[x] Park near the castle and go talk with Dumbledore about building a house for you.
[x] Keep the other two close, specially Marisa. Don't talk much about the place to her.

[x] Ask Marisa to keep her mouth shut regarding Gensokyo. The Library too. You don't think letting Albus know much about Gensokyo is a good think and you would rather not see his reaction to the number of books you possess, given the value fo the few books you will gain for teaching.
[x] See if Albus is at the castle first. He should know where is a good place to add put a house here.

[x] Ask Marisa to keep her mouth shut regarding Gensokyo. The Library too. You don't think letting Albus know much about Gensokyo is a good thing and you would rather not see his reaction to the number of books you possess, given the value fo the few books you will gain for teaching.
[x] See if Albus is at the castle first. He should know where is a good place to add put a house here.
I am suprised no noe noticed the spelling error.

>>48569
I noticed two. Reposting my post.

[x] Ask Marisa to keep her mouth shut regarding Gensokyo. The Library too. You don't think letting Albus know much about Gensokyo is a good think and you would rather not see his reaction to the number of books you possess, given the value of the few books you will gain for teaching.
[x] See if Albus is at the castle first. He should know where is a good place to add a house.

Let's start with this. As a reminder too, Marisa probably know about the job now when she interrupted a conversation with the cosplayer in previous thread.

Now, I got an idea that we should ask Albus later. Basically, the current classroom can only fit at best two groups, right? We considered using an expansion charm for the teacher room before: why not research it for the classroom? Add in furniture on a Wood day and we would be able to fit the four groups. That way, we don't piss off anyone when we summon a whole year for a practical lesson since they're all supposed to be with us.

[X]Visit the library and inquire about their inventory, check out any books that seem interesting.
[X]Try to keep Marisa from talking about Gensokyo as much as possible, it's better if noone on this side knows any more than necessary.

Again with the house. And to think if I'd been too tired to bother thinking about my vote I'd be on the bandwagon.

[x] Ask Marisa to keep her mouth shut regarding Gensokyo. The Library too. You don't think letting Albus know much about Gensokyo is a good think and you would rather not see his reaction to the number of books you possess, given the value of the few books you will gain for teaching.
[x] See if Albus is at the castle first. He should know where is a good place to add a house.

>>48573
To be kind of honest, I was one of the major protesters against it until someone pointed out to me the bit where Patchouli thinks she would rather do this than even try cleaning and making the room bigger.

Then I started thinking that the chances of rats sneaking into a house outside are lesser than rats sneaking into a room in the castle.

But no way I'm joining to build a stupidly huge house with lot of useless space.

[x] Instruct Marisa to keep her mouth shut. Especially regarding your Library. Gensokyo, too.
[x] See if Albus is at the castle first. He should know where is a good place to put a house here.
[x] Encountering anyone else en route is an opportunity. Introduce yourself and take their measure. Might as well start separating the wheat from the chaff, even if you have the feeling that there will be very little actual wheat.

What were the other things to eventually do here? Location spell for Mima, checking out their library...

>>48570

Well, even without any sort of dimensional tomfoolery the "house" can be arbitrarily large once you get into it. She can always expand underground as necessary with Earth magic -- the castle has dungeons, but aside from the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack, I don't think there's anything of note under the grounds. I believe the Voile Archives are themselves underground, or mostly so, so she'd be more than used to that.

Though I, too, see no need for something that is larger than necessary just to be impressive. Much better to spend our efforts on making sure it is comfortable and secure.

[x] Instruct Marisa to keep her mouth shut. Especially regarding your Library. Gensokyo, too.
[x] See if Albus is at the castle first. He should know where is a good place to put a house here.
[x] Encountering anyone else en route is an opportunity. Introduce yourself and take their measure. Might as well start separating the wheat from the chaff, even if you have the feeling that there will be very little actual wheat.
[x]If Albus isn't in/awake yet, and you don't run into one of your fellow instructors, go kill time in Hogsmeade.

It occurs to me Albus handed Patchy a list of the faculty when she initially accepted the job, tracking them down for introductions is something that should be done sometime once the portal's up. Perhaps a project for when the homunculi are finished.

>>48577
Patchouli doesn't know about the village yet. Only about the Alley and Hogwarts.

>>48578
Just looked it up and yeah, Dumbledore only mentioned Hogsmeade in passing. Patchy could probably guess it's somewhere nearby, as he mentioned that's where Lockheart was staying during his own period of employment, but nothing concrete.

"Marisa. I would request you remain silent on certain matters. First, on Gensokyo as a whole. Second, and rather more directly important, regarding Voile. As yet, the extent of my archives is unknown, and I think we should both prefer it remains that way, rather than risk creating competition for you in your petty thefts."

"Yeah, mouth shut, gotcha." The witch says, clambering out of the vehicle as Tewi shuts it off. It's only a moment further before you are making your way to the primary castle entrance, and you hear voices as you pass the gates.

"Now, Cornelius, you must see reason about this. Would I have cause to lie about a matter such as this?" Albus says jovially, as you peer through the room and locate him. A pleased smile graces his face as he notes you in turn, before turning his attention back to his conversational partner.

"I am well aware of the difficulty you have had in filling the position, Albus." The rather stout fellow says, fussing with the hat in his hands and revealing his thinning hair to the world. "Which is why I have come to assure you, once again, that you can calm yourself, as a Ministry Appointed Representative will gladly fill the position. There is no need no make up fanciful tales of fictional and unknown witches to-"

"Ah, but as I said, I have not in fact lied to you, Cornelius." Albus interrupts. "Neither is the young woman in question at all fictional, as she is at this moment patiently waiting for our conversation to conclude. And good morning to you, Madame Knowledge. You shall have to pardon me, but I am currently embroiled in something of a debate with our esteemed Minister of Magic regarding your existence or, as he maintains, lack thereof. It may be a moment further before I may properly attend to your needs."

"Far be it from me to interrupt such an intellectual deliberation." You respond dryly. "I will wait for your current business to be completed, though one supposes that if I am judged not to properly exist at all, then there will naturally be no need for you to pay my visit any further mind."

Albus chuckles merrily. For his own part, Cornelius turns rather red, and blusters on for a few further minutes before leaving in an embarrassed huff.

"Ah, Cornelius. Such a charming lad, in his school years, though needy and prone to relying on the counsel of others." Albus sighs. "A shame, that as of recent years he is choosing to take all the wrong advice from all the wrong people. But never mind my political ramblings, Miss Knowledge, it is a pleasure as always. And your associates?"

"Marisa and Tewi are accompanying me today." You say, without further information. "But to business. I have concluded that the offered quarters will not be suitable, and shall be constructing my own housing. If you would be so kind as to direct me to a suitable location on the grounds?"

"Yes, yes of course. I believe I know just the place, in fact."

He brushes quickly past you and leads you out through the grounds, humming a quiet tune to himself as he enjoys the sunlight. He comes to a stop next to a slightly raised area near the forest, with a rather nice view of the nearby lake and... you squint slightly... a village some distance beyond the far shore.

"I trust this will be suitable? I will note, of course, that there is the occasional pair of students that arrange for private picnics on the ground, and this is a favored meeting spot, though not the only one. The children will simply have to make do." Albus says.

You sense downward... there's a great quantity of stone some distance into the earth. More than plenty for your needs. You could simply create it, of course, but this is not the day of Earth, and so it is rather simpler and more efficient to merely move and shape what already exists.

"Yes, this will do well." You say, removing your focus from a pocket.

You point the wand down towards the earth, unerringly towards where the good stone lies. Then you draw it up, and a jagged pillar of rock bursts upward at your direction. You twitch the wand slightly and then return it to its place as the material begins to flow outwards and into the proper shape. It is a modest enough tower, only four floors, with one room per floor, and as yet it is still raw and bereft of ornamentation as a door and windows melt into place, stairs to the front door bulging out from its base. You have directed it to shape stairs going both up and down, into the single basement level beneath the tower floor, but it will take at least a minute or two more for all the details to arrange themselves completely enough for you to enter and find a proper spot to set up the other end of the portal.

Albus' eyebrows have risen.

"A rather impressive display of talent, Miss Knowledge." He says, interest clear. "But more specifically, of skill. I confess mild curiosity to which spell you used, silently, to effect this construction."

"Basic earth-shaping." You say dismissively, though both he and Marisa are hanging on your words. "One of the cornerstones of Elementalism."

"Not, then, Transfiguration." Albus says, musing it over. "Nothing was conjured or transformed?"

"Not at all." You reply. "I have simply moved a quantity of stone which was already present, and directed it to take a form I found suitable."

"Fascinating. So simple in explanation, but to command such utility... there will be nothing dismissed when the conjuration ends, as there was no conjuration, and without transformation nothing will return to its original composition. Well, it remains to be seen, of course, as to whether it will revert to the shape it held beneath the ground or not, but it seems more akin to the levitation charm taught in first-year than to anything else which crosses the mind." Albus says, stroking his beard. "... Ah, forgive me, as something of a renowned practitioner of transfiguration, I found myself analyzing your work before I realized it."

"I take no offense. Had I intended to keep this a secret, I would have arrived in the dead of night to quietly construct something and then leave you to wonder where it had come from in the morning." You say honestly. "There remains a great deal of stone below the surface still. I may yet expand the construction, or craft a lecture hall more suitable to housing a full year worth of students at once, but that is a matter for later consideration. And you will of course understand that I must put defenses in place to prevent children from prying into my private affairs. Interrupted experiments can become... quite messy, for one, and I have no intention of explaining to a parent that their darling whelp is being sent home in a bucket because it couldn't keep its fingers to itself."

"It would be perfectly acceptable a venture, so long as you continue to understand that any buildings constructed on Hogwarts' grounds will become property of the school following your death. And I see no cause to object to any personal security you deem sufficient, so long as it is not of a lethal nature. Can't have doors that kill people who don't use the correct key, or any such thing, in a school with children wandering about, after all. I'll trust in your discretion, there." Albus says, waving a hand. "I would suppose you have not quite decided on a firm schedule, then. Never mind, there is still sufficient time for such things. As it happens, however, I have recalled a small matter which I had meant to bring up when last I saw you, though it seems age has managed to cloud the mind as it so often does. A trifling matter of tradition and nothing more, of course, but it has been long held that every instructor that graced these halls was once sorted into one of its Houses. The implication being that they were once students the same as the ones they now teach, though clearly this will not be the case in your situation. Still, we can at least give lip service to the tradition. It is of course not strictly required for your employment, but I would be quite appreciative if we could adjourn to my office for a brief minute to effect a Sorting. You need never consider the matter after, and in fact many of the instructors which are not also Heads of House choose not to so much as hint at which they once were, in a nod to impartiality."

[ ] What do you do?

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

[x] Go with it. It will only take a few minutes.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

[X] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
[X] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

Well, assuming the sorting works as it should, I doubt there's any question as to which house the hat will assign her. It is a somewhat odd situation though seeing as Patchouli isn't actually human and who knows what effect that might have, if any.

I must say I like the characterizations in this story.
I still find myself surprised that I'm enjoying a Harry Potter crossover.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

I'll assume Patchy can deal with the hat if it gets uppity concerning her pedigree.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

This can only end well.

Is Patchy going to completely shit on every wizard in the HP side of things in pretty much every aspect?

The framework, dialogue and characterization in this story is all top tier but Patchy needs to learn something from this. Or at least find someone slightly more proficient at a school of magic than her.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

Hmm, this does work as a slightly better cleaned up version and all that preferable to my original vote.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
[x] Ask if Madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

I doubt the companion sorting will happen. Patchy will probably realize that it reveals some pretty personal information- personal information that she wants to keep hidden, as would (presumably) Tewi and maybe even Marisa.

Not to mention the fact that Tewi's bunny ears are hidden beneath her hat.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

inb4 the hat decries all parties for their bad tendencies.

Well I'm pretty sure Remus was a werewolf when he entered school so the non-human thing might not really matter when sorting.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

>>48594
depends. even as a werewolf, Remus still started from the base state of 'human,' while Tewi never was to begin with.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

[X] No. This stinks of manipulation. Or maybe just stinks. Seriously, why not alienate three-fourths of your students from the get-go, huh?
[X] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

Looking forward to Eiki-lectures all around. On the other hand, who knows. Heh, but still this will be amusing.

[x] "I prefer honestly being able to answer that I was never sorted, in the case that I am asked."
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

Incredibly intrusive mind-reading for everyone!

[x] Deny his request.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

he seems awfully insistent that it's a little unimportant thing, and that hat must read minds to be able to sort people in the first place. we dont know if he has any way to use the sorting hat to peer into our mind but it sure would be a tempting proposition from his perspective considering the dvanced magic he has seen us do.
he seems way too insistant on this thing despite saying that most don't reveal their house after sorting, it shouldn't make any difference whether we accept or not and not accepting has no risk.

[x] "I prefer honestly being able to answer that I was never sorted, in the case that I am asked."
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

[X] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
[X] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

>>he seems awfully insistent that it's a little unimportant thing, and that hat must read minds to be able to sort people in the first place. we dont know if he has any way to use the sorting hat to peer into our mind but it sure would be a tempting proposition from his perspective considering the dvanced magic he has seen us do. he seems way too insistant on this thing despite saying that most don't reveal their house after sorting, it shouldn't make any difference whether we accept or not and not accepting has no risk.

Fanon. If you're going to bring up Fanon, at least use cool and/or interesting Fanon. Honestly, I'd love to see Kahi use a personality/history/abilities for the Sorting Hat like that found in "The Lie I've Lived." Let me quote a couple lines from it.

>>"No. When I am on someone's head, I whisper to their subconscious. I say words like courage and bravery and see what images the mind shows. I move on to loyalty, hard work, wit, intelligence, ambition and cunning. Whichever images strike me as the most provoking is how I make my decision. What you are asking for is a deep examination of your thoughts. It will hurt a bit, but you're no stranger to pain are you?"

~

>>"Listen you fucking little twit! I've got two jobs and that's it! Sing a fucking song and tell a bunch of snot nosed, bed wetting, miserable excuses for what didn't run down their mother's legs what house they would suck the least in!"

>>Words fail me for a moment. Even Snape isn't this much of a bloody wanker! "Merlin's balls, what is your damn problem?"

>>"You want to know what my problem is Potter! Two hundred years since I've been out of this fucking castle! Fifty more years before I get off of fucking probation."

>>"What did you do?" Must have been impressive to get a quarter millennia of detention, it sounds like one for the books.

>>"Traumatized some little tit-sucker by revealing that the current Dark Lord of the time was the bastard's illegitimate father. The spineless shit offed himself that night! You know the saying don't blame the messenger. It doesn't mean a fucking thing! When you came in pissing and moaning about being the heir of Slytherin, I threw you a bone hoping that Dumbledore would give me some time off for good behavior. You know what that anal retentive, bed wetting past the age of nine, lemon drop sucking nancy boy said to me? 'Why Hat? Good behavior is its own reward.' Oh, I've got a song to sing when the reaper finally catches up with that worthless bag of ass spackle!"

[X] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
[X] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

He doesn't seem that insistent and really, on the unlikely chance he could mind-probe Patchy without her incinerating, boiling, entombing, shredding and impaling him - in no particular order - what could he possibly do with the knowledge?

Quietly back down from ever doing it again and thank his luck, that's what.

Do Patcy and co. have mind shields, if no, be carefull.

>>48608

I really don't think that kind of attitude from the hat would be very healthy for it.

I mean, Marisa's likely to just jam it on there and between the two of them they have enough of a delicate sensibility to do nasty things to it.

I'd really rather it was a low-key Sorting Hat that does its job and maybe says a few words and then is content to be a hat for the rest of the year.

Having said that, I realise that it sounds a lot like it could be a Tsukumogami.

>>48610
Careful how? Patchouli can't be careful against what she doesn't know is a problem yet. And Albus didn't do anything to set off alarms so far. Same with the Hat: she doesn't even know how the Sorting is done.

I don't see why everyone is so paranoid. This story has no conflict and isn't hinting at future conflict, so... I guess you're making up reasons to be worried?

>>48614

Too much fanfiction I think.

Mind shields? She'd probably just channel some raw elemental energy along the return line and feel a few hunger pangs as the head goes asplody.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

Guys who want to see Marisa and Tewi sorted... May I remind you that doing so will mean Tewi will have to remove the hat she's wearing first, revealing the ears?

And if it's that interesting, Marisa will ask to try it herself.

[x] "I prefer honestly being able to answer that I was never sorted, in the case that I am asked."
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

I don't see any reason that Patchy should get Sorted. Sure I'll probably be outnumbered by the votes, but Patchy would obviously think "what's the point?" and disagree.

>>48621
>I don't see any reason that Patchy should get Sorted.
Cause it's fun.

>>48621
Or she'd figure it's unlikely to do any harm and it's a simple enough thing to do.
Even if it's only a formality magicians tend to have some regard for tradition.

[x] A strange request as you both know which House you would most likely be, but you have no reason to refuse. You may as well see how new students are sorted anyway.
-[x] If the sorting system is interesting enough, ask him to perform it on your companions.
[x] Ask if madame Pince is here. You still need that inventory.

Putting Marisa and Tewi under that hat seems far too amusing to pass up.

[X] When you see it's a magic talking hat have Marisa and Tewi go first

"Yes, very well." You say dismissively. You're fairly sure of what the outcome will be no matter the means of division, but it seems that Tradition is a powerful motivating factor here, and you can appreciate such things. Aside from that, it wouldn't really do to antagonize your employer before you have been paid in full.

Marisa gawks childishly at the interior of the castle, rather different architecturally to what she's more normally used to, and has to restrain herself from fiddling with the paintings, some of which attempt to include you in their discussion as you pass. Albus generally has a pleasant greeting or two for them, but refuses to get embroiled in conversation as you continue on, and it's not long before you are in the office, and Marisa's attention is captured by the whirling, shiny noisemakers and trinkets. You give her a warning look, and she grudgingly comes no closer to the small, pocket-able items.

"And here we are. Now, it should only take a moment for the Hat to do its work." Albus says.

"I should hope, Headmaster, that you do not expect me to sing." The hat drawls slowly. Tsukumogami, you almost automatically classify it, before reconsidering. Certainly enchanted to fulfill a purpose, in any case. The question would be whether the personality it is beginning to display is artificial or genuine.

"Well, perhaps you could just hum a few bars?" Albus says in a jesting tone.

"Hah. I think not, Headmaster. Enough to put on such a production once a year, if you want musical theatrics from me now then I shall of course comply with your demand. However, the children shall have to do without at the feast."

"Ah, very well then. I suppose it can wait. In any case, the Hat is a noted artifact of the Founder's time, and remarkably accurate at its work. Simply place it on your head, and it will do the rest." Albus says.

"Like this?" Marisa says, already putting it on in place of her own absent hat before you can begin to stop her.

"... Hm, yes, very interesting." The hat mumbles, soft but just audible. Probably not within Albus' range of hearing, though, but you don't doubt that Tewi hears it just as clearly as you yourself do. "Plenty of bravery. Oh yes, girl, bravery you have in spades. You almost couldn't lack it, with such daring escapades and battles. My word. But the defining facet... no, I think Gryffindor will not quite do. No, you would make a good enough lion, and a decent raven. Knowledge, in whatever form, is something you hungrily seek and thirst for as water, after all. But there is a better place. Yes, a better place indeed." It murmurs, then raises its voice to a normal speaking tone. "Hufflepuff, were you a student, is my verdict."

"Oh, very good!" Albus says, clapping lightly, though Marisa is frowning as she removes the hat.

".... It gets inside your head." She warns. "All the little bits, the secret thoughts and feelings-"

"Oh, you've no need to worry on that account, lass." The hat says. "The founders would not be so slip-shod as to leave in such a potential means to breach confidentiality. From the beginning, I have been enchanted with an automatic self-obliviation charm, set to go the moment I have declared a verdict, removing all trace of everything I learn from your psyche. I can't recall, even now, anything from a moment ago. Though I suppose if I've called you a 'Puff you must be a very hard working and loyal girl indeed, young miss."

"You never mentioned this before." Albus notes.

"Ah, I would not have indeed Headmaster." The Hat allows. "Watching people fuss about and work themselves into a frenzy trying to extract the foolish childhood secrets and traumas of students which have gone on to enter positions of power is one of my few amusements. Though you're rather less than forthcoming, on that note."

"My word, would previous Headmasters really have made such questionable attempts?" Albus says, seeming startled.

"Oh, unhesitatingly, Headmaster. I recall Phineas, there, simply for example made at least a dozen attempts a year."

"Blasted bit of dusty leather." A portrait all but spits. "I suppose you were chuckling to yourself the whole time, then?"

"Oh, indeed Phineas. I believe you worked yourself up to frothing at the mouth, a bit, in several of your attempts. It was simply magnificent to watch, knowing the futility of it." The Hat says smugly.

"Pah. A pox on your stitches, may they molder and fall out." The man says in response, standing and walking out of the frame in a dark mood.

"Dramatic." You say flatly. "If we might continue?"

"Yes, yes, do go ahead my dear." Albus says, waving you on. You collect the hat from Marisa and settle it gently on your head.

"Hm... interesting, yes." The Hat muses in your ear, shifting lightly about your skull as you feel it brushing gently against your mind, just tasting carefully at your persona and glancing quickly through your years of collected memories. "Older than you seem, and that's simply for a start. Hm... you would not make a bad Slytherin, I think. Yes, you have a certain... disregard for inconvenient things such as laws, or moral concerns, when they prove problematic to your goals. Never to the point of outright cruelty, I think, but you would fit in very well. But ambition... ah, ambition. You have no real, large scale ambition. Or rather, what ambition you have has already been fulfilled, and so long as you remain on good terms with that friend of yours, there is no cause to believe it will be plucked away from you. No, even smaller ambitions are for the most part simple extensions of that primary, fulfilled goal. Some measure of cunning and craftiness, but no real drive to manipulate others into pandering to your whims, simply to have them pandering to your whims, you limit that only to pursuit of specific goals and do not bother otherwise. Yes, you could be a decent enough Slytherin, if given cause. But it is not for you.

Hufflepuff... no, not Hufflepuff. Not at all. You simply have too much raw talent: Magic has always come easily and naturally to you, and you have never put yourself to many other tasks outside its scope. You have worked for things, but never had need to put more than a certain amount of effort into anything. For loyalty... Hm, you aren't a friendly person at all. You are friends with that one, of course, but it is more a matter of mutual convenience: never do you forget the effort she has put in to try to get a taste of your throat, and always you are prepared to rebuff her should the mood take her again, with as much force as it takes. Your loyalty, primarily, is to yourself. No, though you can be stubborn as any badger I've ever seen, you would not make a good Hufflepuff.

Bravery... Ah yes. You have no fear of her fangs, do you? You sleep well at night, every night, knowing that at any time she may decide to try to catch you unawares, in your slumber. You are prepared to fight her off, if it comes to that, but you do not fear that this situation may come to pass. It would take much, I think, very much indeed to give you cause to balk. If I did not know better, I would suspect that you simply do not comprehend the human concept of 'fear'..... But yes. You would do quite well in Gryffindor. Quite well indeed.

But then, you haven't had a doubt about the outcome from the beginning, have you?" The hat says in your ear, amused, before raising its voice. "Ravenclaw. Most certainly, a Ravenclaw Rowena herself would take some pride in, Headmaster."

"I did suspect as much." Albus admits cheerfully. "And I suppose that that is that. Let's put you back on your shelf, shall we?"

You start to reach up, but Tewi has already lifted the hat from your head, getting a closer, curious look at it before it gets put away.

"Slytherin." The hat declares, simply, without needing so much as to brush the top of her head, or hold even the shortest of conversation, determining her place with only the merest contact with her. Albus' eyebrow arches.

"Huh. Snake house, right? Neat." Tewi says. "... Can't say I disagree, I've bedded down in a den of serpents a time or two. Things work out okay, so long as you keep in mind that while their tongues can be silver, their bites are poison."

You shrug, and Albus simply collects the Hat and sets it back in its place.

"By any chance, has the librarian arrived yet?" You ask calmly. "I would very much like to collect that inventory listing."

"Of course, of course." Albus says. "If you wish, I can simply give you directions to the library from here, or lead you to her personally and introduce you, as my morning is rather empty today. It's really this or pay a visit to certain of my acquaintances. I imagine dear Remus must be rather at his wits end by this point, keeping his friend entertained in that old house, and should stop by soon in any case, as it's not like the poor fellow can come and go from his estate as he pleases."

"Illness?" You venture, and Albus blinks.

"Ah, the young man's predicament is something like that, and I can certainly say he is in nothing like a healthy state. In any case, he cannot really leave his home, and it rather chafes at him. He was always something of a boisterous lad. I should, perhaps, introduce you to them at some point, but not, I believe, today. No, you will likely be far too busy for such social introductions."

"If these acquaintances happen to be instructors as well, then such a meeting could be taken as business." You point out, indifferent either way, and Albus makes a considering noise.

"... Well, Remus did fill the position you hold at one time, that is true." He says after a moment. "And it is possible that Severus might be in the area."

"The potions instructor?" You ask.

"My, yes. Something of a taciturn and moody lad though, I'm afraid." Albus says. "Particularly in that household, for various reasons. I suppose I could arrange a meeting with Remus, however, though I will have to speak with some people to determine if I can secure an invitation for you, as it is naturally not my house, and I cannot simply bring you in without warning."

"Of course." You reply, and Albus pops a lemon candy of some kind into his mouth.

"... Well, of course, I recall you had young Alistair with you, before. Charming young man. Such a shame about... well, that's neither here nor there, really. It might be possible to arrange a meeting with Remus in his household, as it happens. They are... not on particularly friendly terms, but are at the least nodding acquaintances. They move in a similar social circle, so to speak."

"Remus is a werewolf, then." You say bluntly. "And of a different 'pack', to put it in simpler terms. Will having them in close proximity not bring up the subtle hostilities of hunters which do not hunt together?"

"... I suppose that it would not be out of the question to say that that is a possible outcome." Albus admits, after a moment. "Though Remus assures me that the instinct is quite controllable, so long as neither of the parties in question have any personal enmity or grudges against one another. Being in the same immediate area for a brief duration should not have any unfortunate repercussions, I believe."

[ ] What do you do?

[x] First things first, go check the library. Wether Albus shows you the way or not is no matter to you, but ih insists, it would be acceptable offer.
[x] Meeting the other teachers come after the library.

Since I don't care much, any particular order of meeting the teachers is fine by me.

[x] First things first, go check the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is no matter to you, but if insists, it would be acceptable offer.
[x] Meeting the other teachers come after the library.

[x] First things first, go check the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is no matter to you, but if he insists, it would be acceptable offer.
[x] Meeting the other teachers come after the library.

Yay, more books. Unless all the books suck, but I doubt it.

Well, that was interesting. Interesting how quickly the hat decided to put Tewi in Slytherin. I wonder what kinds of ambitions she has.

[x] Have Albus accompany you to the library.
[x] Meeting other teacher afterwards couldn't hurt.

>>48633
Her ambitions seem fulfilled at the moment: she's got a nice place at Eientei with rabbits obeying her every whim, people remember (and respect) her Outside, and she has no trouble getting her hands on cash. On some level, she probably considers Patchy a useful connection, but we think of her the same way (our little luck-booster~). She's got a problem with Reisen. Maybe we can help her resolve that permanently, maybe not.

[x] Have Albus accompany you to the library.
[x] Meeting other teacher afterwards couldn't hurt.

[X] Such measures for only a meeting... Perhaps it would be better to schedule it another day to simplify things. There's no rush.
[X] Go check the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is no matter to you, but if he insists, it would be acceptable offer.

>>48633
>>48635
Well, If there's anything Tewi has (besides luck) it's cunning. After all she survived how many times a normal lifespan as a rabbit with only her cunning to rely on before she even became a youkai.
Not to mention after she gained sentience, the story of how she crossed the ocean by tricking sharks so she could jump across on their backs for instance.
Whether those stories are literally true or not she has survived over a thousand years without much power to speak of.

[x] Mention that blocking the Killing Curse should be easy.

This is important information that Dumbledore would be extremely interested to hear.

[x] There's no rush. Albus can take the time he need to set a meeting.
[x] Go check the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is no matter to you, but if he insists, it would be acceptable offer.

We still need to set the portal and defenses and I'm wary of leaving the truck unchecked for so long. Someone may find it and do something to it.

By the way guys, meeting teachers is nice and all, but the question lie in the method: set a meeting shortly at Alistair's house or wait for Albus to set it at Sirius place?

...Actually, is it even possible? The Order definitely got assembled at this point in time and the place should be under Fidelius. Then again, Albus has no reason to believe (and he's not wrong either) that we would cause trouble.

>>48633
Perhaps not based on ambition, but cunning instead.

>>48638
Deletion shenanigans. I was the second you referred to but I decided to reword a bit my vote.

>>48640
This is coming completely out of nowhere in this conversation, nevermind that Patchouli only heard from Alistair that Dumbledore claims Voldemort is back. As such, there's no chance of this happening... yet at least.

>>48643
Teaching Defense against the Dark Arts is her job. Of course it's relevant. Maybe she's wrong and needs to revise her opinion of outside mages. Maybe she's right and she needs to come up with a method to teach children how to block it. We really need more information about this before we can devise any sort of schedule.

[x] There's no rush. Albus can take the time he needs to set a meeting.
[x] Go check the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is no matter to you, but if he insists, it would be acceptable offer.

This works.

>>48640

Well, it's not such a big deal. Lots of wizards can block the curse - they magic things in the way or transfigure things to defend them. Patchy can do it better, but can she teach it? Does she care?

If it's possible to teach it to her students then she will - no point talking about it now.

>>48646
She cares if we care. Apparently, we do not. I'm okay with this.

[x] There's no rush. Albus can take the time he needs to set up a meeting.
[x] Go check out the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is of no matter to you.

[x] There's no rush. Albus can take the time he needs to set up a meeting.
[x] Go check out the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is of no matter to you.

We should mention the AK defense at some point... but now is probably not the time. Assuming it even can be taught - from what I understand, it's basically inherent in being raised in a magic-rich world.

[x] There's no rush. Albus can take the time he needs to set up a meeting.
[x] Go check out the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is of no matter to you.
Blocking AK? I wonder.

x] There's no rush. Albus can take the time he needs to set up a meeting.
[x] Go check out the library. Whether Albus shows you the way or not is of no matter to you.

Why block AK when you can (possibly) reflect it back in their faces?

>>48653

In this story, AK is the magical equivalent of barbarianism.

Let's not resort to that.

"There's no need to rush into such things in any case." You say calmly, waving the matter off. "In any case, please lead the way to the library. I'm sure it would be more appropriate for the head of faculty to carry out introductions between staff."

"Hm, yes, probably so." Albus admits. "Ah, would anyone like a candy, before we head off?"

"I'll help myself, if you're offering~" Marisa says, already popping one in her mouth. "Sour. Not bad, though."

As promised, she had discreetly palmed a handful more with her other hand, and was now tucking them away into a pocket, wrapped in a handkerchief. Albus seems to have caught it, but he seems more amused than anything else by it, and proffers the bowl again, expectantly.

"I'll pass." Tewi says, holding up a hand. You take one, however. More out of politeness than anything else, they aren't really to your taste. Albus seems pleased enough, though, as he rises and dusts himself off.

You keep a steady eye trained on Marisa, to ensure none of the man's... things, for lack of better specific words, leave the room with her, and wave her through the door first. Once you've left, however, the procession through the halls is relatively swift. However, you cross paths with another shortly.

"Ah, Argus." Albus says pleasantly. "Stroke of luck to meet you here. May I introduce you to miss Knowledge, the new defense instructor? Miss Knowledge, Argus Filch, the caretaker of the castle."

"Charmed." You say without specific inflection, though you reflect that you might have preferred not to cross paths with the unpleasant, bitter looking fellow. He didn't seem particularly healthy, either, and as he attempted a smile which came out as something more of a pained grimace, it was clear that his teeth were quite yellow.

"Pleasure to meet you." He rasped, before coughing. "Afraid I've caught something of a summer cold. Good thing that the student's aren't back quite yet, I don't think I'd be quite up to it. Little devils they are, tracking muck and filth all over the clean floors and carpeting, leaving half eaten food everywhere and painting graffiti and crude poems on the walls, sneaking out at all hours of the night. Never a moment's rest with the little wretches up to their mischief."

"Now Argus, children will be children." Albus says reprovingly.

"You say that now, Headmaster, but you can't honestly say your aren't as put out as the rest of us when one of the blasted hellions chucks a dungbomb into the staff lounge on a bet." The caretaker says bitterly, and Albus sighs.

"I had so been looking forward to sampling the lemon pies Madame Rosmerta had sent up." He says wistfully.

".... Dungbombs." You say, making no effort at all to conceal your prodigious disgust at the thought. "I suppose I would be correct in presuming, then, that this item is designed for the propulsion of fecal matter? I should hope these things are forbidden within the castle."

"Oh, you would think they would be. But it's an uphill battle all the way to have anything put on the list of Restricted Items, I'm afraid." The caretaker says, turning his own reproving glower Albus' way. The headmaster shrugs, and Argus snorts. "No matter that it's clear that everyone would be better off if some things were banned outright, or at least if someone would allow punishments that would actually give cause for the brats to think twice about their mayhem."

"Hogwarts is meant to be a happy time in the development of a magical child." Albus argued. "A joyous excursion of learning, from which they grow into adulthood on their own. I have always held that too many stifling regulations, or harsh punishments, will stifle the children's growth."

"Aye, and in turn the brats that deserve punishing make the lives of the very few that don't a merry hell." Argus says, with some measure of scorn. "But you've said your piece Headmaster, and I know by now that there'll be no convincing you otherwise. But I'll say it again as I've said before, there wouldn't have been a single student who would dream of causing the sort of havoc that goes on in these halls today, back when they could still get the lash for it."

Albus frowns, and you speak.

"Headmaster, I can't say I care much for the way this conversation has turned." You say sharply, making sure not to address him familiarly in the hopes of getting your concerns properly across. "I believe we should speak, soon, about appropriate methods of punishment. How on earth am I to keep classes in line if they have no cause to believe they will be disciplined for misbehavior?"

Argus perks up, seeing that you seem to take his side on things, and Albus sighs.

"This is not really the time, Madame." He says, clearly maneuvering to avoid a position where he is the lone voice against others working in concert. "But you may of course discipline your students as needed, through removal of points or by issuing detentions, at your discretion."

"Points system, pah, as though the students don't make a laughingstock of that rubbish at every chance they get." Argus grumbles.

"But as you say, perhaps we should speak about this later." The headmaster says, changing the intent of your words in effort to delay things. "As for you, Argus, do not let us keep you too long from your duties."

"Of course, Headmaster." Argus says, moving along. "Though a word in your ear, miss. Keep an eye on those Weasley twins. And on the Potter boy and his tag-alongs. Those give me more headaches than all the rest of the school combined, I'll swear to it."

"Argus, I will thank you not to bias an instructor against students before term has even properly begun." Albus says warningly.

"Just a word of caution, Headmaster, and nothing more. She'll see their behavior for herself, soon enough." Argus says, walking off, coughing again into his hand.

Albus sighs.

"Ah, Argus. Such a bitter man." He says, shaking his head, once the caretaker is out of earshot. "I'm afraid he has allowed certain of his misfortunes to disillusion him and turn him against the students. A shame that their simple happiness pains him so."

"I may be wrong, Albus, but from the sound of things it is the reckless misbehavior, deliberate rule-breaking, lack of respect, and disregard for the increase of his workload which has turned him against the students." You point out, making it clear that you do not believe the children are entirely innocent simply due to their youth and stupidity. Albus sighs again.

"That is, of course, your opinion on the matter." He says, in a tone that very much implied that he thought he knew better but would maintain mutual respect by not forcing you to accept the correct point of view. You frown, already seeing that this is shaping up to be a point of contention between the two of you. "In any case, we are nearly there, simply down this next set of stairs..."

He leads the way, and once inside the library makes introductions between you and Madame Pince, a thin and rather drawn-out seeming woman, with spectacles sitting just a touch lower on her nose than looks quite right at first glance. She is a reasonably efficient woman, and not much in the way of a conversationalist, clearly interested in being rid of you as swiftly as possible so she might return to her work. Both are qualities you can appreciate. You have an inventory in your hands within minutes, and a quick glance through it reveals several books which you recognize from your purchases, most of which are useful only in one specific area, but in that area somewhat exceed even your all-around superior selection. You thank the woman for her time, and tuck the papers carefully away. She then calls you aside and gives you a hurried warning regarding the Weasley Twins, before you begin to leave.

Clearly, with two independent sources bringing you the same warning, the cause for concern is not unfounded. Also clearly, Albus has a habit of allowing childish wrongdoing to slide with little or no punishment levied against the perpetrators. He had not, in point of fact, at all mentioned any such mischievous habits in the documents he had given you. You suppose it would have come as a rude surprise had you not been warned, as you had at least been under the impression from that lack of mention that the children would be well behaved, if not necessarily competent.

Well, one way or another, you will make do.

[ ] What do you do?

[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.

[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.

[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.
-[x] Also, make sure to add some sort of anti-prank ward. You can't kill the students, but you can punt dungbombs back at them and leave them to try to clean it off of themselves on their own time.

[x] Meet Remus at Alistair's house.

More character interaction = better.

[X] Finish up at the house. Set up the Portal.
[X] Add garage for the truck. If we've got an easy way in and out, we no longer need to drag it through the shrine (that can't be good for the steps).
[X] Finish up whatever else we need to do while out and about. We still have to start working on a lesson plan as that's due soon.

[x] You should finish things at the lodgement you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.

As for defenses, I could see setting up some wards that teleported un-keyed individuals to the castle's roof or out above the middle of the lake. Just for starters, at least.

>>48662
Be consistent with what's going on. We already said we could wait.

>>48663
While I don't think we should leave it at the school, I do agree the truck isn't the best vehicule to use to simply drive around. Still, it's not like we're going to use it that much.

[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.

[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up."
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal."
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one."

I will note that "detention" leaves a fair amount of leeway, and often implies some form of labor. "My first suggestion would be to drop miscreants in a sealed cavern along with a set of charm-proof picks. "Good exercise, plus they can learn about mining -- and, if they really suck at it, oxygen deprivation as well (note to self: next time remember to put holes in the lid).

Suddenly conflict. Hooray!

Kids in detention should have to copy tomes by hand while being used as target practice by their classmates. It's educational.

Copying tomes as punishment is very interesting - have them error checked by Koakuma later, it forces the students to read the books and it creates additional copies for other students.

Hell, force them to present the spell with the underlying expectation that if students fail the spell they need to present and the accompanying portions that their detention becomes that much worse.

ERUDATION THROUGH PUNISHMENT.

>>48671

That punishment might be amusing to think about in theory, but honestly, how long do you think it would take to write a textbook using a quill and ink pot? My guess would be about a month working 3 hours a day.

That means if a student messes up once ad gets detention, then they can mess up as many times after that as they want, because they are still going to be copying the same textbook from the first time they messed and got detention.

[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.

Also, if most of the teachers use the same schedule every year, can't we get a copy of it from Dumbledore? Unless we have already and I've just forgotten about it.
That way we could get our schedule out of the way one of these days even without having to get ahold of all the teachers first.

[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.

>>48673
Plus, it's better not to have a single punishment for everything. I want to see what Patchouli can come up with.

Having a stroke of irony on your disciplinary actions is extra satisfying.

Tewi may have good ideas for punishments?

[x] Ask, if Albus schedules of the other instructors are similar each year. If so, ask for a copy of a previous one, so schedule conflicts can be mostly avoided from the beginning.
[x] You should finish things at the tower you built. Also, you should add some sort of drop box for messages while you're at it. Don't forget to tell Albus about it for when he'll have a meeting set up.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced. Albus is probably still wondering where you come from and may not be the only one.

[x] Ask, if Albus schedules of the other instructors are similar each year. If so, ask for a copy of a previous one, so schedule conflicts can be mostly avoided from the beginning.
[x] You should finish things at the tower you built.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced.

[x] Ask, if Albus schedules of the other instructors are similar each year. If so, ask for a copy of a previous one, so schedule conflicts can be mostly avoided from the beginning.
[x] You should finish things at the tower you built.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced.

[x] Ask, if Albus schedules of the other instructors are similar each year. If so, ask for a copy of a previous one, so schedule conflicts can be mostly avoided from the beginning.
[x] You should finish things at the tower you built.
[x] Set the defenses, then the portal. If Yukari is around for the process, you should also ask if there's anything important you should know about the portal.
-[x] At the same time, you should know how heavily Gensokyo's secrecy should be enforced.

"Incidentally." You say as you leave the library behind. "I would be interested to know if the schedules for the year are generally the same with every year that passes."

"I am afraid they aren't." Albus replies. "What with the constant replacement of Defense Instructors... well, you understand. In addition, there is some measure of... you might call it 'politics', to determine the final course arrangement, which classes are held in which time-periods. The slot immediately after lunch, for example, is highly sought after, while the ones immediately before lunch and dinner are not considered ideal, as the students attention is generally more difficult to keep on task, and off of the important matter of if they will be serving roasts or hams."

You frown at the thought that the children might prove to be more fixated on feeding themselves than on learning to manipulate fantastic aetherial power to their whims. After a moment, you sigh.

"I suppose it is commonplace, then, for arrangements to be made between instructors. Exchanges of favors in exchange for support in claiming more suitable time-slots, that sort of thing?"

"That is very much the case." Albus agrees. "Though generally, schedules are put off until a day or two prior to the start of term, and instructors will congregate in the castle and argue the matter out amongst themselves, but things are hashed out swiftly enough for schedules to be written and duplicated such that they are ready to be passed out to the students following their arrival."

"Magnificent." You say flatly, understanding that you will likely have to barter strenuously over any of the standard times. The thought of non-standard times strikes you again, and you wonder if it would be worth it to agitate the students by cutting into time they are used to having available to fritter away in any way they please, if it means you don't have to deal with this sort of nonsense from the teachers.

You shake your head.

"In any case, I should complete the finer details of the construction of my tower. Ah, I should note, Albus." You say. "I will be sealing over the entrance and windows until I have the time to move proper defenses in. There won't be anything inside worth the effort, so it should be enough to turn aside curious fingers poking about where they aren't wanted. I will be setting up a slot for mail to be deposited, however, if I must be contacted regarding something."

"Yes, that should do nicely." Albus says. "I believe you recall the way to the exit?"

"Yes, don't let me keep you Albus. I'm more than capable of finding my own way out." You say, as he heads back toward his office. Naturally, you get turned about shortly after this, but a few steps down an empty hall you give in and portal directly to the entry of the castle.

The tower really could use a bit of touching up, you decide as you arrive. You adjust the surface a bit, giving it the appearance of having been weathered by the passage of years, as you spruce up the exterior with some ridges and carvings. Just a touch of magic sends some ivy growing nicely up the sides of it... yes, that will do for now. You leave the witch and rabbit behind as you enter, fusing the door into a solid portion of the wall behind you and reaching out to shrink the windows enough to be impassable. Anyone who wants to enter now will have to either teleport in, or blast directly through more than a foot of solid stone.

Interior decoration can wait, you decide, as you descend into the basement, sealing the entry to that behind yourself as well, such that it would be near impossible to detect that anything is hidden beneath the ground level of the tower, even if someone did break in. Then, of course, you are forced to leave just subtle enough a hint that someone might figure it out by molding a chute into the wall, to deposit things dropped within from outside to this level. You'll probably put a golem in later, to collect things and deliver them to you, rather than check personally. For now, just the chute will do, though.

You carefully raise a pedestal up from the floor, and set Yukari's chest on it, then insert and turn the key. There's a quiet click, and then a subtle wave of power flows over and through you before dissipating, and a silent portal appears, floating near. You don't doubt that the other end is in your library.

There is a folded note inside the chest, and a handful of small golden tokens, with an etched silver 'x' on their surface. You unfold it and read, already mildly wary of the contents.

As you can see, my part of the deal is now unquestionably fulfilled. The general area in which you opened this box is now in an in-between state, both inside and outside of the Border at once. I would explain the mechanics of the action, but I am afraid they would simply bore you. In any case, the portal was set to be automatically created upon the boxes opening, and will deliver you to and from the marker I have placed in your library. I'll advise you not to try moving it, as the results could be... quite shocking. In any case, I'll also note that the chest is one use only, and will not perform this function again. I do hope you were patient enough not to open it until you had it in the proper place, yes? On a final note, its destruction will cancel the boundary-effect and dispel the portal, though if you require a new chest then you will of course owe another favor in repayment~

But on to more interesting things. I have devised a marvelous game, which you will most enjoy playing with me~

You instantly dread reading further, and stare instead at the implacable, indifferent ceiling. After a moment, you sigh and continue.

This will not be the only portal to Gensokyo, far from it. You will by now, of course, have noticed the lovely tokens included in the chest with this letter. There are six. Count them, if you wish.

This number is quite relevant, for there will be six more portals to and from Gensokyo hidden and opened in the general vicinity of the castle in which you will soon be employed, and the surrounding area. Six portals, and six tokens. I'm quite sure you have already concluded the nature of this game, or else I shall be somewhat disappointed in your vaunted intellect.

In any case, these portals, depending on when you have opened this box, may already be present or may be yet to appear. The game, miss Knowledge, is to locate these portals and deal with them as you please. Secure the area, have it heavily guarded, or attempt to dispel them, though I warn you that the last is merely an option that will amuse me greatly as I watch your fruitless efforts. As well, preventing passage through them will prove to be very difficult: encase one in stone or metal, for example, or wreath it in eternally-burning fire, and it will simply move to a nearby position where the way through is not blocked. If you wish to seal a portal from passage, you must do so according to the rules.

Simply cast one of the tokens into the portal, by itself, and travel through it will be sealed. Going that direction. For example, if you throw a token through from the end of the portal within Gensokyo, then nothing will be capable of leaving through it. However, as the other end is still unsealed, anything that happens upon it will be more than capable of wandering through.

With six tokens, you are capable of preventing all travel to, or from, Gensokyo as you please, or seal any combination of the twelve portal openings you wish. It will in no way be sufficient to prevent every possible means of travel both to and from, however.

How you choose to deal with this matter will, I believe, be very interesting to watch. Don't disappoint me, dear~

You are forced to breathe very deeply as you restrain yourself from ripping the letter apart.

[ ] What do you do?

I can't say I'm surprised there was another 'cost' to the portal. Whelp, if we stop all traffic to Gensokyo, than that would keep the brats out of trouble there. But, that would mean that one night a student might meet a hungry Rumia and end up eaten. Whereas if traffic from Gensokyo is banned, we'd end up spending plenty of time shipping them back to the school.

[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?

[x] "GODDAMMIT YUKARI!"
[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x]Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.

Fuuuuuuuuu...
The bearded man is not up to this...
[x]inform the shrine maiden
[x]inform Dumbledore
[x]First class lesson will be spell card rules, since even a fairy can could knock out most of the younglings.
(Dear god let us hope that the Twins do not discover that the fairies love pranks.)

...Wow. That "GODDAMNIT YUKARI" sure is warranted here.

[x] "GODDAMMIT YUKARI!"
[x] Having committed the letter to memory, don't tear it apart, incinerate it. It may not do anything, but it's cathartic enough.
[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x]Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

>>48687
Good idea. Seal the portals on Gensokyo's end to keep the locals away from the school, then put up golems on the school's side to keep the students away from them. Needs to be done QUICKLY though, depending on the location of each portal there might already be fairies and the like coming through.

[x] "GODDAMMIT YUKARI!"
[x] Having committed the letter to memory, don't tear it apart, incinerate it. It may not do anything, but it's cathartic enough.
[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x]Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

Yukari, you magnificent bastard. Doubtless the most "entertaining" part of this little game will be not finding the portals, but dealing with the poor sods on both sides who wander through.

If it were me I'd seal them from the outside; Gensoukyo's folk are much better equipped to handle the Outside than vice versa. At least the castle's a place where this kind of thing isn't ridiculously out of place.

Well, look like Yukari doesn't care one bit about keeping Gensokyo free of curious wizards. Probably because any trying to cause trouble will probably die.

Look like Dumbledore will elarn far more than he would have wanted to know about the 'Hidden area' Patchouli lives in.

[x] Go back and warn Dumbledore about the game. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
-[x] Sadly, finding them at the castle will probably be way faster than searching all over Gensokyo. Ask Albus to condemn the way to any portal found until you're here to see where it lead to and decide how it should be dealt with.
[x] Ask Tewi if she could inform you of any portal found in Eientei or the Bamboo Forest.

For Hogwarts, portals in areas frequently passed by should have tokens used on and portals in areas that are out of the usual way can do with guards and barriers. Having one in, say, the main entrance simply won't do. The golems's intelligence would probably get in the way of anyone who would simply pass by too close to the portal.

For Gensokyo, any area in the wild should be sealed. We simply can't leave the possibility of youkais going in and start eating students at any moment. The problem is if anyone in Gensokyo's main powers find one and decide to want to keep it open for their own purposes.

Anyway, I would put more but the update will probably be big enough as it is.

[x]You'll give the old hag no such satisfaction. Destroy the chest.
What a fucking bitch, Fuck her.
I'm sure some other way of travel that doesn't involve some year-long hassle can be arranged.

[x] "GODDAMMIT YUKARI!"
[x] Having committed the letter to memory, don't tear it apart, incinerate it. It may not do anything, but it's cathartic enough.
[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x]Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

Well, I'd want to check what is on the far side before we decide which end to seal - some many areas have youkai that will quite happily try to eat students. Also, we just found out where Harry is going to get his confirmation Patchy is evil - no good witch would just leave the portals here!

[X] Sigh in frustration.
[X] If you can't get rid of them so easily, at the least you can try to use them to your own benefit.
[X] Make a few different plans should a few of them become unworkable for whatever reason.

>>48692
Bad juju, this is. The letter says that destroying the chest will kill the original portal, it doesn't say anything about the others.

Oh wait, rereading this, surrounding area may even include the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade. Clearly, the game will be fun for youkais and bad for wizards and us.

[x] "GODDAMMIT YUKARI!"
[x] Call Ran and explain to her her master's latest folly.
[x] And warn Hakurei miko for that matter...

[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year. No need to be too specific, there have been some unexpected side effects to opening a long term gate from our sanctuary and his and his staff's assistance in finding any gaps would be appreciated.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

I don't expect divination to be overly effective, that would be too easy seeing as who it is we're dealing with.
Some additional golems posted at the outside of the gates should be effective in keeping most people from getting through so emphasis should probably be on sealing the gensokyo side of portals unless they're in particularly safe locations.
It wouldn't look good on our resume if we let man-eating monsters camouflaged as little girls loose in the school.

[x] "GODDAMMIT YUKARI!"
[x] Having committed the letter to memory, don't tear it apart, incinerate it. It may not do anything, but it's cathartic enough.
[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x]Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

pic related, it's Yukari

[X] Goddamnit Yukari.
[X] Make some golems and task them to search the surrounding area for portals. Depending on their location, decide what to do with them. Maybe totally seal off one of them if it's more convenient.
[X] Hold off on telling Dumbledore. It can wait until the year starts, just act like the portals just gradually became stronger and reached a threshold to actually form just recently. Maybe make up some explanation that it's a result of the higher magic levels leaking into the surroundings.
[X] Do tell Reimu about the portals right away.

[x] Try later to get an assurance from Yukari as to whether the portals will at least deposit anyone from Hogwarts into an area that is not imediately dangerous to be in.
[x] Having committed the letter to memory, don't tear it apart, incinerate it. It may not do anything, but it's cathartic enough.
[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x]Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

Fuck yes. This story went from (relatively) boring to interesting in one fell swoop.

Too late to vote now. Whatever.

[x] "GODDAMMIT YUKARI!"
[x] Having committed the letter to memory, don't tear it apart, incinerate it. It may not do anything, but it's cathartic enough.
[x]Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x]Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

Some of the portals may well turn out to be beneficial depending on where they lead; you'd likely be able to leave a portal heading to the human village or Eientei intact, posting a sign and perhaps a golem or two on both ends to indicate it's location.

Patchy might also be able to get hints from Ran if she brings a suitable bribe, I imagine she already knows about this mess. Something she can share with Chen would probably go over best.

[x] Make sure to use the phrase "cultural exchange" when explaining this to Dumbledore.

We can spin this positively.

Goddammit, Yukari!

Once we find a portal, we should probably put guardian golems and warning signs on the Hogwarts-side and seal the Gensokyo side. Preventing regular humans from going through should be easier than securing the portal against intruders with heavier firepower, such as most things in Gensokyo. If some magical beast wanders in, it shouldn't be a problem for us, as long as it's not close to the SDM. Having beings from Gensokyo wander outside on the other hand might lead to unhealthy consequences.

Caveat: If a human does wander into Gensokyo, they won't be able to leave without help.

Of course, depending on a portal's positions, other actions might provide a better solution, but this seems reasonable for the general case.

Well, its been a long time since any complication ever came, its to be expected.
But still, GODDAMNIT YUKARI!!!!

>>48706
The problem is that Yukari will certainly not put the portals in only random areas. If one appear where a main power of Gensokyo is, we may have to convince or defeat in a danmaku duel some heads before we can seal a portal (Moriya may want to spread faith amongst wizards, Byakuren may want to use it to promote her ideals, ect.).

Ooh, ooh. Let's start a yukkuri nest at one of the portals! England could use more yukkuri.

MAybe we can leave the portals to main powers open and seal tha dangerous ones?

>>48708
Going through the portal, throwing the token and porting home shouldn't take more than a few seconds.

[x]You'll give the old hag no such satisfaction. Destroy the chest.
[x]Inform the red-white EXACTLY what is going on, and who caused it. I foresee heavily injured Yakumo(s) in the future.

Obviously Reimu may not be able to harm Yukari, but Ran and Chen are not on that list.

[x]Do NOT be an idiot and destroy the chest. There is NO indication that doing so will destroy ALL the portals, just the one we have set up for ourselves. We are NOT so desperate to spite Yukari that we're willing to shoot ourselves in the foot, are we?

Just throwing out a few ideas.

[] Make several hundred golems - weak little things, fast and easy to make, paper or twigs or whatever. Have them scour the grounds for the portals. Use more powerful golems to hold any portals found on both sides. Suika, Unzan or Sakuya could do something similar, if less reliably.

If we can't fully block them, just having advance warning when they are used will do. But blocking them on the Gensokyo side is best.

I get the idea that the portals aren't actually moving themselves - Yukari is maintaining them, actively moving them around when they're blocked uncreatively.

I think the most likely solution to work is the one that amuses her the most - which might be by making no big secret of it.

Let the students know - impress upon them that they will be eaten alive by cute little youkai girls if they aren't careful. Give a demonstration, perhaps.

If Yukari really does care about keeping Gensokyo secret from wizards, then she wouldn't have screwed around like this.

It should be possible to monitor all the students location. Likewise a spell that detects portals - they're magic, they might leak Gensokyo's "higher magical pressure" or just atmosphere in general.

>>48708
Random thought: Byakuren as a member of S.P.E.W.

>>48713

Not sure if that will stop the portals, but it's worth a shot. Also, it would be funny if Patchy teamed up with Reimu. She removes the magic from those chocolate-and-marshmallow golems.

Yukari isn't the only backstabber around here. Give her a taste of her own medicine.

>>48708
Random thought: Byakuren as a member of S.P.E.W. Or something of that nature.

>>48708

Random thought: Byakuren as a member of S.P.E.W. Or something of that nature.

Uhhh guys...I just thought of something...As soon as two Yukkuri get through the portals, the Yukkuri population in Europe is going to explode out of control because their massive growth rate won't be kept in check by natural predators(read: youkai).

>>48716
>>48718
>>48719
Mind deleting two of those three posts, samefag?

Setting up some sort of alarm to alert us if and when someone passes through one of the portals we've found in addition to sealing the most risky side of the portals that are likely to cause the most trouble (such as either side of one ending in the SDMs basement for instance) might be a good idea.

>If Yukari really does care about keeping Gensokyo secret from wizards, then she wouldn't have screwed around like this.

Yeah. Might not go over so well with Reimu, though. To spite her you might make several trips back-and-forth through the barrier for unimportant things, making not a few holes in it. She wants holes in the Barrier? She'll GET holes in the Barrier.

Then again, it might backfire 'cause Reimu is also in charge of the barrier. Best to just sic Reimu on Yukari.

>>48720
Their natural growth will be kept in check by low ambient magic levels and natural predators (humans, ordinary humans). We'll probably find out.

...Guys, do you remember how much Reimu care about Outsiders? Not much. She will like the information but I doubt she'll make a move, especially against Yukari, who is troublesome to deal with even at best times, unless we properly motivate her. Else, she'll just say this is our problem and just play the game.

>>48726
Even if she does go after Yukari, considering her normal way of dealing with incidents we're likely to be first up against the wall.

And besides that; Surely noone expected Yukari to simply fulfill her end of the bargain without taking the opportunity to amuse herself?
This is an annoyance but I could imagine worse things she could have done. This can be dealt with, it'll take some extra work but just consider it part of the price for stable access to our study.

[X] Goddamnit Yukari.
[x] Having committed the letter to memory, don't tear it apart, incinerate it. It may not do anything, but it's cathartic enough.
[x] Warn Dumbledore about the portals. This will most likely be an ongoing issue throughout the year.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to divine the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x] Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider use of golems as guards for the portals.

So I think we have found a good detention method, throw the kids in a portal and tell them the directions to another one that leads back and say 'Good luck. Hope you were paying attention to my class'

>>48702
That's odd, it just went from 'a fun read' to 'fuck this' for me.

Well, the votes pretty much sum up my thoughts. Although...

[x] Keep the letter, and give it to the Shrine Maiden when you next see her, preferably as soon as possible.

Also, the students are not the only ones we need to worry about here. I fear for the teachers.

[x] Do absolutely nothing and enjoy the ensuing hilarity.

>>48731
This is a perfectly valid option. Patchouli has no responsibility for this. None. Let someone else deal with it and carry on with our business.

[X] Goddamnit Yukari.
[x] Don't do anything with the letter. The chest was the only one we got and the letter might turn out to be important as well.
[x] Warn Dumbledore about the portals,making sure not to freak him out or let him know more than necessary about the entity that's casually put the life of his beloved students in danger.
[x] Think, do you have any ability to detect the location of portals? In or out of Gensokyo?
[x] Make a note to get in touch with Reimu later so she'll be ready for any unexpected visitors.
[x] Consider what shape/type of golem would be best at guarding the portals. Make sure to include way to tell who's going through the portal from a distance. Don't want a repeat of the dragon golem, where all you knew was that it had been in combat.

Our first concern, I think should be to explain to our temporary boss about the situation before he finds out himself. If we don't act enough like a teacher for his tastes, we may not get our books at the end of the year.

Next, the matter of the portals. Ideally, we want to keep travel through them as low as possible. The advantage of sealing the portals on the Inside is that Hogwarts is (somewhat) friendly terrain. We can set up defenses and such with much less trouble, than, say, leading a company of golems into Moriya shrine and having them set up camp around the place.
These kids do seem like they are too curious for their own good, so we probably should set up flying carpets that head to the Hakurei Shrine just on the other side of the portal.
Some portals could be left open on both sides, such as the example, given above of the human village. Adequately marked, guarded, and watched, they could prove interesting and perhaps useful for field trips, if we end up doing any.
Mostly, though, it seems we'll have to decide what to do with each portal as it comes up.

>>48734
He has no reason to believe we're responsible. He doesn't even know that the portals lead to Patchy's land.

Unless we tell him. Whatever. It'll be fun either way.

Something makes me think Harry will have the mandatory Cirno encounter.

I wonder if Hagrid will take to yukkuri? I can see him trying to breed the things. He does have a history of doing incredibly stupid things with magical creatures.

>>48735
I'm pretty sure he's seen us portal and is smart enough to make the connection. There is every possibility that I'm wrong, however, I think we should take the opportunity to clear up any possible misunderstandings in the future. All we need to do is tell him something like >>48698 or >>48705.

>>48736

Mow I am stuck with an image of Cirno smashing death eaters with a hammer while yelling "Eye'am the Strogest!"

Am I the only one who thinks
[x] Don't burn the letter. Show it to Dumbledore.
- [x] If you absolutely must, make a small, delicate crystal (??) sculpture of Yukari and smash it with your staff.
? Oh well.

I'm tempted to suggest trying to duplicate the tokens, but even if we succeeded, Yukari would just escalate matters. It's also a shame that it's so easy for both Hogwarts and Gensokyo residents to fly: otherwise we could just make a large pit around the (fixed-in-space) portals. Instead...

[x] Offer rewards to the students for dealing with portals. Whoever finds and reports one of the portals gets, say, twenty points; anyone who can creatively neutralize the portal without making it move or using a token gets a hundred points.
- [x] Needing to be rescued loses you ten points.

In the privacy of your own mind...

[x] Consider whether or not this might be a precursor to the annexation of Hogwarts (or, indeed, magical Britain) by Gensokyo.

And last but not least...

[x] Fail to inhabit a universe containing yukkuri.

(As near as I can tell, about half of us hate yukkuri with a passion, and the other half don't care about yukkuri themselves but are creeped out by the yukkuri-hate. Adding yukkuri to the main quest will make approximately nobody happy.)

>>48737
Hagrid's not here right now. Dealing with giants, remember?

Still, I think what Kahi did here was spice up the year. Else, it would have simply been teaching and dealing with Ministry morons the whole time. While nice, this would have been boring at some point.

Now, I don't think any portal are open right now and that Yukari have set the portals for when the students will be here for maximum trouble. Chance are that we'll hear about disturbances before we can locate a portal. And for wizard side, we'll need Albus's help for damage control.

>>48740
Well put.

[x] Don't burn the letter. Show it to Dumbledore.
- [x] If you absolutely must, make a small, delicate crystal (??) sculpture of Yukari and smash it with your staff.
[x] Offer rewards to the students for dealing with portals. Whoever finds and reports one of the portals gets, say, twenty points; anyone who can creatively neutralize the portal without making it move or using a token gets a hundred points.
- [x] Needing to be rescued loses you ten points.
[x] Consider whether or not this might be a precursor to the annexation of Hogwarts (or, indeed, magical Britain) by Gensokyo.
[x] Fail to inhabit a universe containing yukkuri.

>>48740
The fact I find people who torture small creatures creepy does not in any way make me think adding small animals would be stupid. Same for yukkuri, if you're one of those who argue that they are clearly no different than bread in-universe.

>>48743
>spice up the year
This. While it's certainly annoying for Patchy I don't find it to be a negative thing for the story.
Everything going smoothly always gets boring after a while.

>>48747
>>48740

Why would you intentionally endanger the students like that? They are teenage, human children and you want to send them to fight dangerous monsters unsupervised?

Your vote is like putting a bounty on the various creatures in the forbidden forest.

Actually...all this metagame ranting gave me an idea, Patchy's class can be hands-on, structured, youkai hunting. Nothing better to teach defense against the dark arts than to be out there doing it with a competent teacher.

What is the logical danger here? Youkai leaving Gensokyo and causing absolute havoc in the normal world.

What is not a danger here? People falling into Gensokyo and getting eaten. In the stream of things... it really doesn't matter. At all. As long as they do not have the ability to travel back and forth - which brings an issue with Fawkes able to traverse that barrier right now, let alone if the wizards will be able to apparate as well and cause additional holes to form.

Keep in mind, informing Reimu of this game may very well put her in a position of her forcing you to seal all the portals leaving Gensokyo -- her job is partly to watch over the barrier and that involves leaving into the real world for most reasons.

Dumbledore would possibly say the opposite, trying to protect the students from wandering in.

Do be careful~

>>48751
Your explanation is... confusing. How is Reimu wanting all holes sealed and Dumbledore desiring students from wandering in opposites?

Besides, I think Reimu will know we can't do crap about forcibly closing the portals because Yukari. And even if we hadn't taken the deal, Yukari would probably have imagined something else.

Now, for those thinking that ignoring it all is fine, do you think Patchouli's pride will take being seen as incompetent and irresponsible? Sure, Patchouli may not care really about what people say... But you want to be seen as that instead of the powerful, smart Magician you are, here to hopefully rekindle a true interest in Magic?

Thing is, for all the ways we want to deal with it right now, we don't really know how it will go until the first portal opens. All we can do is warn Albus about it and prepare.

[x] Appropriate expressions of frustration are allowable.
[x] See if you can identify the locations of any of the extra portals, if any have opened. Making sure none are within your library is a priority. And having ones appear here in the castle proper would probably be the highly inconvenient. Other areas are of significantly less priority. Though one in Flandre's room would probably be the worst possible-- okay, inform Sakuya and check Flandre's room first.
[x] Assign Marisa to start hunting for portals. You still have her for a week, and really didn't have anything else for her to do anyway. You can fetch her when it's time to go.
[x] Dumbledore should probably be warned. Eventually. Possibly spin it, possibly as practical experience for the classes or something, if that seems feasible. Irony might be the way to go with that. If not, don't bother and just show him the letter and be sure to point out Yukari's personality.
-[x] In any event, do not let Dumbledore threaten your payment. And refuse any unreasonable amendments to your agreement.

If he tries to alter the deal unreasonably, Patchy is the one in the position of strength here (from a contract standpoint -- in addition to the magical one). While it would be is a bit gauche on her part, if he is not going to fulfill his end of the bargain or otherwise make it no longer worth your while, she have no reason to stay and deal with this. He can try on Filch's rather unpleasant shoes for a change -- and also deal with that Cornelius' hand-picked instructor. In addition her side of the deal has already been partially fulfilled -- he accepted payment for a number of the books, in the form of his familiar's new roost.

(Huh. I wonder if fairies will reincarnate on this side of the border...)

You curse the Mistress of Borders. Direly. With vehemence, and vitriol. You don't doubt she is often the recipient of such sentiment.

For a moment, the wild urge to simply destroy the blasted chest immediately rushes over you. You restrain yourself, however. That would be too easy. The only guarantee you have is that the destruction of the chest will dispel this portal, and even should the Boundary Demon have done the unexpected and linked the others to it as well, there is no guarantee she would not simply recreate them independently, once it was clear you were attempting to dodge her amusements.

You nearly give in to your urge to destroy the letter as well, purging it with cleansing flame. However, an additional part of you urges keeping hold of it, and with these two inclinations incompatible, you err on the side of caution. Once destroyed, after all, you cannot regain the letter, but you can always burn the thing later if you feel you no longer need it.

Divinatory spells, the seeking out of lost items and hidden places, were never your strong point. You could brush up on them, but you doubt that Yukari would be unprepared for this, and believe your results will be minimal at best. Even at this distance, it is hard for you to determine that the portal exists at all, magically speaking. It may be possible to determine the general location of a portal through such means, but you will likely have to work out its exact location through more direct means.

Of all the whimsical nonsense. This is just the sort of thing you should have expected from her, though again, her mind has slipped around and struck without warning from the unexpected direction. Now you're stuck with no choice but to play the part of the protagonist against her inscrutable machinations. Bah.

You'll have to alert the shrine maiden, and possibly the village guardian as well, to be aware that there may be outsiders dropping in, though you would hope that a warning suitably prefaced with 'you will likely die if you do this' would be enough to turn the students away from such a course of action. Somehow, you get the feeling that it won't be so simple, though.

In a black mood, you turn and step through a portal to just outside the tower. Some of your vexation must be showing on your face, because Marisa starts at the sight of you. Tewi just blinks.

"Eyes, again." She points out. You close them and take several deep, calming breaths before you open them once more. "Yeah, there you go. Yukari?"

"Yes." You say, emphatically. No more clarification really need be made.

There is one other person you should notify about this, however. It's fortunate he is close by.

"Wait here." You say simply, stepping through another portal to the headmaster's office. His eyebrows shoot up as you arrive, your countenance doubtless still a little dark.

"A problematic matter has just arisen." You say shortly.

"... Oh, that I don't doubt. Perhaps you should sit down? Tea?" He offers, waving a cup and conjuring a second from a flick of his wand. "It should be a rather nice blend of Earl Grey, which I had the House Elves bring up in preparation for the outing I mentioned before. I take mine with lemon, though sugar and cream can be arranged if you wish."

"Perhaps just one. No additives will be necessary, but I am rather... put-out at this turn of events." You say.

"Ah. Should I perhaps send for a calming draught?" Albus wonders.

"That will not be required." You say, brushing the thought off and sipping at the tea once poured. Your temper cools somewhat. "In any case, as you will be somewhat affected I felt that it would be prudent to notify you."

"Oh? Well, do tell." He says, urging you on.

"You recall that I mentioned I would have to make arrangements with a certain person? She is... whimsical, at the best of times." You say darkly. "Reckless, and prone to meddling in the affairs of others for her own gain, or mere personal amusement. And she has indeed meddled."

You continue on to explain the situation, and Albus hums softly in thought.

"Then there will be multiple apertures between this area and your home." He says aloud. "I must confess, I have failed to immediately discern the exact nature of why this is unfortunate, as Hogwarts and much of the surrounding countryside is concealed from non-magical visitation or interference, if your worry is that Muggles may find their way within..."

"That is not my concern." You say sharply. "Whether a person locating a portal has particular magical aptitude or not is immaterial. The problem is that there may be such travel at all."

"Oh?" Albus says curiously, and you calm yourself.

"... The land in which the mansion resides is not.... hospitable, generally, to outsiders." you say, choosing your words with care. "There are numerous hazards... not least the populace themselves, and their customs. I will admit, I find it... highly likely that, should a student wander through one of these portals, they will come to some measure of harm. Particularly if they manage to give offense to a person or being of any reasonable power. Though, in turn, the thought of the local fauna wandering through to here is also most unpalatable."

"Ah, you will find that the denizens of the forest, merely for example, are most adept at dealing with other encroaching predators. There is a reason, after all, that it is Forbidden."

"I'm sure." You say, drinking more of the tea, foul mood not particularly going away, but your ability to maintain control over it increasing.

"Now, you mentioned that you would have a limited ability to prevent travel through these portals, yes?" Albus says reasonably. "And I don't doubt that you are in the best position to determine relative dangers, having the most experience with the surrounding countryside of your home. Now, would there be places, as here, where it would be more or less unfortunate for the end of a portal to be located? For example, the Forest would have the possibility of dangerous beasts blundering through to your homelands, while an out of the way supply closet or little-used restroom would have less relative danger."

"You'll find that the occupants of the countryside surrounding the mansion are more than capable of taking care of themselves." You point out.

"And you will find that, similarly, I am quite confident in my student's ingenuity and ability to defend themselves from unexpected or unfortunate intrusions." Dubledore pointed out.

".... I do not share your confidence in them, I must confess." You say after a moment. "But in any case, you are correct. A portal located near or inside, say... a shrine, or the village, or the homestead of some being of relative friendliness would be significantly less dangerous a place for a foolish student to arrive than the Forest of Magic, or the Youkai Forest, the hill of poisonous flowers, or on the shores of the river Sanzu. Or if it were to end in or near the home or den of some being or beast of outright malevolence."

"Well, there you have it." Albus points out. "There is no certainty as to where any of these end-points may come to be placed, so the matter may not be so simple as to say 'obviously, all of this side must be closed, to prevent any from coming here' or 'clearly, all of those must be shut to ward against students going there'. It must be taken on a case by case basis, weighing the relative risk of leaving a given portal open, versus the potential risk of a later one leading to a more dangerous place, and discovering that there are no longer any means to shut them. Matters can, of course, be arranged to turn students away from entry into even less-dangerous apertures, and I suspect that you might be able to arrange something similar on the other end of things?"

"This is... not impossible." You admit. "However, I will note that extremely dedicated fools have the habit of outwitting even the most apparently-foolproof of matters, if given opportunity."

In your mind, however, you are already reviewing defenses. Golems, of course, can be stationed to guard the area and rebuff wanderers, but it would not be impossible for them to fail at that task, and in case of a student or Youkai getting through, they have little in the way of recording the things they see and do for later review. Homunculi have memory which would suffice, as they could be instructed to relate and report details of such things, except that being formed of flesh they would be weak and prone to the failings of the body: hunger and the need for rest. Linking one or two to a given golem and having them watching through its eyes at all times, in shifts, however... might work. It would likely be a task with long stretches of boredom, and only a few occasional brief spurts of activity, but it isn't as though they will complain of it.

"Well, we shall deal with matters as they come. Perhaps, or perhaps not, with a warning announcement and the offer of points to any student who discovers and immediately reports one of these portals but does not tamper with it in any way. I shall have to consider." Albus says. "I do thank you for bringing this to my attention, however. But I cannot reasonably ask more of you than what you already seem perfectly willing and ready to do: judge each as it appears and act as you determine most appropriate to its specific situation. I have faith in your judgment, miss Knowledge."

You nod, and drain the last of your cup, temper having cooled from its prior slow boil to a mere simmer inside.

[ ] What do you do?

[x] Explain to Tewi and Marisa.
[x] Head through the new portal and visit Reimu. You can calm down and explain in her spring.

This is a great excuse to run around Gensokyo meeting people~ All we have to do is warn them and wait for them to notify us. As for wild beasts... we might not be able to detect the portals with divination, but we can probably manage to detect fauna where it shouldn't be.

But those plans are for later. Reimu now.

Damn. Seems like Albus really trust us here. Then again, we certainly haven't given him a reason to do otherwise so far.

He may change his tune when the first portal open and a youkai happens to come in however. He really has no idea how horribly low the chances of a student are against youkais.

[x] You should go. There's nothing else you can do here for now.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi. That should hopefully cover two possible areas.
[x] It's a shame, but you realy should end the outing now. You need to see Reimu and Keine about this and while they probably won't be happy, they will at least appreciate being warned about it.

This for now. I guess we'll have to get reacquainted with the Outside another day, after we finish dealing with the others matters (Humonculi and schedule. At this rate, I fear the only defense we can have for Voile is to go reclaim our books each time Marisa comes.).

And oh my God, I just realized. Those are TESTS to our capacity as a teacher. We do well and they should be relatived unarmed as portals open, knowing what to do and not to do. We do bad and students will get hurt and we'll get more annoyances asking us for answers we don't want to give.

Also...
>Now you're stuck with no choice but to play the part of the protagonist
Nice on Kahi.

[x] You should go. There's nothing else you can do here for now.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi. That should hopefully cover two possible areas.
[x] It's a shame, but you really should end the outing now. You need to see everyone you can about this and while they probably won't be happy, they will at least appreciate being warned about it.

Spread the word around Gensoukyo, particularly to people like Keine/Byakuren/Miko who aren't likely to be hostile to random humans popping through and are likely to keep portals well guarded.

You guys might want to get any magicking you want to do done now. Patchy is most likely going to be at 30/100 hp tommarow because of all the stress.

[x] You should go. There's nothing else you can do here for now.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
--[X] Ask Marisa and Tewi what their plans are for the comming apocalypse forced integration.
[x] It's a shame, but you really should end the outing now. You need to see everyone you can about this and while they probably won't be happy, they will at least appreciate being warned about it.

[x] Finish up whatever major magics need doing and head back to handle things on the home front.

[x] You should go. There's nothing else you can do here for now.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
--[X] Ask Marisa and Tewi what their plans are for the comming apocalypse forced integration.
---[X] Alternatively, task Marisa with finding the portals on the Gensyoko side. Appeal to her ego if needed. This will take quite a while, due to Gensyoko's far greater size. Probably not as much as you would like, but the more time spent not trying to steal from your library, the better.
[x] It's a shame, but you really should end the outing now. You need to see everyone you can about this and while they probably won't be happy, they will at least appreciate being warned about it

>>48763
>they probably won't be happy
You're projecting. As incidents go, this is laughably tame.

[x] Does anyone live in the Forbidden Forest? You should warn them.

There are centaurs in there. They'd probably appreciate a warning and we'd get to see how tough this forest really is.

>>48772

Let's see how laughable this incident becomes when a Hungarian Horntail shows up in Gensokyo and shits on Yuuka's flowers.

[x] You should go. There's nothing else you can do here for now.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
--[X] Ask Marisa and Tewi what their plans are for the coming apocalypse forced integration.
[x] It's a shame, but you really should end the outing now. You need to see everyone you can about this and while they probably won't be happy, they will at least appreciate being warned about it.

So yeah, we're going to have to explain to Reimu that Yukari seems to be planning on stealing more magical lands for Gensokyo.

[x] Excuse yourself. He's been much more agreeable than necessary, so no need to be impolite.
[x] See how Koakuma is doing with her assignment. Arrange for her return at an appropriate time.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
[X] Task Marisa with finding the portals on the Gensyoko side. Appeal to her ego if needed, but she still owes you a week of service.
[x] Back to Gensokyo, then.

I'm guessing that summoning Koakuma will probably not bring any collected samples along, necessitating a portal to the tower first, but I could be wrong.

>>48776
There are no Hungarian Horntails at Hogwarts. It's from a completely different country and probably wouldn't like this climate.

Just take it easy, dude. We can handle this.

[x] You should go. There's nothing else you can do here for now.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
[x] It's a shame, but you really should end the outing now. You need to see everyone you can about this and while they probably won't be happy, they will at least appreciate being warned about it.
[x]If you have the time, make some simple little golems that may prove helpful.
-[x]Small, flying messenger golem(s). Gensokyo has a lot of people, and some will probably just need to be told to keep an eye out or whatever.
-[x]Some form of transport, such as a flying carpet or something, to the Hakurei shrine or other way outside the Border for those students who inevitably end up through a portal. Make sure it flies itself rather than being steered.
-[x]Little mouse golems that are capable of reaching anywhere a portal might be hiding. Make plans to search the SDM and/or Hogwarts once you get the appropriate permission. You'd definitely be able to search the Library itself, too.

Of course, Kahi, you realize that this means Cirno will come to Hogwarts, if no other reason than to show off/because she's curious.

Also, I can't WAIT to see Albus' expression when he finds out that most nonhuman residents of Gensokyo make the residents of the Forbidden Forest look tame.

>>48781 here with some musings.

Rewarding the finding/neutralization of portals with points seems like a good idea, but we'll probably end up getting tons of fake reports, both from honest mistakes and attempts to game the system. We'd probably need a failsafe such as '20 points off if it's not a portal' to prevent at least the outright lies.

As we seem to be heading towards letting Gensokyo know to keep an eye out for portals, we may as well let Hogwarts know - the house elves and Filch, for example. As someone mentioned, the centaurs would be good to let know, although
I don't think Patchy knows about them.

>>48783
>centaurs, I don't think Patchy knows about them.
We're still in Dumbledore's office. He knows about them.

Some serious underestimation of the Forbidden Forest going on here. Remember, in Side-Quest, we saw a deer and a few wolves. Rumia, Wriggle, and the like aren't that tough; I'd be more worried about Blast-Ended Skrewts terrorizing them than them wrecking the Forbidden Forest.

Look at this list of inhabitants:
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Forbidden_Forest

>an enchanted and somewhat sentient Ford Anglia, once belonging to Arthur Weasley, took up residence in the forest after crashing into the Whomping Willow in 1992
Haha what. This needs to show up here.

we should probably being a youkai here or something to show him just how big of a deal this is. he doesn't seem to realize the drastic difference in power that there is between a youkai like rumia and pretty much anything in the forest and maybe the town too.

[x] Excuse yourself. He's been much more agreeable than necessary, so no need to be impolite.
[x] See how Koakuma is doing with her assignment. Arrange for her return at an appropriate time.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
[X] Task Marisa with finding the portals on the Gensokyo side. Appeal to her ego if needed, but she still owes you a week of service.
[x] Back to Gensokyo, then.

>>48785
As far as I'm concerned, Dumbledore's doing the right thing by trusting us to take take of the Gensokyo side of things. As it says in the update, what comes out of the portal depends on where it appears, and assuming that the main Touhou cast are the ones with the most power in Gensokyo, not a lot of them would have the motivation to kill a castle full of children. Even Yuuka would probably stay with her flowers. While there certainly are youkai that would jump at the chance, they could certainly be dealt with by a teacher, or a whole bunch of teachers if it's someone like Medicine. Same goes for the nastier monsters in the Forbidden Forest that may end up in Gensokyo.

...at least, I hope so...

It'd be pretty neat if the sentient Ford Anglia wound up going through the portal and into a Kappa. Be interesting to see how it would change and what all they would add to it.

>>48788
You're a semi-sentient car. Someone tries to open you up and muck about with your innards. What do you do?

You run the fuck away, that's what you do. And when they catch it, the honking... it won't stop.

Also,they've got a philosophy problem on their hands. How much can they change while retaining the enchantment?

>>48789
That's not a philosophy problem, it's a physics (magics) problem. It's perfectly simple to tell whether the enchantment has broken or not, nor do I think the kappa would be overly worried about breaking it; accidents happen.

I don't think it's very likely to outrun them, either.

No, if the car goes through *there*, it will get 'enhanced'. But I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think it's any smarter than an animal.

[x] You should go. There's nothing else you can do here for now.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
[x] It's a shame, but you really should end the outing now. You need to see everyone you can about this and while they probably won't be happy, they will at least appreciate being warned about it.
[x]If you have the time, make some simple little golems that may prove helpful.
-[x]Small, flying messenger golem(s). Gensokyo has a lot of people, and some will probably just need to be told to keep an eye out or whatever.
-[x]Some form of transport, such as a flying carpet or something, to the Hakurei shrine or other way outside the Border for those students who inevitably end up through a portal. Make sure it flies itself rather than being steered.
-[x]Little mouse golems that are capable of reaching anywhere a portal might be hiding. Make plans to search the SDM and/or Hogwarts once you get the appropriate permission. You'd definitely be able to search the Library itself, too.


Agreed, the portal issue needs to be addressed quickly - it's not so much a time bomb as a land mine.

Making communication devices is probably easier than the flying golems - which would probably draw fairy attention and get shot down as well.

>>48783

The problem with a point incentive for finding portals is that it becomes an incentive to find portals.

If the children were hardier, then we could trust them to do it - but they're barely more powerful than a mundane Outsider.

A demonstration is in order I think.

We also need to consider the inevitable Ministry interference.

Visitors in either direction will also need a language charm.

>>48791
Dunno if Kahi decided to not bother, but Marisa had no trouble understanding Dumbledore. Just pointing this out.

>>48790

Until it enters Gensokyo and becomes a Tsukumogami...

While it takes a century normally, and I saw reference to modern items not being suitable - it already has a rudimentary consciousness.

Then again, Hogwarts-side does have a huge population of animated objects, so it might disqualify it from a natural transformation.

Speaking of which - how much do you think Alice would pay for a chance to look at the animation magic the wizards throw around?

That along with the golems we've been casually making... and our workload just tripled, we could use another 'volunteer' to help out.

>>48794

That's fine as well - the language barrier is just a trivial annoyance at this level.

[x] Excuse yourself.
[x] See how Koakuma is doing with her assignment. Arrange for her return at an appropriate time.
[x] Explain the situation to Marisa and Tewi.
[x] Back to Gensokyo, then.
[x] Consider making some golems to be placed on the Hogwarts side of any portals to non-lethally rebuff curious would-be explorers.

>>48796

It could also be passed off that to be a mage, one has to be fluent in several languages.

>>48798
Marisa hasn't met the wondertwins has she? I wonder if she could speak to the greek golems.

>>48799

I'm sure Kahi would just invoke the "It's magic I don't gotta explain shit" universal translation spell.

>>48800
Well, I could imagine her being able to read greek at least and I could also imagine speaking at least some greek being necessary to cast some spells.
Holding a conversation might be a bit of an exaggeration but not a 100% asspull.

[x] Excuse yourself.
[x] See how Koakuma is doing with her assignment. Arrange for her return at an appropriate time.
[x] For now, allow Dumbledore to handle the situation on his end and focus on locating the portals Gensokyo-side.
-[x] Create golems for the task of searching for portals left in easily accessible areas.
-[x] More secure or dangerous places will need to be searched in person, consider who in Gensokyo you trust enough to ask for assistance in finding them. Keep in mind they are likely placed wherever Yukari happens to think is the most entertaining, this may help narrow the search
-[x] Ask Remilia to employ her staff in searching in and around the mansion. It would be rather inconvenient if a portal were to appear in the kitchen or... oh gods, the basement.

>>48803

Insane Flandre is the one thing that fanon invented that always pisses me off. At least wait until we meet her before judging her.

>>48803
Dude, too fast. Chances are that no portal are open right now. That and Gensokyo is vast. It will be way faster to search at Hogwarts.

>>48804
Get your rage off. Remember that Patchouli told Alistair that should he venture into the basement, he will die and how. And poster didn't use the word insane.

>>48804

If some random hobo just showed up in MY basement, I would kill him with no questions asked. Doesn't mean i'm insane.

>>48807
Yes it does.

>>48783
I almost added "Minus ten points for needing to be rescued," but I couldn't think of a penalty system that wasn't more gameable than not having one at all. (In my case, bullies would lure and/or push firsties from a house that's ahead in points into the portal; in yours, pranksters would put fake portals up everywhere.)

>>48795
I always got the impression that sentience was a common side-effect of HP-verse enchantments -- as though the object were somehow forced halfway into tsukumogamihood decades ahead of schedule.

>>48803
[x] This.

>>48807
Mm, no, it kinda does actually.

Flan would love it if someone were to pop up in her basement. She'd grab him and show him in and talk about all the great games she knows and how much fun they'll... Oh, wait, nevermind; she only brought his arm along, the rest of him just bled out at the entrance. Why must people be such easily broken sacks of goo? It's not her fault she plays a bit rough, is it?

>>48809
>tsukugomihood
I think it happens when there are lots of definitions affecting a single object. That car had a ton of enchantments on it, and they all targeted the car. So they got to talking and became sentient. It probably helps that Arthur had no fucking idea what he was defining. Weird Muggle Thing that Moves People.

Define a picture of a person as that person enough times, and it'll start acting like them. That sort of thing.

>>48809
>I almost added "Minus ten points for needing to be rescued," but I couldn't think of a penalty system that wasn't more gameable than not having one at all. (In my case, bullies would lure and/or push firsties from a house that's ahead in points into the portal; in yours, pranksters would put fake portals up everywhere.)

You make a very good point here - in light of this, as well as >>48791's observation that the problem with a point incentive for finding portals is that it becomes an incentive to find portals, I would now suggest that we not give the students a legitimate excuse to go looking for the portals, or even the knowledge that they exist.

>>48763 has an interesting approach. In addition to preventing portal access, there are a number of things we can teach to improve survivability, for example:
-Deceptive appearances: Remilia was taken to be a little girl by Alistair and Dumbledore.
-Running away: Even if they never go to Gensokyo, the students still should know that there's some stuff you don't fuck with.
-Portals: Don't mention their presence in Hogwarts, just mention them at some point in the curriculum. I had more here about how we should mention it, but it was kinda long, so I trimmed it as it doesn't directly relate to our situation right now.
-Defensive magic: this is pretty much a given, I think.
-Spells to hide things like tracks and scent: I assume most or all youkai hunt using this, and I think there should be some spells like this.
-Not a subject, but our textbook focuses on spellwork if I recall correctly.

We should keep this (not so much my specific points, although I think they will work well, but the fact that the students are gonna be using our teaching before the year is out) in mind when deciding our course material.

"I shall take my leave then, and leave matters here in your capable hands." You say, rising.

"Of course. I should most likely head to the forest shortly... I could not, in good conscience, send another when even the Centaurs have been growing more ill-tempered and standoffish of late. Save perhaps Hagrid, as he has always been on good terms with the denizens, but it will be some time yet before he returns."

You are given pause at the mention of Centaurs, as you are not unfamiliar with their more unfortunate habits, mythologically speaking. It is suddenly quite clear why the forest would be forbidden to students. Particularly to young, freshly-bloomed maidens. Though you do not doubt that there are other concerns to keep in mind. Well, you shall be on your guard in any case, should you have cause to venture within.

You leave with a polite nod, returning to the tower as you think. A brief extension of your thought puts you into contact with Koakuma. She seems slightly put out, as she is currently in the middle of someone, but a few quick mental nudges prod her into being aware that you will be recalling her soon. She has, as suspected, already collected significantly more of the requested material than is actually required, and seems to be at the moment simply allowing herself her own amusement.

"Unfortunately, it seems that we will have to end this outing now." You say, briefly outlining the situation as you start towards the parked truck. "There are a number of people I must alert, and I don't believe I'll be able to speak with them all today."

"Yeah. Be kind of a shame if one of those things opened in the bamboo forest, and a pack of the dinosaurs wandered through." Tewi said.

"... You have dinosaurs?" Marisa asked curiously. "When did that happen?"

"Well, you know the princess manipulates 'Eternity', right? Well, she got bored and started fiddling around with it for a few things, and it turns out that Eientei has some of these, you know, fossilized teeth and bone bits in storage, and then Yukari decided what was going on looked interesting and stuck her nose in.... well, long story short, Dinosaurs." Tewi says, with an unhelpful lack of specifics. "Kind of a good thing though, Eirin dries and powders some of their organs as an ingredient to make that medicine of yours. Among other things. Yukari made off with a bunch for a 'petting zoo' or something, though."

And what Yukari might use a number of oversized lizards for, you aren't entirely sure you want to know.

"They mostly can't leave the bamboo forest, Eirin talked Yukari into making a border to do that much. Moukou has a hell of a time when she walks out the door of her shack to see one waiting, though."

You sigh, and before entering the truck pull up a few clumps of loose earth to form into shapes which resemble birds, sending the quick and fragile golems off for a preliminary look through the area. You don't expect that they'll find anything, but the attempt can't hurt much. Once seated, Tewi engages the engine, and drives through a portal to the base of the Hakurei Stairs. It's still some time until dinner, judging by the position of the sun, and Reimu doesn't seem to have expected you to be back so early. She waves you through without questions, however. You don't stop here, as while you have to speak to her regarding this, you should probably talk to Remi first.

She's easily located, by the time you make it back to the library, casually teasing something in the hands of...

Ah. That's interesting. Some of those things have gotten in, somehow. Bodied-types. The Remilia-pattern has one of Sakuya's ribbons around its neck... she's clearly claimed it as a pet, then, and will object most strenuously should you damage it. There's another one, patterned after yourself, holding a book carefully. One of your books, the autobiography of a seventeenth century scholar. You sigh, unable to get more than mildly vexed about that at this point, with other things on your mind.

Remi prods the one that looks like her in the forehead, and its eyes cross as they try to follow the fingertip. It frowns at the treatment, lower lip trembling.

"I'm sure there will be time for that later." You say dryly, as you tug the biography out of the other's grip, prompting a sharp outcry of dismay from it as you shelve it back properly.

"P-please, book... let Patchurri hold book! Patchurri needs..." It says, seeming ready to break into tears. That won't do at all, you won't be able to focus if it starts wailing at the top of its lungs, and it might provoke the other into similar distress, which you can't simply dispose of now Sakuya has her claws in it.

"Give mister book back to Patchurri!" The Remilia-pattern demands, cheeks puffing out, as the real Remilia steps back in amusement. "Patchurri needs mister book! Babies need mister book!"

You have just a moment to consider the fact that there is a litter of these things on the way before Remilia chuckles.

"Oho~ 'Babies', is it? You heard, yes, Patchouli? Our little analogues have babies on the way~" She teases, then leans back down to the Remilia-pattern with a smirk. "Tell me, little one... was she good? Did she struggle and cry out, as you impregnated her?"

"... Remirya doesn't understand." The R-pattern says in confusion. "Patchurri is the daddy."

Remilia's smile goes a little fixed and wooden, as you allow a smirk of your own to cross your face.

"Is that so~" You say smugly. "Do tell."

"..." A light almost-blush comes up on the R-patterns cheeks as it holds its stomach. "... Remirya figured it out. Patchurri not for eating, so Patchurri for making babies. It hurt, but Patchurri was-"

"This does not please Remi." Remilia quickly interrupts, attempting to immediately change the topic of conversation and ignore everyone else's grins. "You had something to say, Patchouli?"

You explain Yukari's latest amusement as you shuffle through your desk, eventually pulling out a blank journal of the sort you use to take notes in, and pushing it off on the P-pattern, to stave off tears, and as a sign of your mildly improved disposition towards it. It expresses some dismay that there are 'No woords...' inside, but seems to quickly accept it as being better than nothing.

"... I'll notify Sakuya." Remi says, unusually seriously. "Do you intend to try to change her mind about this game?"

You give it a thought, but then consider what Remi might do, if her amusement was spited in such a fashion, and then consider that Yukari would at the very least be that bad.

"... No." You decide. "For now, she is doing this for 'fun', as far as I can tell. If I shut the matter down in a way she proves unhappy with, she will likely retaliate for 'revenge', and be significantly more... petty about matters."

"Well, do as you please." Remilia says. "I'll be sure to let you know if any of those things show up on my property, though. In any case, if you decide to start studying these things again, the gatekeeper made notice, earlier, of what she believes to have been a concerted effort by multiple of the things to despoil the gardens. She has dealt with the last to attempt to leave, and believes she knows where the rest are nesting, but is waiting until tomorrow, after the flowerbeds have been properly repaired, to do anything about it. If you need experiment fodder, then that's something to consider. Or maybe you'll want to teach about 'things that can get inside your head', at that place?"

"I'll take it under advisement." You say, turning to see that both Marisa and Tewi are displaying some small interest in the things.

[ ] What do you do?

Just an aside. Does anybody remember how many and what types of golems we made for Yukari?

[x] Frankly, you have enough to deal with at this time. Let that nest be dealt with.
[x] You should at least warn Reimu today about Yukari's game.
-[x] Also talk to Keine if you have the time. Classes for today should have ended and she will be busy with students tomorrow during most of the day.
--[x] Considering some matters you must also speak with her about, you should go see her alone.

Ahah, seems like Remilia doesn't take anything somewhat like her to be on the receiving side.

Anyway, no need to make this too big. We'll most likely have time to decide for something else after this.

>>48814
4. Marshmallows, chocolate pudding, jelly and cream I believe.

[x] Give your analogue a book you don't care for. Pity that Lockhart book was ruined.
[x] Visit Reimu. Now.

>Dinosaurs.
AWESOME.
>teach about things that can get inside your head
Yukkuri vs Boggart. East vs West. No students. Final destination.

Shut down the portals too hard and Yukari will get unpleasant. Got it.

[x] Recheck Hogwart's inventory of books and make note of those that would make good in complementing Voile. Might make copies of them later.
[x] Examine Patchurri. As vexing as it may be to have such an incompetent copy of yourself, it shares your passion for books. At least it is certain she won't destroy any of your precious tomes.
[x] Test the portal to Hogwarts. Also, ask Sakuya for advice as how to properly decorate the tower. Efficiency first, of course.

All I can think of for now.

[x] The species that looks like you seems to have a proper respect for books. Keeping some of those in a part of the library that's been modified to keep them away from the important books and just filled with books of fairy tales would make a good stock for any experiments you wish to do in the future, although that won't be anytime soon and they'd need time for the population to grow anyway.
-[x]Make sure to ward the books if you end up purchasing new books for the Yukkuris. No sense in letting books be at risk, even if you're just letting the Yukkuri have them.
[x] Leave to begin notifications. First up, Reimu or Keine.

I must confess, I find myself wanting to make a souvenir of the side-thread, even if I'm not particularly fond of Yukkuri and hope we don't actually have to end up dealing with them.

Also, dinosaurs? That... oddly enough makes perfect sense in a way.

[x] The species that looks like you seems to have a proper respect for books. Keeping some of those in a part of the library that's been modified to keep them away from the important books and just filled with books of fairy tales would make a good stock for any experiments you wish to do in the future, although that won't be anytime soon and they'd need time for the population to grow anyway.
-[x]Make sure to ward the books if you end up purchasing new books for the Yukkuris. No sense in letting books be at risk, even if you're just letting the Yukkuri have them.
[x] Leave to begin notifications. First up is Reimu, then Keine.

Tewi can cover Eientei, and Marisa can tell Alice. We can get most of Youkai Mountain via the Moriya Shrine, but we'll probably have some sort of interruption before we can do that.

We should visit Moriya, but the Tengu are more important. They're the group most likely to find the portals.

Aya, in particular, makes a sport of picking fights with people for better pictures. We need to talk her out of that. Marisa is friends with her, so take her along too.

[x]Make sure to ward the books if you end up purchasing new books for the Yukkuris. No sense in letting books be at risk, even if you're just letting the Yukkuri have them.
[x] Leave to begin notifications. First up, Reimu or Keine.

Let's skip the Yukkuri experiments.

[x] The species that looks like you seems to have a proper respect for books. Keeping some of those in a part of the library that's been modified to keep them away from the important books and just filled with books of fairy tales would make a good stock for any experiments you wish to do in the future, although that won't be anytime soon and they'd need time for the population to grow anyway.
-[x]Make sure to ward the books if you end up purchasing new books for the Yukkuris. No sense in letting books be at risk, even if you're just letting the Yukkuri have them.
[x] Leave to begin notifications. First up is Reimu, then Keine.

[X] Leave to begin notifications. First up, Reimu or Keine.

I don't care about yukkuris and while I don't particularly mind them existing within the story I'd just prefer as little focus on, or mention of, them as possible.
We should at least be able to inform one person of the portal issue today if we get started now. Maybe more.
Getting a message to the Moriya shrine might be a good idea, Sanae is human after all and came from the outside at that. She may well be motivated to help get the Youkai mountain area patrolled, it is dangerous for humans around there after all.

[x] You should at least warn Reimu today about Yukari's game.
-[x] If Reimu is going to be proactive for a change, you can offer Marisa's services to her for a while.
[x] Also talk to Keine if you have the time.
-[x] If possible, ditch Marisa for this one.

>Dinosaurs.
>AWESOME.
Seconded.

You know, it occurs to me that finding these portals in Gensyoko will take a considerable amount of time. We also have Marisa stuck as our toddie for now. Why not send Marisa to find those portals? It will take a good while, though not as much as we expect it to, and it also opens up the possibility of Marisa stumbling across Quidditch.

That will be fun.

>>48815 here. I can't believe I forgot this.

[x] Have Marisa warn Margatroid of Yukari's game while you're out.
-[x] Ask Tewi what she want to do. If she want to return to Eientei, offer a portal. Ask her to warn Eirin of Yukari's latest game.

>>48829
That's why it will be easier to search for them at Hogwarts. It's basically almost hopeless if it open in the wild in Gensokyo, like searching for a needle in hay. At Hogwarts, there's far less space to cover.

>needle in haystack
Not really. I bet there's a portal at the yukkuri nest Meiling found. It'd be a minor annoyance if they got to Hogwarts and we're being given a chance to deal with it now (Yukari is watching Patchouli, remember). By the time Meiling goes to deal with it, it'll be too late.

>>48835
...Dude, that's as likely as a portal opening to ANY nest in Gensokyo.

Well, it's a reasonable guess that five of the six other portals are to significant places in Gensoukyou. The sixth, of course, is a troll portal that's like the bottom of the lake to the bottom of the lake. Yukari/meta-Kahi wants some fun, so they all are part of a plot/the plot.

[X] Leave to begin notifications. First up, Reimu or Keine.
[X] (Long term) Seal the portals from Gensoukyou to Hogwarts. Anyone stupid enough to wander through a portal deserves what it gets them, whereas youkai from Gensoukyou could lead to uncomfortable questions.

>>48836
No, it is more likely, because Yukari is watching Patchouli. We know she knows what we know, and I think she's going to be fair about this. For this first one. Maybe.

It's at least enough reason to assign a higher chance to this particular nest.

>>48838
Then we ask Remilia to send Meiling now or we make a small detour to take the nest out ourselves after asking Meiling where it is.

[x] You don't like playing luck games with Yukari. If the location of the nest is known, ask Remilia if she can send Meiling now and why (portal possibility, preparing an infestation to greet the students). If not, we'll ask her the location and deal with it immediately.

Good enough?

>>48837
Nice to see you don't seem to consider the possibility of a student throwing another into a portal. It's not that simple, in case you forgot to read the part where Patchouli and Albus discussed it.

It seems that people are discussing who to tell about the portals, so I put together this list of possible benefits beyond the person in question simply letting us know if they run across a portal and knowing what to do with a lost student. I've also marked where a subject is likely to not help at all and organized it roughly by forum. Please note that we haven't met a number of characters yet, and their motivations may differ from the ones I assume here. Furthermore, a number of benefits will almost certainly require some form of convincing.

Eientei: Army of rabbits can cover significant ground and stand a decent chance of finding an Eientei portal in their day-to-day activity.
Forest of Magic: Marisa still has a week(I think) of service to us left and would thus be easier to get to search for portals. Alice has a large number of dolls that would be able to cover a wide area. Wriggle can command bugs, which would also be useful in searching for a portal. Mystia, having a side business selling eel to them, might be able to keep from trying to eat our students if she knows we'll come and beat her up.
Flower Fields: Neither Yuuka or Medicine seem likely to help out at all.
Hakurei Border: Useless.
Afterlife: Worth letting people there know, I suppose.
Sanzu River: Only additional benefit would be interviewing the souls of dead students, and that should not be something that happens.
Hakurei Shrine: Reimu is in charge of the border, we've kinda got to tell her. Suika can dissolve into mist and make mini-Suikas, useful in searching.
Human Village: Kiene is the guardian of the human village and would probably appreciate being told to expect visitors. Plus, we can take the chance to ask her about teaching. Also, Akyuu may have some advice for us regarding the portals, though this is unlikely.
Myouren Temple: Nazrin has those dowsing rods and some treasure-hunting mice.
SDM: Done, although we may or may not want to let Meiling know to send any wizards to us.
Misty Lake: Useless.
Youkai Mountain: Kappa may be willing to provide transport for a student they find, and the Tengu go all over Gensokyo for their various papers.
Moriya Shrine: The shrine maiden was an outsider and may hold a soft spot for them, helping out more than she otherwise would.
Heaven: No additional benefits unless they have a way of rapidly surveying the ground.
Underground: Useless. Populated mostly by youkai, who probably won't want to help, and the Oni, who likely don't have a central authority that would be able to mobilize a worthwhile number of Oni. Best case, Yuugi tells a bunch of her drinking buddies to keep an eye out.
Palace of the Earth Spirits: No additional benefits come to mind.

Teach the students a non-evil version of the dark mark and let them go find the portals for us.

"This one seems sedate enough, with a... 'book', of sorts, in hand." You note, seeing that the giant has set it on a table, and then withdrawn to hold a discussion with its companion, having clearly not followed the speech previous but rightly concluded that you do not wish the thing's immediate destruction. It trembles a little and clutches the journal tighter, seeming worried you'll take it away again. "... Far more placid than the previous stock, at least. It will likely be more suitable for long-term studying than they were, though there will obviously be the matter of type differentiation to consider when comparing the results from study and experimentation."

"Hey... When you say experiments, you mean serious testing or... eh, "Experiments"." Marisa asks, frowning.

It takes a minute for you to grasp her concern, but your frown matches hers when it does.

"I do not mean torment for the sake of torment, if that is what you are asking." You say sternly. "I see no purpose in the pain of lesser beings for no perceptible outcome or desirable result."

"Yeah, figured you'd say something like that." Marisa says. "It's just, there's this coming-of-age tradition thing in the village these days, where you give the kid a yukkuri and let them know they can do whatever they want with it. Lots of the time, shortly after that, there are little 'experiment' sorts of things. 'How hard do I have to throw it against the wall before it splatters', 'what happens if I find my friend, with his, and we make them fight to the death or breed or both', 'how long do they last on their own without eyes'. That sort of thing. Not really pleasant, but it happens."

You frown, as you work through why such a ritual would be put into place in the first place... ah.

"A stand-in for infants." You say, and Marisa looks a little startled.

"Hey, you caught on fast." She says. "I just figured it was some weird thing old people do for kicks until I heard some of them talking while I fixed the enchantment on their ice-box. Yeah, it's to figure out which of the kids are best suited for parent-hood, since if you've got a daughter you'd much rather have her get hitched to the guy that got his and treated it kindly, or even the one who just killed it painlessly in its sleep because he didn't want one, over the guy that makes his run an obstacle course of broken glass and only feeds it garbage, or the weirdo who... well, likes his a little too much, if you get what I'm implying."

"There will always be the odd deviant." You say waving it off.

"But yeah, same in reverse. They don't tell anyone until they're one of the geezers, though, or not on purpose anyway. And it's not exactly fair, because some people just have really big problems keeping the things out of their heads, and wouldn't do anything like what they get up to with them to a real kid, or even a puppy or whatever."

"Have you received one, I wonder?" You ask aloud.

".... Heh, yeah." Marisa says awkwardly. "It came as a surprise, since the old man and I... aren't really on what you'd call close speaking terms, but he sent one of the ones that look like me, long before I figured the tradition out. It was a little earlier than usual too. ... Anyway, it was kind of dirty, so I cleaned it up nice and checked it for mold, then played with it for a while until it fell asleep. Then I flash-fried it with the Hakkero. It was dead before it realized it was feeling pain, and food is food, you know?" She says.

"Practical of you." You say.

"Ah, yeah... well, if food drops in my lap like that, I can store the storable stuff for another day." She says, waving a hand. "If I knew then what I do now, though, I would have sent that thank you letter back with hints that I was doing something awful to it, since getting hitched isn't exactly big on my to-do list, and the old man still bugs me about it once or twice a year."

"I kind of like these things." Tewi says, as Marisa winds down into quiet grumbles. "They're fun~"

"Oh?" You say.

"Yeah. For the most part, they're made of sweets too, so I can go ahead and be a Youkai without worrying about the whole 'meat' issue." She says, grinning widely and showing her teeth. "That one over there smells like meat, though, so I wouldn't bother. But you..." She says, turning her gaze back to the P-pattern and leering deliberately. "Oh, I could just eat you right up, sweet~"

Quick as a flash, the P-pattern has dropped the book and pulled out a crude stone knife, then pausing in indecision, seeming uncertain whether to back away warily from Tewi or to try to pick up the dropped journal first.

"Hm. Intelligent enough to grasp some degree of basic tool-use." You say, interest rising a touch. "Ah. I'll thank you not to terrorize my specimen, though."

You reach over and pick up the small thing from behind, carefully tugging the blade out of its hands and setting the journal back in them. Closer inspection and rubbing of your fingers reveals a dried powder which had flaked off the knife. A quick taste reveals it to be from some undefinable meat-product.... your eyes turn to the R-pattern for a moment in thought, as the P-pattern shrinks against you, still warily glaring at Tewi. And Marisa. Hm, determining the upper limits of its intelligence and comprehension of other's speech might prove a mildly interesting endeavor, as you set it back down near the R-pattern. Bereft of its hidden weapon, it seems significantly more skittish of... essentially, everything. Even its 'wife', as it attempts to hide behind it. Then, presuming it has no magical or pseudo-magical defenses of its own, the R-pattern would be its most reasonably available means of defense, despite that you have observed R-patterns to regularly prey on other types whenever available, and this one's own words have confirmed that. The question now arises if the R-pattern will decide to reclassify the other back to 'something to eat' if it should realize that it is essentially harmless now.... you are interrupted from your thoughts as Tewi speaks again.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't mess with your toys, Patchy. I like the ones that look like me the best, anyway. They have carrot cake inside~" She says, smiling. "... Not exactly what you would call common though, and these things aren't exactly under every rock you turn over to begin with."

"You might wish to consider capturing and breeding them, if they are that ideal a meal for you." You suggest.

"Nah, nah. I can never restrain myself from eating them right away, no matter how hard I try." Tewi says, shaking her head. Then she pauses and shrugs. "Kind of creeps the other rabbits out when they see. Reisen just doesn't get it at all."

"I'm sure." You say, shaking your head. "I should speak to the shrine maiden. First though, an enclosure should be set up to house these..."

"Sakuya will take care of it." Remilia says without hesitation. "You'll probably see her in here a bit more often if you decide to keep them together, and not just deal with the ones that look like you."

"Yes, yes." You say. "Aside from that, I should test that portal..."

You quickly move to it and step through, finding yourself in the basement of the tower, as expected. You turn and step back through....

You are not next to the pillar. Not even close. You are in the library, but judging by the nearby shelves, you are a very significant distance away. You float up into the air, orienting yourself, and then drifting over to behind the others, waiting patiently and watching the portal for your re-arrival.

"... it appears Yukari had a few more amusements up her sleeves." You say dryly. "Or she erred with the portal. I was deposited in the library, but her accuracy leaves much to be desired."

"... Eh, could have expected as much from her." Tewi says. "Headed to the Shrine, then? I'll tag along. Could do with a hot-spring soak before heading back."

"Hey, don't leave me out of this." Marisa says, as you make a portal.

"... I'd come along, but hot springs count as running water." Remilia says, shaking her head. "Shame."

You shrug and step through. At the top of the stairs, Reimu isn't immediately present, and Suika is sleeping on the roof of the shrine. She comes out quickly at your arrival, though.

"... Is this another payment come in advance, then?" She wonders aloud.

"A warning." You say. "Yukari is playing games."

"Oh? Explain." Reimu says, frowning.

"We can explain in the water, let's go~" Tewi says, bustling past her without care.

"... hey, isn't it a little early for... Geeze." The shrine maiden says, sighing. "Fine, come in then. I suppose I have some snacks in here somewhere."

You shrug apologetically, having not really intended to force your way in, and she sighs in exasperation as she leads you through.

"It's fine. What's this about Yukari though?" She asks.

You explain the highlights of the situation, as you change and make your way to the spring, where Tewi is already waiting with a smug look as you enter the water.

"... So, there's a chance that people might wander in. And that people and Youkai might wander out." Reimu says, once settled. "But the integrity of the border isn't being threatened. This is... actually, it's really tame for one of her tricks. People already wander in, or are kidnapped, sometimes, and Youkai already leave sometimes to kidnap and hunt humans from outside. And usually when they do it, they damage the border at least a little. Basically, aside from it happening in a different country now, and through different methods, this is just status quo. I'm not sure what you want me to do about it, other than keep an eye out for people who end up coming through?"

"That is what I had hoped for." You say.

"Hm. Well, I'll do what I can." She says. "I really spend most of my time here at the shrine, though. If they make it here, I'll arrange for them to leave Gensokyo like I would any other outsider, of course, but I don't actually spend a lot of the time scouring the countryside for the rare person that ends up wandering through."

"... Hm. That's rather less help than I had hoped for." You admit.

"I'll tell you this, though. If I know Yukari, she probably hasn't actually set any portals up yet at all." Reimu says. "So you can turn over every rock and pile of leaves both in Gensokyo and in that other place, and you won't find anything because there's nothing there to find, yet. Even when she does pick places, she'll probably wait for the most amusing possible time, for her, for them to open. One good thing, though, if the game is only for while you're elsewhere, then once your contract is up and you come back, she'll probably shut down all the portals and have Ran grab anyone and anything that's still on that side from here and bring them back. So that's something to consider."

The shrine maiden thinks for a moment.

"You should probably talk to Ran directly, though. Yukari won't spill anything she doesn't want you to hear, but if there's anyone who really has any sort of grasp on Yukari-logic and plots, it'll be her. You'll probably get the best results if you offer her something cute for Chen to play with, or something for them to eat, together. She really dotes on that cat." She points out.

"I'll consider that. Perhaps I should meet with the village guardian?" You say.

"Keine? She might be helpful to speak to as well. She does sweep the countryside for outsiders sometimes, I think." Reimu says. "She'll probably be easy to convince to help, too. 'Defence of humans' is kind of in the job description. She's just one person and can't be everywhere at once, though."

"I'm well aware of this." You say, as you lean back, soaking in the water and thinking. It's almost dinner-time. If you went now, you would almost certainly interrupt her meal. If you wait, then she might step out, and you aren't really sure how much effort it would take to hunt her down after that, particularly if she leaves the village for one of the countryside-checks Reimu mentioned. It might be best to deliver a letter, letting her know that you need to meet with her to discuss something at a certain time and place.

[ ] What do you do?

If we tell Reimu about it she'll probably shut it down on her own initiative as it's an "incident".

Then Yukari can just get revenge on the Red White instead of us.

Following the usual pattern she'll probably end up fighting some random baddies (death eaters) before getting down to serious incident solving.

I love how every mention of yukkuri turns into an (anthro)xenozoology lesson. Shit's fascinating.

[x] Take it easy. Give Reimu the gift of free dinner.

Dammit in the time it took me to read up on the posts I'd missed and make a suggestion there was another post, that'll teach me to refresh more often.

I have a fun idea. Let's breed yukkuri for intelligence.

All we need to do is ask leaders to have their followers keep an eye out for smart yukkuri, and offer a reward. This will also give them a reason to scour the countryside for portals. It's win-win!

[x] Finish up at the hot springs and then return home.
[x] Craft a simple yukkuri-hutch so that they don't wander off and make too big a mess. You can modify it to better fit your planned experiments later.
[x] Try going through "your" portal a few more times to see if the exit is always in the same place, or just the same general area.
[x] Dinner, for those that need it.
[x] Call back Koakuma and discretely (ahem) debrief her -- no need to involve the others more than necessary. Store the samples in whatever manner will best preserve their usefulness.
[x] Compose a letter to Keine requesting a meeting tomorrow to discuss several subjects, then deliver it after dinner. Naturally, on the off chance that she is immediately available (and it is not too late) then the letter becomes unnecessary.

Hmmm. The portal returns us to a random place in the library? This could be problematic. How fast can we get from place to place in the library?
Also, there might be trouble if anybody other than us gets through, since we apparently have nasty traps in the depths of the archives.

Unless I miss my guess, the way the portals work is by making the room they are opened in both inside and outside Gensokyo, and it's possible it just read the Library as one big room.

Anyway, I suggest we go with the options suggested at the end of the update.
[x]Before leaving, pen a message to Kiene indicating you wish to meet with her. Give it to a small golem that's set to wait quietly outside her door. Her dinner won't be disturbed and she'll find it if she heads out to search.
[x]Head to speak with Ran for advice on Yukari. Seeing as she's somewhat recently held us up by the throat and threatened to kill us, two gifts may work better.
-[x]A stone mouse inhabited by some playful spirit that would enjoy playing with Chen.
-[x] A hoop and stick. Kids still like playing with those, right?
[x]If Yukari is there, find out whether the portal simply treats the library as one big room.
-[x]If she's not just trolling you, ask if you can get it fixed. You can build an enclosure around the pillar if it needs something to lock on to.

>>48846

There's no need to use the shrine to exit Gensokyo anymore, and Reimu isn't even proactivly helping to solve this incident.

Why the heck would you give her free stuff for being a lazy miko?

>>48855
Hot springs use. Reimu always gives good advice. Tewi deserves a good dinner to cap off the evening.

Marisa can have some too. I guess. Maybe she can cook?

[x]Before leaving, pen a message to Keine indicating you wish to meet with her. Give it to a small golem that's set to wait quietly outside her door. Her dinner won't be disturbed and she'll find it the next time she has reason to leave her house.
[x]Head to speak with Ran for advice on Yukari. Seeing as she's somewhat recently held us up by the throat and threatened to kill us, three gifts may work better.
-[x]A stone mouse inhabited by some playful spirit that would enjoy playing with Chen.
-[x] One of those little cup-and-ball-on-a-string toys. Those are entertaining for children, right?
-[X]A small magic-based tofu fryer. Hopefully, it's not just a stereotype.
[x]If Yukari is there, find out whether the portal simply treats the library as one big room.
-[x]If she's not just trolling you, ask if you can get it fixed. You can build an enclosure around the pillar if it needs something to lock on to.
[X]Build some sort of enclosure for the yukkuris. It won't do to have them just wandering about the library.
-[X]See about feeding arrangements for the bizzare little pastries. You won't be able to do Science Magic to them if they starve to death.

>where Tewi is already waiting with a smug look as you enter the water.

More and more lately, I feel like Patchoulli is being taken advantage of...

>>48858
Even if we are, we get a bonus to health from the hot springs so I don't really care.

>>48858
Patchouli is the one taking advantage. Half the stuff we did Outside, we were able to do because of her.

>>48860
You know, when we have time, we really should meet Hideo to see if he can take gems for cash. We'll need our own money source eventually.

[x] Finish up at the hot springs and then return home.
[x] Try going through "your" portal a few more times to see if the exit is always in the same place, or just the same general area.
[x] Dinner, for those that need it.
[x] Call back Koakuma and discretely (ahem) debrief her -- no need to involve the others more than necessary. Store the samples in whatever manner will best preserve their usefulness.
[x] Compose a letter to Keine requesting a meeting tomorrow to discuss several subjects, then deliver it after dinner. Naturally, on the off chance that she is immediately available (and it is not too late) then the letter becomes unnecessary.

>>48858

Hmmm... hypothesis: the health "hot springs bonus" is really just Tewi applying her "luck bonus" to us, and actually has nothing to the Hakurei springs.

If so, playing eye candy on occasion in exchange for a day of better health seems worth it, so far.

>>48864

The Hot Spring has it's own bonus listing. It gives +10 health, while Tewi's luck gave +20.

[x] Ask Tewi if she knows any good bakeries Outside. A large, disgustingly sweet cheesecake or three may be an appropriate bribe for Ran
[x] Finish up at the hot springs and then return home.
[x] Craft a simple yukkuri-hutch so that they don't wander off and make too big a mess. You can modify it to better fit your planned experiments later.
[x] Try going through "your" portal a few more times to see if the exit is always in the same place, or just the same general area.
[x] If Tewi does know of a good bakery, this would be a good time to make a quick visit.
[x] Dinner, for those that need it.
[x] Call back Koakuma and discretely (ahem) debrief her -- no need to involve the others more than necessary. Store the samples in whatever manner will best preserve their usefulness.
[x] Compose a letter to Keine requesting a meeting tomorrow to discuss several subjects, then deliver it after dinner. Naturally, on the off chance that she is immediately available (and it is not too late) then the letter becomes unnecessary.

>>48856

Patchy can make her own hot springs in the middle of the library if she wanted to. Why waste magic pandering to a greedy miko?

Also it's not like Reimu would refuse to give us advise just because we aren't feeding her.

>>48867
It's always annoying to see readers with no memory. Go see >>47447 on hot springs.

>>48869
Didn't think answering why we should 'waste time' with Reimu was making a big deal of it.

By the way, for those voting to make an enclosure, Remilia already said Sakuya would take care of it.

[x] Make a note to return the stone knife (or some similar defense) to the P-pattern; you'd prefer that the R-pattern consider it entirely too much effort to try to feed off you it.
- [x] Muse on your relationship with Remilia.

You run through your mental list of things children play with today, and come up distressingly blank. You recall seeing a child playing with a hoop and stick, once. There was an odd little cup with a ball tied to it with string. You can't imagine that there would be amusement involved with either, but the children with them had seemed obsessively focused at keeping the hoop going, or getting the ball into the cup, while the others screamed in childish delight and chased each other about.

Chen is a cat, though. An animated stone mouse for her to play with and 'hunt' might be a worthwhile prospect. You file that as a possibility. For food items, you don't doubt Ran already has some sort of tofu-fryer, if rumors of her taste for it are correct, and you don't really know where you would begin making such a thing from scratch. If you could get one already made, it would be simple enough to modify it to run on magic rather than electricity, though. Dessert items are also plausible, children love sweets. You could speak to Sakuya about it, or...

"Tewi, do you know of a good confectioner's, outside?" You wonder aloud.

"Eh, I might know a place or two locally. They'd be closed by this time of day, though. You're thinking sweets might be the way to got?" Tewi says, seeming to think for a moment. Then she smiles. "Nyehehe~ You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"....... Clearly not." You admit after a moment.

"I'm thinking you already have a decent enough gift to hand." Tewi says, grinning. "You remember what that gatekeeper was supposed to be complaining about?"

It takes a moment for you to put it together.

"You think I should collect and give her those?" You say, unsure.

"Well, like she said." Tewi says, pointing a thumb at the shrine maiden. "Something 'cute to play with'. Or something 'to eat'. Seems like that would cover both your bases, there."

"They can be obnoxious little vermin." You point out.

"Yeah, true. But if they're cute, then they're good as playthings and pets. If not, then they're still good as a shared treat." Tewi says, clearly convinced of the plan.

"... I'll consider it." You say. "There isn't so much time today, though."

"Well, if you go that route, you should be sure to let the gatekeeper know quickly, before she just exterminates them." Tewi points out. "Then you'll be stuck hunting for another nest."

You shrug and rise from the water.

"In any case, this discussion was the only reason I came, and so I should be off." You say.

"Busy busy~" Tewi chuckles, as she leaves the water herself. "Don't work too hard, though."

"I'll ask you to alert Eientei to this matter later." You say, once changed and begun back down the steps.

"Sure, I can do that." Tewi says. "Eirin and the princess don't really go out, as such, but I can make the rabbits keep an eye out. Well, in the areas that don't have big lizards eating each other, anyway. That's just asking for trouble, I'll have to glance through myself now and again. Maybe bully Reisen into it. Or see how that Moukou feels about this."

"You all just ignored me this whole time. Reimu too!" Marisa complains as you step through a portal at the base of the steps.

"If you had something to say, you could have spoken up." Tewi says dismissively.

"Geeze..." The witch grumbles.

You glance through the area. The stone knife is still on a table, theoretically out of reach, and has been joined by a knobbly stick, with something crusted about one end. Despite this, the P-pattern looks reasonably more confident as it sits in an enclosure, walls theoretically too high for it to clamber over doing nothing to prevent the coming and going of the flying R-pattern, hugging the journal to itself as Sakuya toys with the R-pattern. A few more moments inspection reveals why.

"Hand it over." You say sternly, holding out your hand to the P-pattern. It clutches tighter at the journal, frowning. "Not the book. You know what I mean."

After a long moment, the P-pattern sulkily withdraws the silvery letter opener from wherever it had concealed it about its person, and you place it with the other weapons.

"It's too big for you anyway." You point out. "It doesn't fit your hands. If you purloin my personal effects again, however, you might get yourself evicted without hesitation."

"But Patchurri wants to stay!" it says, eyes wide, clearly imagining being put out of the halls of Books. You wait patiently, silence meaningful. "... Patchurri will not take Miss' things." It promises after a moment.

"Good." you say, turning to pen a quick note and put it in the jaws of a small stone Gryphon, which you send off. "I believe it's time for dinner, is it not?"

"Remirya wants pudding!" The R-pattern declares, though surprisingly the P-pattern speaks up almost instantly in counterpoint.

"Sweets not good for babies!" It insists. "Makes babies slow and fat. Makes Remirya slow and...." it trails off as the R-pattern looks ready to burst into tears. "... mister plants and bugs are good food. Meat is good food." it says instead.

"Isn't tasty." The R-pattern sulks.

"Think of babies!" The P-pattern urges.

".... Remirya wants inside-things of meat." The R-pattern says, sulkily.

"Organs should be reasonably available." You say. "Perhaps a small treat after the main meal is complete, Sakuya?"

"I see you're already beginning your study." Sakuya notes in amusement. "But yes, that should be no issue. Should they be brought raw, or prepared in some fashion?"

"For now, I think raw should do, as I can't imagine them being able to prepare such things in the wild." You say. "I'll consider more complex dishes at some other time. I believe the rest of us should like a meal as well."

"It will be here shortly." The maid says, and you nod, then move some distance away, through the shelves. No point in having an audience for this next part, as you call Koakuma to your side.

She seems very satisfied with herself, body relaxed and stretching easily, like some manner of large feline that had just finished a meal.

"You have the material?" You say.

"Yes, yes." She says, waving the question off as she produces a small satchel with a number of filled vials inside, each good for one use in crafting Homunculi. You frown.

"There is far more here than I could possibly use before it all spoils." You point out. "Even maintaining their usability through storage will only preserve them until... they can be used tomorrow, the day after, and the day following that. Possibly one more day, depending on multiple factors, but following that it is worthless. How did you even get all of this..."

You trail off, realizing you don't really want to know the answer to that question, but Koa has already leapt on it without shame.

"I went to the worst part of town, and did my best to look lost, helpless, and confused." She says smugly. "It only took fifteen minutes of wandering aimlessly through alleys alone before I had a damp rag of chemicals shoved in my face and was dragged into an empty building."

"Actually, I think I'd rather not hear-"

"They only needed to finish once, but I was sure to let them all have their fill before I dug in~" She continues, looking perversely pleased with herself. "They didn't have much stamina though, and I was antsy after that, so I went and found myself a cute little virgin to-"

"Koakuma." You say flatly. "Never mind. I'd rather not know the full details."

"Well, if you insist." Koa says, almost purring. "It was delicious though. If you change your mind, I can always tell you the full story, or... demonstrate, as you prefer~"

"I think not." You say, putting the material safely away. "In any case... you've not washed up thoroughly enough, the smell gives you away. Deal with the matter."

Koa pouts, but leaves, and you go to inspect the portal again. It always delivers you to the basement of the tower, though never quite in the same place, just as it always returns you to the library. However, there is a great degree of variance as to where in the library you end up. You might land as near as a handful of paces away from the pillar, or you might find yourself hundreds of shelves and a short flight away from it, on returning. Vexing, but as you can still move through your portals inside of the library, it seems only to be a minor irritation.

Until the thought arrives that this means you will certainly have to hunt for portals on both sides of things, as finding the location, given this vexation, of one only vastly narrows down the position of the other.

By this time, however, meals have been brought in and you watch with some curiosity as the R-pattern digs into a bucket of organs, while the P-pattern focuses mainly on a platter of strips of muscle-meat. The R-Pattern seems much more enthused by the sweet cups of some creamy and fruity concoction Sakuya displays after, and toddles happily up into her lap to be fed. You do not similarly offer the P-pattern such babying, sitting quietly and sipping at the tea brought with the meal, and after a moment's glancing about it seems to conclude that none will be forthcoming and eats its treat on its own.

You've still not come to any conclusion about that nest, but watching the things gives you another idea to consider. In the wild, the R-patterns feed on others, so it might be a good idea to have them collected, even if you don't intend to give them to Ran, simply to have fodder for them that you wouldn't particularly mind being devoured. In any case, you should probably make a decision before bed, as left to decide on her own, the gatekeeper will likely just stamp them out immediately for the work she's been forced to do to restore their depredations.

---

And it's about autosage time again.

Autosage already? Then again, we kind of went post-crazy after Yukari's surprise.

By the way Kahi, I wanted to ask since it's the second time I see it. Why Moukou instead of Mokou? Repeated mistake (since Mokou is what I see used everywhere) or something else?

I like how you include interesting votes that don't win in your updates.

[x]Ask meiling to capture any of those that she finds out
[x] Ask the R-type to capture a few types for you.
Within a day, we should have enough (a dozen or so)

>>48877

Voting isn't open yet.

THIS SPACE NOW BELONGS TO ME!

Sorting hat-A hat that sings? Sounds neat! I wonder how it works.... Oh! If I made a Taboo, I might be able to put me in all four places at once! That could be fun.

Killing Curse- Thiis isn't the sort of thing you just learn not to be affected by. You're just, uh, magically 'dense' enough that it doesn't work on you properly, or you aren't. Wizards should be, but I guess those guys aren't. Maybe if they work really hard at being strong for a few decades... maybe not, that one guy seems to be pretty old. Well, they're all still totally human too, I guess. That might be part of it. I guess the best thing to do would be what they already do: 'get out of the way' or 'put something else in the way'.

Dungbombs- These sound neat! .... And horrible. Oh boy, do they dound awful. I can just imagine the smell. I think even Sakuya might balk at having to get it out of carpets.

Language- Japanese and English are pretty commonly spoken, all but interchangably here. One's obvious, the other's because sometimes people show up from, like, russia, brazil, madagascar, or wherever, and they usually don't know Japanese, but they almost always know some English. So the language spread some, after a while. Ancient Greek is kinda less common, as it happens. People that could reasonably have been around in Ancient Greece can probably speak it, or people that use the words for magic, but not much else.

Goo-Sacks- THAT'S TOTALLY RIGHT. I mean, geeze, people need to just hurry up and learn to grow this stuff back already, if they're going to insist on just falling apart like that. Big sis can teach them. She's good at growing stuff back.

Dinosaurs- WANT. WANT WANT WANT! NEVER MIND THE DAMN PONY I NEVER GOT.

>Dinosaurs- WANT. WANT WANT WANT! NEVER MIND THE DAMN PONY I NEVER GOT.

Win.

Homunculus army, right? Homunculus army.

We still have time to make an Elementalism pamphlet. A special, small class for those that want to learn. They'll be the envy of their peers.

>Oh! If I made a Taboo, I might be able to put me in all four places at once! That could be fun.

Oh God, the insanity of it would be a sight to behold.

>>48883
As of now, I doubt Patchouli is motivated to do so, unimpressed as she is with the students. If some do actually prove themselves, the number of students would probably be so small that tutoring in person would be more efficient.

>>48885
You could have said
>The number of students would probably be so small that tutoring in person would be more efficient.
and gotten the same meaning across more concisely. Brevity is your friend.

Some unusual difficulty with things.

But new thread is at: >>48888

>>48881
>THIS SPACE NOW BELONGS TO ME!
Is it going to have a name? Something like Flandre's Facts?