[Leaky Cauldron] Nature Boy (Frida)

London again. While it wasn't yet spring in Moscow either, in fact it was way cooler there than in London, it had at least been dry when she had left. Now Alla was standing in the pouring rain and shivered. She glanced sideways at her pet skeleton Burmin who was carrying her handbag for her but unfortunately not an umbrella. While the water did not do any harm to Burmin, the blonde witch was soaked in no time. She sighed deeply. Naturally she could have performed a charm to shield herself from the rain but doing so while controlling an animated skeleton was not really an easy task she wanted to deal with now.

She had actually intended to visit her favourite shop in Knockturn Alley but right now the Russian was more intrigued by the thought of a nice drink. Although she knew London rather well by now she was no expert when it came to restaurants and bars yet. The only place she was familiar with that offered the kind of thing she was thinking of now was the Leaky Cauldron and so the girl went there, accompanied by the skeleton whose feet were clacking on the wet pavement in time with her own steps. Sometimes the skeleton slipped a little and got out of balance though and Alla had to focus more than usual on controlling her bony friend.

When she finally entered the pub, she was not only soaked and freezing, she was also quite exhausted. Alla approached the bar and took a seat there. While it was usually an easy task for her to make Burmin take a seat as well, she now felt a stinging headache that made it hard to focus well enough. As she directed her skeleton to the bar stool it toppled over. Alla sighed and briefly considered if she should set the stool up herself or make Burmin do so. Her pride made her go for the second option and she concentrated hard on making the skeleton bend down, set the stool up and then take a seat on it. The young with felt a little dizzy because of the exertion but nonetheless a smug little grin appeared on her face. The witches and wizards present in the pub had just seen a demonstration of real skill.

"Could I please get a tea and a firewhiskey for my friend here?" She gestured at Burmin and waited for the barkeeper's reaction. However, to Alla's great disappointment, the barkeeper merely nodded and put the two drinks onto the bar. Now, finally, Alla drew her wand and started to dry her clothes. Her blonde hair was still hanging down in wet strands though.


@Frida Trickett

Frida left her shift in the Ministry of Magic with a great spring in her step. She felt she was really settling in well after her promotion to Head of the Broom Regulation Office a few months prior. Her wonderful co-workers were responding well to the change and the Trickett could feel the office's productivity booming. Fri had never been so satisfied before. Despite the drizzle she was met with as she stepped outside, the former Hufflepuff felt like no one could rain on her parade. She quickly pulled out her pear wand and cast a shielding charm to protect one of her favourite woollen dresses from getting wet and skipped merrily along the cobblestones with a huge beam on her face.

After such a fabulous day of work, Frida decided to treat herself to a meal and a drink, especially since she could now afford to do so, as she had discovered the paycheck for being the 'boss' (as she put it) was a fair bit higher than what she was previously living on. The brunette enjoyed many different pubs and restaurants but she usually favoured one place with amazing exotic foods for her lunch or dinner but the Trickett was in the mood for something different. And so, Fri found herself pushing open the door to the Leaky Cauldron, a place she did not often frequent but still greatly enjoyed every now and then.

Stepping inside, the 25-year-old smiled and gave a quick wave to the bartender, before bouncing up to the bar and making her order for an adventurous-looking soup she'd never tried before and a hot chocolate, her favourite drink. As he placed her hot chocolate on the counter, she eagerly thanked him, scooping up the drink and cradling it as she made her way to a table to wait for her soup. As she sat down, another woman walked in and Frida looked up but then her jaw dropped and she let out an excitable "Ooh!" as she saw an actual skeleton trailing behind her! The curious witch's eyes lit up in delight, she had never seen anything like that before! Her mouth was wide open and her eyes almost popped out of her head as she watched the strange skeleton set up it's own bar stool and then sit down on it. Frida let out a squeak of excitement and completely forgot about her hot chocolate as she rushed up to the odd pair.

"Oh my goodness, that is amazing! Its an actual real live, well not live but kind of live, skeleton that moves! Is it real? Can it talk? How does it work? Do you put a charm on it? It's so cool! It just set up it's own seat at the bar, that is adorably cute! And I'm so impressed!" Frida finally allowed herself to breath again and she took a big gulp of air before realising she hadn't even introduced herself! "Oh, I'm Frida, by the way! It is so nice to meet you both!" She beamed widely, hardly paying attention to the blonde before her and stared buggy-eyed at the marvellous wonder of a thing in front of her.

Alla was used to getting looks when she took Burmin with her and made him do things that normal people did. However, usually people stayed at a distance, merely observing, talking to other observers rather than addressing her. She was a little surprised and felt quite flattered that now a young witch approached her, expressing her excitement and admiration. The Russian smirked and put down her wand she had just used to dry her hair. A few strands were still oozing with water but that didn't matter now that her favourite topic had been brought up by this exuberant young woman in front of her.

The Necromancer's knowledge of English was decent but she was by no means really fluent in the language. The main problem for her was not building sentences but actually pronouncing words. This language was so odd with all the ths and all that. Besides she found it hard to understand some people while others were easy to understand. The accents which she could not distinguish yet were often putting her off as well as particularly quick speech.

With widened eyes, Alla listened to the seemingly incessant flood of words that came out of the other girl's mouth. When she finally stopped, the Russian smiled at her. "I'm Alla, pleased to meet you too," she began in heavily accented English. "This is Burmin," she pointed at Burmin and the skeleton gave Frida an acknowledging nod.

"He cannot talk, unfortunately." The young witch smiled. Sure, there were ways to feign speech but that was not actually the part of animating a skeleton. "To speak he'd need a tongue, vocal chords,... well, in short, he'd need to be more than a skeleton." Alla paused, enjoying the attention and admiration.

"I've animated him with Necromantic magic," she confided in the other witch in a lower voice than before before continuing in a conversational tone. "He really is cute, isn't he?" Alla smiled fondly at her pet skeleton and made his hand take the glass of firewhiskey. There was naturally no point in letting him drink it as the beverage would just spill all over the bones and the bar but the look of him holing the glass was something Alla liked all the same.

"So you do not see skeletons moving around here often?!" Alla asked although she already knew the answer. Even in Russia where most witches and wizards went to Durmstrang where Necromancy was on the curriculum it was a rare occurrence to see a skeleton walking around like this.

Alla and Burmin... They were certainly unusual names to the English witch but she liked them very much indeed! "Alla and Burmin," she began, cheerfully trying out the names and enjoying how differently they rolled off her tongue. "I think you have very lovely names!" The Hufflepuff alumna beamed excitedly and clapped her hands quickly as Burmin nodded at her. How marvellous! Frida immediately picked up on the blonde witch's accent and the curious woman was desperate to know where she and her companion were from. "You're... not from around here, are you? Ooh! Let me guess... Ukraine? Or, or Russia?" Fri didn't think she could really come from anywhere else, so she left her guesses as they were.

As she was told he could not talk, Frida's face fell and resembled that of a disappointed child. "Oh." The disappointment only lasted for a few micro-seconds however as the sunny woman's characteristic smile returned, it was so nice to learn new things, especially concerning magical skeletons! "I see! So he'd basically need to be, well, alive really. Is that right? I still think it is very impressive, even if he can't fully communicate!"

Frida gasped at the mention of necromantic magic. She'd heard of it, of course, but she'd never seen it in action before. It was supposedly dangerous and dark magic, but Fri really couldn't see how it was dangerous or dark at all judging by the adorable skeleton in front of her. It was also apparently really difficult to master Necromancy, so Frida marvelled in the fact that she was probably talking to a super powerful witch. What an honour! "Necromancy! You know how to do it?! You must have gone to Durmstrang!" She enthusiastically gushed the words she spoke to Alla, completely enthralled by the talent Alla must have had. Frida savoured every moment she was getting talking to her. "We don't get to learn very much about it at all at Hogwarts... We're told it's very bad magic that is dangerous. But I can't how see how it is at all! I mean, your skeleton is so adorable! I just want to hug him! " The Ministry employee gasped excitedly again and bounced on the balls of her feet as Burmin took the glass, she doubted she'd ever get tired of seeing this wondrous skeleton!

Speaking of glasses... where did her hot chocolate go? Frida quickly looked around for where she had originally sat down and upon seeing her abandoned hot chocolate untouched, she pointed her finger at the mug and beckoned it to come towards her. It did so immediately and Frida kept her hand outstretched waiting for it to touch her fingers before curling her hand around it, taking a sip out of it and smiling happily as the taste flooding her taste buds with warmth and nostalgia. She then immediately answered Alla's question. "Not at all! I've never seen a skeleton before in my life, let alone one that actually moves! Are they common place where you are from?" If they were, Frida reasoned that Durmstrang must be filled with insanely talented witches and wizards. She wanted to pack her bags and go on an adventure around there immediately, if they were all like Alla and her friend!

Hearing Frida pronounce the names Alla and Burmin was odd. It was not that she mutilated the names badly but still they didn't sound the same. However, apparently the other witch liked the sound of the names she had tried to speak. Alla offered a polite little smile in response to the compliment and tried to understand everything the other witch said.

"I'm from Russia," she confirmed, wondering why anyone would first name the Ukraine and Russia only afterwards. She blamed it on the fact that Frida probably knew little of Russia and its history.

It was not easy to follow the flow of words that Frida offered and Alla had to listen really carefully. What she understood at once though was that the other girl was disappointed that Burmin couldn't talk. Why did people always think that animated skeletons or corpses would be able to talk? Why was talking so important? If anything more than gestures was required to communicate with an animated skeleton that obediently did what Alla asked it to do she could always let him write something. Alla had not really practised that yet but it was definitely an option.

"Yes, he would need to be alive," Alla agreed, not wanting to complicate things by explaining under which circumstances it would be possible to feign speech with an animated skeleton or corpse. "If needed he could write, though," the young necromancer offered smugly.

Alla raised her eyebrows slightly as Frida went on talking, trying hard to understand everything but if she was entirely honest she wasn't sure she had really got everything right. "Yes, I've attended Durmstrang and, indeed, Necromancy is taught there."

As Frida spoke of wanting to hug Burmin, Alla took that quite literally, letting the skeleton put his drink down. However, before she could put her plan into action, she watched how the other witch summoned her hot chocolate. Now that complicated things. She'd have to wait with the hug then. After all, it would be rather inconvenient should the hot drink get spilled.

"No, not really. The basics of necromantic magic are taught at Durmstrang but that doesn't mean that every Durmstrang alumnus is able to animate a skeleton." Alla tried not to sound too smug but in fact she only knew really skilled Necromancers who were able to keep a pet skeleton.

"Burmin likes you by the way," Alla said, smirking. "He would like to give you a hug." The skeleton turned to face Frida and held out his arms, ready to pull the girl into a hug should she really feel like it.

So, Alla was from Russia! Wow! The high-spirited witch felt bubbles of curiosity spring to the surface and she was suddenly very eager to learn everything about Russia. After all, what adventures there would be! "Russia, wow!" Frida's eyes lit up and sparkled excitedly as she continued, "What is is like? Is it a pretty country? What's the food like? And the people?!" The Trickett bounced up and down a little eagerly anticipated a response as thoughts of travelling to Alla's country flew around her head. How amazing would it be to go to wizarding Russia one day... The Ministry employee certainly thought it'd be a great journey, especially if all the people were like Alla!

The skeleton could write? How amazing! The excitable witch gasped in delight before exclaiming "He can write?! Wow, that's wicked!" Frida paused and she looked down to her pockets as she felt a twitch from where her wand was. She beamed, knowing exactly what was happening as sparks trickled from her robe pocket. Though the charismatic witch loved Burmin, she didn't want to actually be a skeleton just yet and so she removed her still sparking wand and placed it on the table, lest she ended up on fire.

The sunny Trickett clapped her hands in pure and utter delight as she learned Alla had indeed gone to Durmstrang. What an inspiring person she was talking to! There was much talk of Durmstrang, especially with recent events and Frida had a deep respect for anyone who went to any of the schools that participated in the Triwizard tournament that occurred only a few years after she left Hogwarts herself. "What was Durmstrang like? Do you have houses like we do at Hogwarts? It must be an amazing school!" Frida honestly felt like no school could be better than Hogwarts, her loyalty was far too great, but even so, she was delighted to meet a witch from such an esteemed institution.

Frida took a quick sip from her hot chocolate as her new friend explained that not even was as skilled in Necromancy to animate a skeleton. Did that mean Alla was a super skilled Necromancer then? "Oh?", she questioned, her excitement growing and growing with each word, "So, you're really good at Necromancy? I feel honoured to have met you! I don't really know to do anything Necromatic..." Fri's face fell a little but an enthusiastic grin quickly reappeared on her face as she added, "But I know a lot about brooms!"

The Ministry worker was about to take another sip of her hot chocolate but nearly choked on it as Alla said she could hug Burmin. She could hug a live skeleton?! This was amazing and crazy and totally, completely and wonderfully fabulous! This is the best day ever! "Really?! I can hug him! I like him very, very much too! And I like you too, by the way!" Frida put down her hot chocolate and turned towards Burmin who already had his arms open, waiting for her. She quickly enveloped him in a hug, excitedly taking in how hugging a skeleton actually felt. It was weird, but also super cool. The Trickett let go of him, eventually and returned to her hot chocolate. "Thank you, Alla, Burmin. Your skeleton gives good hugs!"

While Alla quite enjoyed talking to Frida it was also rather difficult to keep up with the other girl's talk. She wanted to understand each and every word the British witch spoke but it was not as easy as if they conversed in Russian. What the Necromancer noticed though was that Frida was excitable and really a sweet person. The Russian felt flattered by the other woman's interest in Burmin, herself and her country and kept smiling even when she heard the one or other word that she did not know. Fortunately the context helped her to understand most of what was said anyway.

"Russia is the most beautiful country," she replied. "The food is tasty, better than in Britain if you ask me. The people... well, Russian people are amazing, but, of course, there are exceptions like everywhere..." Her voice trailed off. The answers had been short and not enriched with facts but what could she say? "If you really want to know more about Russia you should travel there and explore the country," she offered.

"Yes, isn't it?!" Alla beamed at Frida. "It requires a lot of concentration on my part though. Doing something that requires such accurate movements is really not an easy task."

Frida asked a lot of questions and Alla grinned, feeling slightly nervous as she opted for the right words to use for her answers.

"Durmstrang is an elite school that offers a thorough education to its students. It's a tough school and yet it's perfect. We have two houses at Durmstrang and the competition between the houses is extreme. The house losing the chip contest has to endure restrictions and punishment in the next year..." Again her voice trailed off. She could say much more and she could also ask Frida about Hogwarts but somehow she thought about her last two years at school and the bond she had formed with the headmaster then. Naturally that was nothing she'd share with Frida now but it was something that would always come to her mind whenever she thought about her time at school.

"Well," Alla said, thinking about how Anton had given her extra lessons, "I'd say so. I got private tutorings during my time at school and I keep experimenting in order to improve my skills." She smiled warmly as Frida mentioned brooms. "Do you play Quidditch? Or have you played when you've been in school? Burmin has tried out for the team once," she giggled. Oh that had been so much fun. She had met with Vitaliy and Kätlin at the Quidditch pitch, trying to convince them to take Burmin as a team member but in the end she had had to play herself even though she was not really talented enough for the sport.

Since Frida felt excited about the hug, Alla happily made Burmin move towards the young witch and pull her into an embrace. She heard the words Frida spoke, heard that she said that she liked her but she didn't know how to respond to that. It was much easier to speak of Burmin's hugging qualities. "He does, doesn't he? Since you seem interested in Russia and... Burmin... you might want to pay us a visit some day? Maybe? I mean, I could show you a bit of Moscow and Burmin would definitely love to see you there. I think he has a little crush on you."

The high-spirited witch's eyes sparkled with delight of Alla's description of Russia and she giggled lightly at the Russian witch's little dig at the UK's somewhat bland fare. She totally agreed to that front, Fri thought food should be a tantalising adventure for her taste buds and not something that was so boring that it became a chore. Frida sat up a little straighter at the suggestion of actually visiting Russia; what an amazing idea! Surely there would be nothing to stop her now? How many adventures were just lurking around the corner for her in Russia? "Oh, I would love to! Which cities or towns would you suggest in particular? I love travelling and exploring," the Trickett exclaimed.

Frida smiled politely as Alla explained how much concentration it took for her to get the skeleton to write, she didn't doubt it for a moment. The brunette thought it was very impressive that the blonde witch could even reanimate Burmin, let alone actually make it do anything. "Oh, I bet!" the Trickett grinned at her companions. "I wish I could do that... It really is amazing. I bet your family must be very proud of you." Who wouldn't be proud of someone who could make a skeleton write?! Fri mused.

The former Hufflepuff listened to Alla's description of Durmstrang intently, taking small sips of hot chocolate every so often. The school sounded marvellous but the Ministry worker found it weird to think of a school that only had two houses instead of four. Four houses seemed like the perfect amount to her. "Ooh! What are the two houses like? Hogwarts has four houses and they are all super duper wonderful in their special ways!" Fri was never one to have a bias against the other three houses, especially since she was pretty sure there was a Trickett in every house at some point. The British witch's eyebrows furrowed a bit at the idea of a school encouraging such an overly competitive environment. Competition was a good thing for sure but punishing the entire losing house seemed like overkill to the compassionate woman. "Didn't you find it a little harsh? It isn't too competitive like that here... or at least the losing house isn't punished."

Alla got private lessons? Wow. Frida supposed she was speaking to a really special and powerful witch if Alla stood ou so much in her school that she got private lessons. "You did?!" Fri cried incredulously, "That must have been a great experience for you!" The charismatic Trickett couldn't help but laugh as Alla assumed that she played Quidditch. Oh, how she wished she did, but she could barely sit on the broom, let alone play an actual game on one.  "Not at all!" She chuckled amusedly, sipping her hot chocolate once more before continuing, "I'm terrible at flying. I'm just good at the theoretical side of it. I do broom regulation at work, you see." The Hufflepuff alumna almost squealed at the thought of the adorable skeleton playing Quidditch! "Oh, how sweet! Is he good?" Fri's eyes twinkled in amusement at the thought of a reanimated skeleton being better at Quidditch than she was.

She could visit them in Russia? Frida almost jumped right out of her seat, settling for a bouncy squirm whilst clapping her hands excitedly. "Really? Oh, I would love to! I'd love to visit you and Burmin!" The Trickett chattered away enthusiastically, completely in love with the idea of such an impulsive and spontaneous trip. "I bet you know all the best places in Moscow, right?" Fri blushed lightly, thinking how sweet it was to have a skeleton have a crush on her. She quite enjoyed the attention. "He does? Well, I'm very flattered Burmin!" Playfully addressing the skeleton, she reached out a finger to touch the awesome creature once more.

"Honestly though, I really would love to come visit you both in Russia." The impulsive witch then had a most fantastic idea spring to her mind and she bounced on her seat as she quickly spat out, "When will you be going back to Russia? Maybe I could tag along?"

Frida's excitement had an exhilarant effect on Alla. The Russian felt quite cheerful talking to the other witch and hearing how she did not only show interest but real fascination and enthusiasm for her country, Necromancy, Burmin and actually everything that made Alla who she was. She smiled warmly at her new found friend, thinking that she would love to keep in touch with Frida.

"Well, Moscow, obviously. Moscow is a great place and quite Russian. St. Petersburg is a beautiful city too though. And the towns around Moscow, the Zolotoe Koltso... There are wonderful places spread across the whole country," she confessed, shrugging a little.

When the British witch mentioned Alla's family, the Muscovite looked down, avoiding her new acquaintance's gaze. "Oh... I don't know? I think they're actually rather... disappointed that I didn't enter the family business?" That was a diplomatic way to say that her family was not really proud of her but rather wished she'd stop her Necromancy work. There had been incidents in the past few years that made it impossible for Alla and her family to see eye to eye when it came to Necromancy. Maybe she shouldn't have used her sister as a guinea pig, maybe risking her health, her life even had made them doubt that she was doing the right thing.

"Hmm..." Alla considered her answer briefly, "Klyk Vampira is the house of the ambitious, resourceful and clever students while Drakonya Krov is the house of the loyal, reliable and stubborn...  I think the competition is alright, as long as your house doesn't lose." She chuckled softly. "No, really, it gives an extra boost of ambition and encourages to really work hard. Do you have a house contest at Hogwarts too but... it doesn't mean anything? What happens at the end of the year to the winning or losing houses?"

She blushed a little when Frida reacted impressed at her private lessons. "It was very helpful indeed. I don't think my skills would be as advanced if I hadn't had this support in the past," the young witch admitted.

"I'm not good at Quidditch either," Alla confessed. "My house's team was looking for players desperately and asked me. I tried to give them Burmin to spare me this ordeal but in the end Burmin showed even less talent than I did." It really had been a shame. Alla remembered well how she had dreaded practices and, of course, especially the matches. However, she had been tsaritza then and that meant she owed her house that she'd fill in if there was no one else who'd play.

"Excellent," Alla exclaimed happily. " Of course I know my way through Moscow. I know the best sights and magical places! I'll go back in one or two hours by the way. I'd be delighted if you accompanied us home. Burmin and I could treat you to a meal at our favourite restaurant and then we could go exploring. However, if that's too early for you, you can naturally come to see us later."

The Trickett was excited. She was excited about having new friends from Russia, she was excited about travelling to Russia and she was excited to wander around getting lost in Moscow. She could picture it in her mind, how beautiful Russia would be when she saw it with her own eyes. "Oh, yes! I have heard of Moscow and St. Petersburg. I will definitely visit them both! Though I bet all of Russia is perfect," she beamed.

"Oh," she began animatedly, "your family has a business? How cool!" Frida always thought it was nice to see family run businesses, especially when they involved her own family members and if she hadn't become a Ministry employee, she always wondered whether she would have become an intern under her father for owl breeding. "What do you do for work instead then?" Fri asked, with her head inclined. "It must be something even better, right?" It was the only explanation the English witch could think of as to why Alla wouldn't want to be involved in something as great as a family business.

Frida listened carefully to the Russian witch's descriptions of Durmstrang's houses. She was enthralled by all of the amazing information she was given and it certainly showed on her face, as she was beaming from ear to ear. She liked how both houses sounded. They seemed like Hogwarts' houses but with Ravenclaw and Slytherin melded together and the same with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. "Which house were you then? Did you win your house cup often?" The former Hufflepuff felt like they never won their house cup, or at least not since Harry Potter and his year mates showed up. Apparently, according to friends who she left behind at Hogwarts when she graduated, they didn't have much luck in recent years either. The brunette tried not to take it too personally. "Well..." Frida began, elongating her word to think of an answer, "nothing happened, really. We just sort of got told who won and who lost at the end of the term before our feast." Fri giggled lightly. "It sounds rather boring saying it out loud but trust me, we all took it very seriously. Of course, it was lots of fun too!"

Thankfully Hufflepuff never really had a shortage of Quidditch players during Frida's time at the school, so she never needed to embarrass herself unnecessarily. She had been more than content to watch her family and friends fly, especially if it was a match involving Ravenclaw so that she cheer her best friend on. She'd always been in a pickle though whenever it was a Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw match... she never knew who to cheer for so she always ended up cheering for both. She laughed heartily at the thought of a skeleton trying to intercept the quaffle. The English witch would have loved to have seen it. "Hahaha, I bet it looked cute though! I'm lucky that I never needed to play. Sitting on the sidelines cheering players on was much more enjoyable!" Frida smiled eagerly once more, the image of a skeleton playing Quidditch still swimming around like a daydream in her mind.

As Alla began to speak once again Frida took another small sip of her hot chocolate, cradling the drink like a child in her hands. She was about to take another sip when Alla suggested something that Fri thought was the opportunity of a lifetime! She quickly put down her hot chocolate and squealed with zeal and exuberance. One or two hours? It was short notice but... who cared? She was being given an opportunity to explore Russia with a native, how could she say no? It was literally handed on a silver platter to her! The impulsive witch bounced on her seat and cheerfully replied, "No, no, that isn't too early at all! I would love to come back with you and Burmin! Thank you so much for the invitation! This is seriously the best day ever!" Fri clapped her hands excitedly. She was absolutely tickled pink at the notion that she would be going to Russia before the end of the day! Would she need to pack anything? No, she could just conjure stuff if she needed it, of course! She couldn't believe it. She was going to go to Russia! Fri swiped up her wand from the table as it began to display its owner's excitement in the form of baby fireworks in all colours known to the human race. Nothing could rain on the Trickett's parade now.

Although Alla was hardly as euphoric as Frida, she appreciated her enthusiasm very much. A person who was interested in Burmin and Russia just had to become her friend. The Russian witch offered a smile in return and already made plans what she wanted to show the British woman.

However, Frida's enthusiasm wasn't limited to Burmin and Russia. Family businesses, no matter which kind, seemed to enthral her just as much. While Alla still really liked her new acquaintance she found it a bit strange that she was so over the top for most of their conversation. Did they put some sort of happy potion into hot chocolate in Britain? It was a possibility...

"Yes, they do," Alla confirmed that her family had their own business. "My family runs a shop for magical Russian souvenirs. You might want to visit it when you're in Russia..." Her voice trailed off, thinking that she might guide the British witch there but she wasn't too eager to see her family there. They were still a little grumpy and they definitely didn't share Frida's enthusiasm when it came to Burmin and Necromancy in general. They didn't understand why she had chosen to work at a funeral parlour either.

"I'm assistant at a funeral parlour," Alla responded to Frida's question, looking at the other witch thoughtfully, expecting the other witch to side with her parents now. It was unlikely that a cheerful young woman like her would prefer working at a funeral parlour to working at a souvenir shop.

"I was in the Klyk Vampira house," the Russian witch answered proudly. "We have won the House Cup a few times, and the Quidditch Cup as well. During the time that I was tsaritza we've been quite successful..." Her voice trailed off and Alla wasn't sure why she had made the last remark. However, it felt like it had been partly her own success.

Alla raised her eyebrows slightly. While it was nice not to be punished for losing, it felt a little futile to have a House Cup when you could neither win nor lose anything. Most people needed some sort of incentive - a prize or the threat of a punishment to work hard. "Yes, it sounds like you did it mostly for fun," the girl acknowledged her new friend's explanation.

"Well, watching Quidditch is definitely less dangerous than playing it," Alla said, smirking a little. "I'd have preferred to stay off the broom as well but fortunately I didn't get badly injured or anything during my attempts to play."

With an amused smile, Alla watched how Frida clapped her hands excitedly and listened to the other woman's reaction. While it was definitely nice to be invited to a foreign country, the Russian found the reaction a little amusing anyway. However, one thing was certain - Frida was someone who could cheer others up by her mere presence. Alla had hardly ever met a person as cheerful and enthusiastic as the British witch. When a little firework emerged from the tip of Frida's wand, the Klyk Vampira graduate chuckled softly.

"I'm glad you want to come," Alla said, smiling at her new acquaintance. "And so is Burmin, of course." The young Necromancer didn't have many friends these days, most felt a little appalled by her profession and her enthusiasm for Necromancy. It was nice to see that Frida wanted to spend time with her and approved of the things she did and loved.

Her family ran a shop for souvenirs? How cool! Frida loved obtaining souvenirs to remind her of her travels, even if they were domestic ones across the UK and as such her little home was filled with lots of knickknacks reminding her of her amazing experiences. The Hufflepuff alumna decided she'd have to make extra special room for the souvenir that she would pick up in Russia, it would be her absolute pride and joy! "I would love to visit it! I adore souvenirs!" Frida exclaimed, smiling at her friend and her skeleton warmly.

So, Alla worked at a funeral parlour. Some might have been put off by that fact, but most weren't Frida Trickett and the new knowledge didn't curb her enthusiasm for the Russian witch one iota. The brunette thought it was actually rather sweet, and she continued to smile widely at her new friend, thinking how nice it was to see good people were taking care of the dead. The Trickett felt like only a mentally strong person would be able to get though that job, being surrounded by dead people all day must have taken its toll. Frida's respect for Alla increased tenfold and she was adamant that she would tell the other witch that. "Wow," she began, with as much gusto as ever, "I have so much respect for you! That must be a difficult job for you."

Klyk Vampira won both the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup multiple times?!! Frida wished her house could have been so successful when she was still in school. She lived in hope that the future generation of Hufflepuffs would do their house justice one day. "Whoa!" The British witch drew her head back in amazement. "Your house must be really, really good." Her head inclined questioningly as Alla mentioned a word that she did not understand, but she pieced together from the context that it must have been a high position of sorts in the school... like a prefect! "You were a prefect? That is amazing! My best friend was a prefect too, but he was way smarter than me."

Frida chuckled as the Russian witch claimed it was less dangerous to watch Quidditch rather than play it. Her thoughts turned towards her brother Islof, who played Quidditch for the team when they had no other option. Islof on a broomstick was dangerous. "Well..." she replied merrily, "Not always less dangerous. My brother once almost took out the entire staff when he played a match once!" She giggled happily, finding it as funny then as she had a decade prior when it had occurred. "I'm glad you made it through the matches safely though."

I'm going to Russia! I'm going to Russia! It was all the Trickett could think of in a sing-song little voice in her mind. She was so overwhelmed with excitement that she thought she could die right there! "Of course I want to come!" Frida cried incredulously, "Who wouldn't want to go see Russia? Russia!" She used her hands to emphasise that the 'Russia' part was important, though the Hufflepuff alumna would probably react the same way to any foreign country. She beamed happily at Burmin, who she thought was the cutest thing that Frida had ever seen in her life. "I'm glad he's glad! He's amazing!" Bouncing up and down in her chair a little, her hot chocolate all but forgotten at this point in time, the brunette zealously asked of her friend, "How are we gonna get there? Will we go by Floo network? I love the Floo network! It is so much fun! Where we will arrive before we explore?" The enthusiastic witch kept spouting off questions to the Russian, oblivious to whether or not Alla would actually understand them at the rate she was spitting them out at. She was just so very excited to see Russia!

Alla nodded and smiled when Frida made quite clear that she liked souvenirs. It came as no surprise, of course. The Russian had expected nothing less and she knew that she'd have to guide Frida to her parents' shop and listen to them telling her how they had hoped that she'd join the family business and how disappointed they were by her choice of job. "You'll like the matyoshki dolls," Alla simply stated in response, not too eager to say much more on the matter just now.

"Why thank you," the young witch blushed slightly, "it's not that difficult really. I mean, it's sometimes easier to work with the dead than with the living." She shrugged and her gaze wandered over to Burmin. People were complicated and not always fun to get along with. The work at the funeral parlour had something very calming in Alla's opinion. It was peaceful at the funeral parlour, never loud, never hectic...

"Well, with only two houses the chances to win are at fifty percent," Alla said, chuckling softly. In seven years of schooling it was not impossible to win the house cup three or four times. It was actually even probable.

"Ah, that's how you call it?" Alla asked. "A prefect? Yeah, I guess that's what I was. We have a single bedroom for the tsar or tsaritza which was quite pleasant seeing how I already had Burmin back then," Alla confided in the other girl with a reminiscent smile.

She listened as her new friend told her about her brother playing Quidditch. "Wow, then being a spectator is dangerous too." She grinned, trying to imagine such a scene at Durmstrang and wondering what the staff would have done with the student causing such a drama.

Frida's excitement and enthusiasm for the journey made Alla smile. The other witch was so positive that she could probably even cheer up those who came to the funeral parlour to make arrangements for the funeral of their loved one.

"Yes, we'll take the Floo network," Alla agreed but looked a little worried. "You know that you will have to speak the address clearly or else you end up Merlin knows where..." Alla took out a piece of parchment and a pencil and thought for a while how she should write the address down so the British witch could read it out and really end up where she was supposed to arrive.

"You'll have to say Москва, танцующая овца" Alla said in Russian and showed the other witch her note which read 'Moskva, tancujushhaja ovca'. "That's a pub in the wizarding area of Moscow," she explained. "It's called the dancing sheep... It's actually one of my favourite places to hang out. Maybe you'll want to practice saying the name?" Alla had the strange feeling that Frida would not be able to pronounce it correctly without having practised it properly.

Matry- what now? The Trickett raised an eyebrow in curiosity. She had no idea what kind of dolls Alla was talking about, but if they came from Russia they were bound to be good! Instead of admitting the brunette had no clue what the blonde witch was talking about, Frida merely smiled enthusiastically and nodded like she understood.

Alla thought the dead were easier to work with than the living? Surely, she didn't really think that! Fri did not think that was true at all, she loved working with people! Okay, she'd never had to deal with dead people in her line of work... yet, so she didn't actually have any experience working with the deceased but still, having no one to talk to? It must have been boring sometimes, right? Still, there was one possible reason Alla preferred it, the former Hufflepuff mused. "I guess the deceased can't make mistakes, huh, oh, like," she began in a jesting tone, "I had an intern join the department a few weeks ago and they were so nervous that they set part of a broom on fire!" The Trickett giggled, still finding the situation hilarious as she replayed the incident in her mind. "It took us ages to clean it up... Well," The Cornish woman stopped to grin wide before chortling, "my subordinates cleaned it up. I spent the rest of the day making the new guy laugh so that he'd stop crying!" She then sighed as if remembering some event that had occurred a lifetime ago, "that was so much fun." It reminded the Ministry employee of the time that she made an absolute mess when she had first joined Broom Regulation and Marcus had to clean up after her. So much had changed since then. At least dead people couldn't set your work on fire!

The Trickett supposed her Russian friend had a good point. A twenty-five percent chance of winning the House Cup weren't great odds. Durmstrang was lucky they only had two houses, it meant all their students had a good chance of winning. Still, the twenty-six-year-old wouldn't dream of changing anything about Hogwarts. She loved it just the way it was, unfair probabilities of winning house cups and all.

"Yeah! A prefect," she exclaimed, happy that she seemingly taught her new friend a new word. "You got a whole room to yourself?" The Trickett gasped in wonder and mused on how big Durmstrang really was if they could afford to give them whole rooms to themselves. "How cool! Hogwarts prefects have to share like everyone else. But, I guess that can be good too. I mean, didn't you get lonely?" Frida felt like she would have spent all her time in the common room to socialise if she had a room to herself.

Frida giggled freely as Alla learnt that being a spectator of Quidditch was also dangerous, whilst she nodded enthusiastically. Oh, how she loved the adrenaline rushes of watching the action of Quidditch. Especially, when people she loved were on the pitch making the action and drama.

The Ministry worker took another sip of her, now luke-warm, hot chocolate and almost choked on it after hearing Alla's next sentence. The Trickett was actually going to have to speak Russian?! Fri almost wanted to smack herself on the forehead, of course, she'd have to say it in Russian... that was the one issue with the floo network, she supposed. Oh well, this was going to be fun! The Hufflepuff alumna watched her Russian friend with interest as the other woman wrote something down on a piece of parchment and handed it to her, before suddenly saying that was definitely not in English. Woah! Frida thought, she'd have to say that? She was going to sound super wicked! The dancing sheep? The Cornish witch laughed lightly, it sounded so cute!

Snatching up the note in her hands, Fri excitedly scanned the note a few times, making sure she was reading it correctly before trying it out, with an excitable and overenthusiastic "Mosk-va, tancoo-jush-aha, what now?!" Okay, Frida Felicia Trickett, concentrate! "No, nope, it's Mosk-va, tancu-joosh-haajaa... ovca." The sunny woman grinned with pride at the other witch, bouncing a little in her seat. "Was that right?" Was she really speaking Russian?!

A pleased smile spread across Alla's features when Frida smiled enthusiastically and nodded. Of course she wanted to get a magical matryoshka. Who wouldn't? While the Muscovite was not eager to work for the family business she definitely adored the magical matryoshki more than just a little and had her own collection of them.

Once again Frida started talking way too quickly and too much for Alla to be able to follow each and every word the British witch spoke. Alla wanted to point out that it was not for the sake of not making mistakes that she liked working with the dead but admittedly that seemed like a valid reason as well. For the most part though she found it easier to be among the dead and she needed them for her necromancy experiments. While Frida knew Burmin now Alla doubted the other witch had an idea of the extent of her necromancy experiments. The Russian suspected that Frida would feel appalled as she had noticed some people did.

When Frida ended her story about the intern and his mishap, she smiled and nodded although she didn't quite see why cleaning up a mess and trying to make a crying guy laugh was so funny but she assumed she had missed some valid piece of information.

"Yes, a room to myself," Alla nodded. She remembered how useful it had been to have a room to herself with Burmin and her affair with the headmaster... It had been pretty useful indeed. Some of her year mates didn't like to have Burmin in the dormitory and it had been much easier to sneak in and out at night that way too. Briefly she wondered what Anton was doing these days but while she still felt eternally grateful to him for introducing her to necromancy, she did not miss him that much anymore. The girl had moved on, stepped out of the shadow of her  teacher and was leading her own independent life now.

She shook her head to get rid of these sentimental thoughts. "No, I didn't get lonely," she responded. "I had Burmin already, after all." Alla wasn't sure if that comment had come across as a joke. Her English was not the best, after all and, truth be told, she was not only joking here. She enjoyed Burmin's company more than the presence of some living people.

Judging by Frida's reaction, the other witch had not considered that she'd have to say the location in Russian. However, she did not seem too concerned as she laughed lightly, apparently enjoying the sound of the place's name.

Alla frowned slightly when her companion tried to say the address. While some might find accents cute and charming, the necromancer rather disliked anything but a perfect pronunciation. However, she could tell that Frida was trying hard and giving her best. Still, skepticism remained.

"I think it's close enough," she said, her voice revealing just the slightest hint of a doubt. "Moskva, tancujushhaja ovca," she repeated again, pronouncing everything carefully. "I think you're ready to go." Hopefully Alla wasn't mistaken but honestly, the floo network had to deal with accents every day, it just had to work out.