They know nothing of the endless possibilities I see [Mikhail]

Dragos felt great to be back into the real world, away from his mother's smothering and his father's side eye. He missed the cold Durmstrang halls, but he was excited to follow up on everything new he had learned and built on it. His grant had gone through, and he was thanking Merlin for the freedom that a few galleons gave him. With his new burden of evidence, things were even better than they were before  Durmstrang, and he was certain that he had his improved credibility to thank for this. Though he wasn't as familiar with the London scenery, he was already in the process of hiring new assistants. He had already recruited an archivist and librarian to help him with his study of documents and texts, but more than that he was beginning to grow a full team of alchemists to actually perform experiments. His desire? Show with  high level of certainty that elementism is a true phenomenon and use magical science to support that theory. His hypothesis was that elemental DNA and the DNA of an ordinary wizard differed in some minor detail. He wanted to explain where and how it differed, and what analyze what those differences meant.

That was all he listed in his proposal for the grant, but it was not all he wanted to know. Dragos, more than anything, wanted to know if the elemental DNA could be alchemaiaclly altered to read as wizarding DNA and vice versa. Was there a practical application to elementalism that could benefit wizarding society? Was this the key to unlocking a higher race of wizaringkind? How did muggle blood or its presence affect elemental DNA, or did it not affect it at all? All of these questions were so much more interesting to Dragos than anything in his life. It was better than sex, and he felt utterly pleasured to be standing in his own office, ready to find answers.

He was meeting with his newest recruit today, a young alchemist apprentice that he believed would blossom working in this environment. He seemed a bit rough around the edges, but Dragos didn't mind that. He wasn't the type of person who let personality difference mettle with genuine talent, and that was something he could tell the boy had, even if the boy didn't know it himself. He also seemed to want to learn, despite it all. Dragos acknowledged and appreciated that. Hard work would not go unnoticed. He stood from his desk and grinned as he eyed the other entering the office.

“Mr. Mirtchev.” He grinned, glad that he had managed to find a fellow Durmstrang graduate from the sea of Hogwarts-taught applicants he'd looked through. It wasn't necessarily that he was biased towards his school, though that might have been a small factor, but his English wasn't his strongest language and he much preferred the luxury of speaking Russian in the office.  “I trust you're doing well. Why don't I give you a tour of the lab?” He offered.

Mikhail walked into the office, head held high for three reasons: desperation, spite, and aspiration. His life was utter shit at the moment and if he didn't do something productive soon, that would also show Mieszko that he wasn't worthless and talentless, he might end up back in the literal gutters. He really looked the part. It was the old him in the flesh. New suit, clean shaven, showered, and no visible bruises. He could have been mistaken as a white collar professional.

He smiled and extended his hand, a gesture he had never ever done in all of his years. "Mr. Serbanescu." he said in return. This guy was no nonsense and quick to get right to it. "I'm fine, thanks. Yeah, a tour would be great." Mikhail fingered at the cigarettes in his pocket and sighed. "Do you mind if I smoke?" This was a test of course. See what this man really was like. If he was put off, Mikh knew he would be walking on eggshells. Please be cool, he thought. He needed someone normal to put up with his shit, of which he knew he had a lot.

He also really wanted to learn and succeed. That was a fact and he was going to show it through his work. He followed the man into their tour.

Dragos nodded in greetings to the younger man, and then began to lead the way. When the other asked about smoking, Dragos shrugged. “By all means.” He agreed, “There's a smoking area just out back. I'll be sure to include it. I may join you back there at the end of the tour.” He admitted. Dragos had developed several vices in his academic career, and cigarettes were among them. He knew they were awful for him, but that was what made a vice a vice, wasn't it?

“This endeavor is a long time coming.” Dragos began. “We went over some of this in your interview, but up to this point, there's been very little written evidence of magic of this variety, elemental magic. My interest in the field started in the middle of a completely unrelated research project for the Russian ministry. I stumbled upon a complete unintelligible text on mere accident, and was hooked ever since then. I've got a fair understanding of ancient languages and hieroglyphs, Sanskrit and the like, but even I could barely capture the gist of anything. That led me from whisper to whisper until I began hearing from people who claimed that they, themselves, had seen elemental magic.” He explained.

“As you can imagine, I was pretty much laughed at by basically the entire magical scientific community, but I was certain that I was really onto something, or at the very least I wanted it badly.” He confessed. “I started a similar set-up with the Russian government a few years back and was able to uncover more writings and better clues, but nothing solid. I ultimately shut down the program when I realized that I would need to go beyond the research position to continue my search.”  They were almost at the library, now. He pushed open the wooden doors with a creak.

“You're a Durmstrang graduate yourself, aren't you? I'm not sure, but you might have been there for this. Two years ago I heard wind of a potential exposure of elemental magic at Durmstrang institute. There was an inferei attack on the library, and during aftermath one of the students was seen creating fire unassisted. That is actually what led me to begin my teaching career there. I worked as the professor of Alchemy at Durmstrang for two years, during which time I saw elemental magic performed with my own eyes. Armed with what I learned there, I've been able to get us set up in a much better place, now.” He grinned. He opened his arms to showcase their library.

“These are some resources that I've amassed to assist us. Take care in here, as many of these books are original and only copies. I've had to pull more than a few strings to get these here, but I have most anything we've collected on elemental magic, as well as any great alchemical endeavor in the last 150 years, and it's still growing. I expect you'll pay special attention to the collection of data on wizarding DNA and how it differs from muggle DNA, as that is something we'll be working on directly.” He explained, showing Mikhail where he could find those books. Mikhail didn't seem the bookish type, but there was a difference between reading for pleasure and finding a much-needed answer. They couldn't do anything here without specific scientific knowledge, and he didn't expect Mikhail or anyone to know it all from the top of their heads.