

"I am glad things are going well, professor." She said still a little shook up. "Professor, I... I don't know what to say." She was still rather afraid, but wanted to help. Still, the professor found her more mature and able to handle things better than Xana...

He laid a hand on her shoulder, speaking softly. "Say that you'll stay out of it, piccola mia. Say that I will not have to see your corpse next. When this is all over, we can return to how things were. But until then please be cautious."

Cassandra looked down... This was rather painful for her to say, "I will do my best to, but" she added. "You must promise me you will take the greatest of care... please," this time thought of Damian, Blaylock and the little babe she was carrying, instead of herself, "too many people depend on you..."

He gave her a small smile. "I am trying. Believe me I am. Slade is even cautious in how he uses me, and constantly reminds me that I have a family to look out for. And I am so desperately trying to keep them out of this as well."

Cassandra nodded. "Thank you, I'm rather fond of you and of professor Blaylock, I wish no harm come to you. For that I am grateful to your friend Mr. Slade..." She had no idea what his full name was, so she figured Slade was his last name.

"I think I should go and tend to my Lily of the Valley..." and for a brief moment she thought of what a hybrid of bocca and the lilly would look like...

He nodded. "Alright. And I'm sure just 'Slade' would be fine. I'm sure if you were to meet him again he would correct you to however he appreciates it."

Cassandra wasn't really fond of the man... He had a way of making himself intimidating to her. She didn't allow people to intimidate her, but Slade had a way... maybe it was for other reasons... "Alright, Slade then." She said trying to hide her feelings about the man. Why she hadn't learned occlumancy prior to this was beyond her.

Amusement danced in his eyes with her response, or lack thereof, of Slade. "Still have problems with him, piccola mia?" He was unable to help a small smile as he spoke, perhaps Slade was just a man that you either loved or hated. "You've only met him twice, and barely at that the second time."

"No Problems..." She'd have to have been dealing with him to have problems... "It's like mother always says... 'First opinion, lasting opinion.' I have promised you I will give him another chance... and I will... If I ever meet him again..." which I'd rather not she thought to herself.

"Uh huh..." He chuckled softly, though the more he thought on Slade the more it brought him down. <You might be the only one there to do so.> He pat her shoulder lightly, still smiling, though it was different. Empty once more. "You'd better be off, my dear." He muttered something, canceling the runes and picking them up before taking down the wards in his office.

"Yes Sir..." She said quietly, "Congratulations again Professor... you are a wonderful father already, I'm sure your new daughter will be the luckiest girl in school." She made her way to the door and gave him a smile before leaving.

Alex calmly knocked on Erickson's dorr.

Erikson walked over and answered the door, less than pleasantly surprised to see Alex. Not that he wouldn't have minded seeing the boy in other circumstances, but the last time he'd seen him wands were involved, which was never a good indicator. "If you plan on drawing your wand again, I'd appreciate it being some place that my plants are not involved."

"Well we will see about that," he glared at Erickson, "Where is Cassandra? I heard she had some hyperventalating episode and you took her off to help. Since Cassandra has never hyperventalated before so i can only assume it was ploy to talk to you alone." Alex rattled off. "What happened?:

"Actually, she started hyperventilating about Marco being married and about to be a father. Apparently it was rather distressing to her for some reason. Probably because he's not much older than her. I don't say she didn't use it to her advantage afterward, however." He invited Alex in, standing aside and pulling his wand. "Don't worry, I just prefer to ward my office for talks like this."

Alex raised his eyebrow a he walked in. "THen you won't begrudge me one of my own." alex flicked his wrist, his wand falling into his hand from his sleeve. He waved his wand and a purple circle of flame burst into being around his feet, the flames licking up his height.

"I'm used to sharing wards," he said dryly. "Set my office on fire and I won't hesitate to kill you. There is a lifetime of work in this room." He set his usual wards, though didn't go into the runic circle. If the conversation took a turn then he'd deal with it then. He re-holstered his wand before going to sit on his desk. "Cassandra was complaining that it wasn't fair that Xana got to be near me and she didn't. It seemed she still didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation. She also seems to still have something against Xana, no matter how I try to get the two to work together." He paused, giving Alex leave to interrupt and to gauge his reaction. Perhaps he would know more about the Xana situation.