"We can't," Regulus says, agreeing about the divisions. "The tradition dates back to the 10th century, when Hogwarts was founded by four of the greatest wizards and witches of the time. Each had different traits they valued the most in their students, and took to dividing them. Salazar Slytherin valued cunning, believing sharp instincts would help his students survive in a time when the rift between our kind and muggles was turning violent. Rowena Ravenclaw chose those of the highest intelligence, interested in knowledge for its own sake. Godric Gryffindor valued courage and bravery. And Helga Hufflepuff valued loyalty, patience, hard work, and a sense of fair play that resulted in her also accepting any students the other three had rejected. And the sorting continues simply because that's the way it's always been."
The rest gets a sigh. "I'll have no way to know when that happens, and showing up too early would be disastrous. The 'alternate dimensions' business seems to confuse the Dark Mark, so I'd actually have to set foot in my own world to see whether it would reappear or completely break. And the moment I do that..." He shakes his head. "There's a tapestry in my family's home. It's very old, and shows our family tree. It updates itself by magic, and," he goes a bit pale as he forces himself to think about certain details, "once I realized it could be a problem, I asked Mikoto to tell me exactly what sort of condition I arrived in. I... would have been 'dead' enough to fool the tapestry, but not if I return. It would correct itself, literally in a heartbeat." He hopes the use of the phrase will let Natasha piece things together without him having to mention any clinical details of his condition when Mikoto had found him. It disturbs him enough to think about how very close he'd come to death, even if that had been part of the plan. "I can't even wait a certain amount of time and then risk checking, because of the uncertain nature of time here."
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-12-29 11:28 pm (UTC)The rest gets a sigh. "I'll have no way to know when that happens, and showing up too early would be disastrous. The 'alternate dimensions' business seems to confuse the Dark Mark, so I'd actually have to set foot in my own world to see whether it would reappear or completely break. And the moment I do that..." He shakes his head. "There's a tapestry in my family's home. It's very old, and shows our family tree. It updates itself by magic, and," he goes a bit pale as he forces himself to think about certain details, "once I realized it could be a problem, I asked Mikoto to tell me exactly what sort of condition I arrived in. I... would have been 'dead' enough to fool the tapestry, but not if I return. It would correct itself, literally in a heartbeat." He hopes the use of the phrase will let Natasha piece things together without him having to mention any clinical details of his condition when Mikoto had found him. It disturbs him enough to think about how very close he'd come to death, even if that had been part of the plan. "I can't even wait a certain amount of time and then risk checking, because of the uncertain nature of time here."