Curse breaking? That sounded quite fascinating to Emmalyn. She had just learned about runic wards in class and wondered if curse breaking was like removing layers of the wards. She had only worked with the simple wards and wondered just how complex of curses they must break. Pausing before she was too close to the booth, Emmalyn took a deep breath and smoothed back her hair. She desired to look the role of a capable witch.

Once ready, she slowly stepped up to the booth, eyeing the two with curiosity, and asked "Are you like a magical bomb squad?" That was the best term her muggle born mind could think up. "May I try?" She gestured towards the plain black boxes on the table and hoped they would say yes. It would be fantastic to not only try, but to be able break a curse placed on the object. She was sure they were designed for the older students, making a successful attempt that much better.

Her previous apprentice had been nothing short of a disappointment, which made her skeptical about even bothering to inspect the current pool of students at Hogwarts. Though perhaps it was because her whack job of a brother was no longer a professor at the school, though Merlin bless any aspiring Gryffindor that happened upon this booth. With her brother's previous influence as Head of House combined with Zeke Browne's disappointing performance and life choices - not to mention her sources telling her the current Head of House was a bit of a pansy - Daphne Flamsteed would not even be batting an eyelash at any lion crested robes that stopped by the station.

No thank you.

Viktor could handle that lot with that burden of obligation. Not to mention that, well, Twinkle Toes was good at handling rubbish.

..........and speaking of rubbish.

Her cool mint eyes flicked towards her companion as their first student approached the booth. If there was a house she tolerated less than Gryffindor, well, there was no house that she tolerated less...but Hufflepuff did come the closest to that. "No," she said flatly to the girl. "We are not a squad at all." Let her make that clear. "And while your comparison is a crude one, the basic principle of removing, countering or breaking is parallel."

Sizing the girl up and down, eager being admirable quality if you squinted and looked at it sideways, Daphne gestured towards the boxes with skeptical interest. "That is what they are there for."

Okay admittedly, Kye hesitated before approaching this booth. Not because of the less cheery attitude over here, actually they reminded her of the Headmistress... Was that just a thing with that field? Hmm... Was this an "O's only" career? She could imagine it was, at least for DADA, Charms, and Ancient Runes... "Hello," she said, holding back her excitement a bit more here, reflecting the mood she was feeling over here. "What are the typical qualifications or experience needed to be a Curse Breaker?" she asked, watching to see what Emmalyn was going to do.

Back in the Castle. Viktor did not know what to think. He left for a reason but here he was here again for a job fair of all things. Maybe he was feeling a little bored and figured this could be amusing. Or it would be a disaster with who is co curse breaker was. He was meaning find Hirsch and have some fun after but right now he had to focus on this student and Daphne.

Hmm....did he just hear magical bomb squad???

Be more friendly to the students, Daphne. You will scare her away

"The Ministry would be the best table to ask about that question, Miss. But as my colleague said no squads. You will mostly work alone working as a freelancer, working for Gringotts or a Ministry. But you could group up it depends on the situation."

Viktor looked over at the the black boxes they had placed on the table grinning. While some where more complicated than other she well looked a little too young but as Daphne said why not have her try. And his sense of obligation was telling him to show her which one was the easiest one.

"I'd recommend the one right here"

Viktor said point his wand at one closest to him. For one the curse wasn't that bad and it was made for complete novices. No gryffindors yet. His stance on them had softened but really he was not looking forward to anyone hyper. Probably just jinxed himself. Nope the next girl didnt look like one.

"Hello, How are you. An O.W.L. in Arithmancy is required Also, N.E.W.T.s in DADA, Potions, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes and Charms. Miss Flamsteed over here can tell you more"

He said grinning.

Have Fun.

Okay well that sounded pretty reasonable... She definitely needed to up her game in Ancient Runes though. Okay... That was a cool possibility! "Thank you!" She wrote down his answer, and looked over at the woman ready to take more notes. This woman... Did she want to be here? Becaaaaause she wasn't great at showing that.

Well, she thought a squad sound much cooler. Either way, she was glad to at least have been going in the right direction. She smiled brightly at the lady, oblivious to any annoyance she may be causing. "That's sounds really neat...and dangerous. Do you ever get hurt?" Did cursed objects blow up like bombs? Or, maybe they just shot out some sort of harmful spell and you ended up either dead or in hospital for the rest of your days.

"I would like to try, but I don't know how. Would you please help me?" She flashed her sweetest smile, eyes sparkling with eagerness to learn. She reached into her robe pocket and pulled out her wand to show to the lady at the booth. "I'm Emmalyn, by the way." She introduced herself before continuing. "This is my wand. I've only had it since the start of the year." She held it up so Daphne could see. "I'm not very good at any of the spells yet, but I keep trying." She wasn't about to mention the time she cut her notebook in half in potions trying to cast a spell, or the countless times absolutely nothing happened. No, Daphne didn't need to know any of that. How bad could things turn out? The objects they had a the booth couldn't be that bad or they wouldn't have brought them to Hogwarts.

Honestly, Vivian was quite bummed that there wasn't a table reserved for wandlore. It had been a career path she looked forward to since she was a first year, and the excitement in her eyes faded a teeny tiny bit for a few moments. That was until she came upon the table for curse-breaking, another career she had considered just last term.

The prefect eagerly approached the table and scanned the things present, especially those black boxes. Vivian knew better than to touch them, really. "Good day, ma'am... sir," the Slytherin greeted both of the people handling the booth. "Professor Sokolov!" Welcome back, perhaps? It had been so long since he taught Runes at Hogwarts. That was on her second year, right? Maybe.

Ahem, anyway. Vivian was kinda curious. "What was the most dangerous event you had to experience as a curse-breaker?" The blond knew her uncle was quite particular about her safety, but honestly did this career path even seem like it? "And what are some classes in curse-breaking that a student must pass before becoming a real curse-breaker?" She was aware Aurors have some sort of stealth lesson and all, and wondered if it'd be the same for the both of them? HMMM.

Good. Viktor was fielding these questions which freed her up to scrutinize all the ankle biters that were approaching the booth. Because that was what they were, ankle biters. All far too young to be of any use to her now and with this wide eyed and bushy tailed disposition that she found insufferably. It always tickled her that Viktor had come back to be a professor with this sort of lot scurrying around the castle. Just proved that he was a pygmy puff on the inside like she always knew.

So she was really only half paying attention as he addressed each child and was presently sizing up the Slytherin robed [Dokimoto] girl with mild interest. For everything else she lacked, Daphne did poses a fair amount of house pride so it was the least she could do to give this one a fair analysis.

Miss Flamsteed? Did he really just...

Eyes narrowing on Twinkle Toes, Daphne's jaw set and she ran her tongue in aggravation over her top teeth. Yes. She could tell this one more, but did she want to? "That can be quite dependent from curse breaker to curse breaker," she said coolly, mint eyes shifting with acute concentration to the girl. "I myself never finished my university coursework in Arithmancy, Rune Studies, and Cryptozoology as I was recruited to work as an assistant to a freelance curse breaker after my first year based on my raw talent." And Dark wizard but that need not be said. She apparently had to be delicate with students at Hogwarts. The absurdity. "Much of my experience has come experiencing and witnessing things not found in your standard textbook. Unless you are dabbling in the Restricted Section." Slight encouragement there? Perhaps. "Theory will only get you so far in this field."

And then the Hufflepuff was speaking again. Bless them (not really, she did not truly believe in blessings) for being obtuse when it came to sarcasm. And no, Daphne had not cared to know the girl's name and therefore that moment passed without much acknowledgement. "Magic always leaves traces," she nodded to the child. "And curse breaking is complex work with multiple layers. Of course you sustain injury. This is why I would recommend all those going into the field also have a baseline knowledge in medical magic." Because sometimes seeking the assistance of St. Mungo's was out of the question. Not to mention anyone worth their weight in salt in the field should be able to patch up their own injuries to a certain degree. Even if only to use Essence of Dittany in a pinch.

"The first thing you must do is to identify the type of curse placed on an object," she instructed. Oi, Viktor. This was your bloody job. "The spell to accomplish this is fairly straight forward, but it is the analysis that comes after that can prove challenging. Get it right, and you can counter a curse easily. Fail to understand the meaning...and you may find yourself with an irreversible bout of Dark magic embedded in your flesh." Casual encouragement over here, nothing else to see. "Before we begin with the actual spell, do you know anything about the four parts of a curse?"

This was generally directed to all the students present. Including the Slytherin prefect who had just arrived and, quite frankly, did not have the disposition to make it in the field and ought to scoot along elsewhere. Perhaps the Creative Arts next door would be better suited to her.

And since the girl had only greeted Viktor, she was going to assume that her questions were directed there as well.

Whereas just last term, Ronan was pretty certain he wanted to be an Auror, he had been giving it some thought and research since then. Which had led to him considering a career in curse-breaking, among other things. So, he found himself approaching this particular booth after visiting the Auror one.

At first, he just listened as the people at the booth answered other's questions. Man, that Flamsteed woman seemed like a real peach, all sarcasm intended. Wait, Flamsteed? Was she related to Professor Flamsteed, the wacky Astronomy professor from his first year?

Speaking of former professors, yep, there was Professor Sokolov, just as Vivian had called out.

"Do you ever get to work with ancient artifacts?" Because that was honestly what had gotten him interested in the field in the first place.

Even though other students were arriving at the booth, Emmalyn's attention was not diverted from the words Daphne spoke. The lady was being so sweet to tell her all about how she came to be a curse breaker, and all Emmalyn really wanted to do was play with the boxes. Not wanting to hurt the Daphne’s feelings, she smiled and nodded in all the right places. What she was saying really was interesting, but there was no way she wanted to become a curse breaker. Danger, healer training to use on your own body, lingering magic...nope, not for her.

As she was listening about the restricted section and how magic always leaves traces, she slowly worked her way closer to the little black boxes. They were calling to her, pulling her closer inch by inch. She just had to try a spell on one. After all, she had asked for help with trying one, but all Daphne seemed to do was talk about her job and she hand't said that she couldn't try one.

“There are four parts to a curse?” She asked as she gripped her wand a bit tighter. “I don’t think we have learned that in class yet.” No, she was sure she didn’t know about any parts of a curse. Maybe she was talking about the layers? Like parts of the wards they learned about. No, that wasn’t dark magic. She thought curse breakers dealt with dark magic and she wasn’t sure if they were the same or not.

Finally her curiosity got the better of her. She had to try. That’s what they were there for, right? She raised her wand, tapped the little black box and said “SpeRevelio.”

Well Daphne was busy with the questioning student he had his own students to worry about. What was more amazing is some even some of the students remembered him. He was only here for a short two years. To him it was surprising.

"Hello, Vivian. How is the castle treating you?"

Good question. Since this was a school setting he couldn't tell his best stories. But he could think of one that was appropriate. "Most dangerous would probably be almost buried alive in rubble. I was getting a cursed necklace for a client in Novosibirsk and i was being a little too confident and set off curse to collapse the place i was in. All in all glad it wasn't deadly"

Viktor said smiling. Now onto easier questions but still important none the lees.

"Runes Study and Arithmancy are a must especially once you learn about the four parts of a curse. What the spell affects, What the spell does. What...how the spell is activated and What kind of spell it is "

Once a teacher always a teacher and really Daphne just show the kid how to do arithmos revelio scindo already. At least she is still here asking questions.

"We do Mr. Carter. They are the ones are the most heavily cursed and usually should be left to experienced Curse Breakers. Also fun to do. But thats a matter of preference"

Since Viktor and Daphne preferred dealing dark artifacts.

Her mint eyes quickly noted the approach of another student, a Gryffindor student, and she quickly dismissed him and his question. Viktor could field that question, obvious an answer as it begged.

Instead her attention was on this young Hufflepuff who had the self preservation of a pygmy puff judging by the look she had in her eyes as she gazed upon the boxes. And then Daphne was left perplexed at how the young girl knew the spell but then not what to actually do with it once she had performed it. No wonder it had been said that the standards at Hogwarts were slipping. "That spell will do you little good if you do not know how to use it," she said dryly.

OOC: please refer to the black text in both mine and oh its Erik ok's post for the box's reactions to your character's interactions ♥

The young girl's spell easily influenced the box, a sequence of numbers began to appear above the box as if written by Flagrate although otherwise undisturbed. The numbers, which gently undulated in the air, read as follows:
2 7 15 4 4

Her vibrant eyes darted briefly to her companion who was...preoccupied with the busy work as it were...and soon rested again on the girl. Whose name she had already forgotten. "Four parts to a curse. Basis, Core, Range, and Cline," she explained, lifting one of her slender fingers as she listed each. "The answer to what the spell affects, does, how it is activated, and what type of spell is all right there in front of you. Depending on how knowledgeable you are with numeric meanings."

Valko didn't really have a reason to be here. The tall sixth year Ravenclaw had looked over the list of booths and found them to be a) lacking and b) completely irrelevant to his interests. But then again it wasn't as if there would be a languages booth or a dark magic booth or even a knitting booth available so he hadn't expected much to begin with.

And yes, those three things were perfectly related in his mind.

Quiet and keeping to himself he approached the one booth that he thought might have some potential - the curse-breaking one. Though he wasn't at all interested in being a curse breaker. He had other methods to dispel and control the magic they dealt with and didn't much care to break into tombs or hunt for treasure in the first place. Not to mention that there were multiple ways to do things and he found very often in the UK in particular people got very set in their way (the Hogwarts way) and stuck with that entirely without exploring other more.... esoteric methodology. And too Valko usually found the spells themselves were far more interesting than what those spells were protecting.

He kept quiet and out of the way as he examined what he could see of the booth. He eyed some of the boxes but made no attempts on them. They weren't likely to be more than the most harmless of trap spells anyway, not at Hogwarts.

Besides interested in pursuing a career in curse-breaking after Hogwarts, Jace was successful in keeping his excitement and curiosity in check. He didn't want to appear gung-ho especially if the ones manning said booth didn't look welcoming. They were here to at least inspire the students, not look down on them, or appear high and all mighty. Eyes darted from his former professor Viktor Sokolov, and a woman named Daphne Flamsteed. Flamsteed? Well, that said a lot, didn't it? The Ravenclaw was a few steps away from the gathered crowd, eyes focused on what was happening before him, quietly observing, and mentally jotting down remarks and feedback on how this was being handled.

Yes, perhaps a double major will do if it's going to be this dry...and perhaps, a return ticket to Japan would be best to learn this art. It's pretty much the same thing he learned in Arithmancy and Defense, and that already bored him.

2-7-15-4-4

Eyes focused on the numbers ablaze, Jace made a quick-fire guess on what the curse can do. So far, he can tell that the curse will affect a human's magic or mental capacity to think, activated through verbal expression and physical touch. The last digits needed a bit of analyzing though. The first four meant it was a complex curse, and the second four meant the curse has something to do with that person's endurance and sober-mindedness.

Huh. Really, that curse? If his theory was correct, how in Merlin's holy underpants did they get away with this? But then again, who was he to question? He was a nobody in this school anyway, and as Matt said before, he was too politically correct, to begin with.

Sigh. Poor Hufflepuff girl.