Two kinds of people [Nessa]

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This Quarantine sucked! Nixie wasn't one to spend alone of time in the areas where she grew up. She didn't even have an apartment in the area. She was out of the country more often than not, and had traveled for Gringotts to many different countries during her time working as a Curse breaker. When she did come back for a time, she would simply stay at her parents place for a time. They loved when she could stay, the longer the better. But with not being able to leave the British Isles, she was now stuck at her parents. This wasn't a bad thing, but she naturally had a hard time staying in one place. The last time she was stuck somewhere, was Hogwarts. At least being at school, she had classes to study for and quidditch to practice. Now she had nothing.

Just because she was stuck here, didn't mean that she was out of work. She had been stuck working inside, helping out where she could, mostly in figuring out treasure and it's worth. She had also been apart of some meetings, where they were trying to figure out what best to do with the curse breakers that couldn't leave. One thing that she had agreed to, was to meet up with a student who wanted to get into the Curse Breaking career. She had been told that she would be meeting up with the student later that evening at the Leaky Cauldron. Just before the time, she found a nice corner area to sit in. not wanting to miss the student she would be meeting up with.

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

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Nessa was supposed to be ‘gracious’ for this opportunity. It wasn’t every day that they (they being the caretakers at the orphanage) allowed her out and about in London of her own volition. Usually she could only leave if she was accompanied by one of them because of her track record with running off and disappearing or getting into trouble. Not her fault that there was actual stuff for her to see and do in the city, as opposed to the grounds and buildings of Pupillus Dorum. The stipulation for her meeting the professional Curse Breaker at the Leaky Cauldron was that she had to have the woman sign off when they were finished with the time, and then Nessa was required to run some errands at a few of the shops in Diagon Alley. All of the shopkeepers had been notified of her arrival in the afternoon, and they were to do the same as the Curse Breaker.

Because she couldn’t really deviate from any of that, there was very little time for Nessa to run off and do what she wanted. Everything had a time limit, and she wasn’t nearly as good at forging signatures as she thought she was. This decided the fate of her Hogsmeade visits next school year too, so she had to be on her best behavior, as horrible as that was. She knew that if she rushed around right after her meeting though, she could do a few things here and there without much consequence. Going to Flourish & Blotts in between two of the stores wouldn’t get her in trouble, for example.

So she was dropped off outside the Leaky Cauldron right before lunch with a small notepad for the signatures and any notes she wanted to take down during her meeting, and a pouch of coins for food and the errands she had to run later. She made sure to count everything on the way over, to see if skipping out on lunch would give her enough to buy something for herself, like a book her a trinket. Coupled with the tiny amount of spending money she had as an ‘allowance’ – it was hard to call it that because it was a meager amount normally used for extra school supplies – she was positive she could pull something together. Maybe.

The Leaky Cauldron was about as exotic of a location as she could go to during the summer, so the dimly lit bar and restaurant was exciting for her. There were a few patrons sat at the bar, and aside from that, it was practically empty. Had she beat the Curse Breaker there? Scanning the room quickly, the only other person she could see was a younger, red-headed woman sat at a table in the corner. Nessa only had the last name of the person she was supposed to meet written down on her notepad, but had been told that it was a woman as well ahead of time. Figuring this was her best bet, she approached the table. “Excuse me? Are you Miss…” Nessa squinted at the scribbled name on her notepad, “…McKraken?” It sort of hurt to be so formal and polite, but this lady could end up being a coworker, so she had to do what she had to do.

@nixie ● 551 ● Eighteen by Pale Waves

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Nixie had received a letter form the people who had arranged her meeting with the girl they had mentioned. It had told her that she had to sign some stupid paper when she was done helping the girl, as proof of their interaction. That seemed counter intuitive that she had to sign something. Didn't the girl want to be there? If she didn't, then why would they arrange this? She didn't get a chance to get any of her questions answered, because she had been given the letter by one of the goblins that she worked on. Nixie wondered if this girl was a trouble maker, She herself wasn't completely innocent of this when she was at school.

It didn't take long for a young woman to come up to her and address her as... Miss McKraken. She smiled at the girl "Just call me Nixie." Her accent was thick and she held out her hand. "You must be Nessa Byrne." She only knew that, because the paper in front of her had the name on it, only once. "So, you want to be a curse breaker when your out of school huh?" Nixie said as she motioned to have the girl sit down at the table.

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

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There was a little skip in her already sort of nervous heartbeat when the woman, who preferred to be called Nixie, was quite obviously Irish. Nessa knew she was too, though any hint of that was completely absent because she had been raised at the orphanage. Or supposedly she was based on the paperwork she had seen. She always had some sort of excitement when it came to talking to others she would have had some sort of cultural connection to if things had been normal in her life. But they weren’t, so she was only left guessing most of the time. Shaking Nixie’s hand, she nodded her head that she was indeed, Nessa Byrne. Her felt like she only ever heard her last name when she was being reprimanded or called upon in class. She took a seat across from the curse breaker and placed the notepad down in front of her, pulling a pen out of her pocket just in case she wanted to write anything down. Getting serious with this was equally as weird as being formal.

“I think I do. It’s still a few years out, but I’ve always liked the sound of it…” she paused as she tried to think of how to put her thoughts on the career into words. “I guess because I’m not allowed to go out much, I want a job that gives me the freedom to go where I want. It is like that, right?” Her only accounts of curse breakers came from students who had older siblings in the field or from stories she read in the newspaper whenever a large amount of gold or magical objects were brought to Gringotts. She hoped it was as glorious as that. More explorer and adventurer than buying and purchasing rare artifacts. She didn’t want to become a museum worker.

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Nixie was a little nervous teaching a girl about her work. She had been doing it for a number of years now, but she still felt too young to mentor. She had always imaged older people mentoring the young, but Nixie was still quite young herself. Nonetheless, she shook the girls hand. The girl sat across the table from her and Nixie seemed to calm down a bit. It was just two people having a conversation. Though the girl did pull out a pen and set a note pad on the table. Luckily she was confident in her job.

She listened to the girls reasoning of why she wanted to be a curse breaker. "There is freedom in the job, but you are expected to work hard." She wasn't exactly sure what was the best thing to say in this situation, but she figured that it was better to just give the girl her opinion about things. "You also need to keep on your toes. There has been a number of times where I've almost been trapped in a tomb." She gave the girl a smile "But the treasure hunting aspect is quite fun"

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

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From the sound of the job description so far, it was definitely a work hard play hard type of deal. Nessa could do with that. She didn’t like putting in a ton of effort in school, except on the topics she needed, but this was her chosen career so she could put forth the necessary work if need be. She nodded her head that she understood, but kept quiet as Nixie continued. With the stories she had read and accounts she had heard about curse breakers, everything seemed to be on point so far. Super dangerous with high rewards. Perfect for an orphan that wouldn’t be missed if she disappeared off the face of the Earth one day. Death by tomb entrapment or punji sticks was right up her alley. Curse breakers had to be a like that though, right? Anything could put an end to it all if the wrong step was made or a piece of treasure was mishandled. There wouldn’t be all those horrible stories of cursed objects if one of her future colleagues hadn’t been the unfortunate test subject to them.

“What sort of jobs do they give you at the start? I can’t imagine they throw you into an unexplored catacomb right off the bat and expect positive results…” she asked as she bumped the clicker on her pen up and down on the notepad. There had to be a study period, right? Those were the sorts of things the books didn’t explain in too much detail, other than the author going on about their time learning about gold or certain curses under the tutelage of wizened goblins. Being stuck in more schooling right after finishing at Hogwarts didn’t sound like the most glorious thing in the world, but if she had to do it, she would.

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Nixie didn't want to make the job sound like a fairy tail. Hard things did happen and you had to be on top of things. But the job was lots of fun, she couldn't deny that. Death in this line or work was not uncommon, and Nixie had the scars to prove that it was dangerous. Though, she knew that it was beneficial to be able to get out of a tight situation. Not every Curse breaker was an Animagus, but she certainly found it useful. Her small shape really helped her out when the walls were closing in.

Nixie thought about the question the girl had asked. She was right. They didn't just through a newbie into an uncharted tomb. "No, when I started, I first went over to Egypt to areas that are already explored, but not emptied." She paused for a moment, making sure that she didn't miss anything "Also, when you start, you are never alone. You're always with a more experienced Curse Breaker. It's always better if you go into a tomb, or a catacomb with a group."

Egypt wasn't the only place that she had been for Gringotts, but it was the more commonly known. And there were a good number of tombs that were already discovered, and you could always bet that cursed tombs in Egypt were bound to have their gold still. Unlike many of the muggle tombs, these were harder to be raided.

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

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The mention of Egypt had Nessa’s ears perked, her eyes flicking up from her scribbles in the notepad to meet Nixie’s. She hadn’t even left the UK before, and they would immediately send her off to Egypt for training? It was a perplexing idea considering how small her world was compared to the one that was actually out there. As the woman explained, the rookies were trained there because it had already been explored and excavated. Egypt was the beginning for most muggle archaeologists, from what she had read, so going there first to learn actually made sense. Being paired with a senior Curse Breaker was sort of obvious; again, from her readings on the career, it was beyond dangerous at times. Not everyone was born with a quick wit and fast feet. While Nessa liked to believe she was sharp as a tack with a lot of things due to her upbringing, she was certainly a slow runner and not the best when it came to physically pushing herself. Traversing treacherous tombs that could send boulders thundering down at her would mean she would need all the experience and expertise given to as possible.

“Where else do they send you? I’ve never been to Egypt – or out of the country – so that sounds really cool. As long as the places I’m sent to are interesting, Gringotts can have me for life.” And as long as she could make actual money. She was sure a lot of these tombs were loaded with treasures and goods lost to time, some of which the goblins wouldn’t notice were missing if she never reported it. She had done her share of breaking and entering into plenty of abandoned houses and nicked a few smaller items in the process; a forgotten necklace here, a picture frame of the family there. Not as bad as Nate though, who had a problem keeping his hands to himself. Regardless, she was sure she could do that every now and again to make a little extra on the side, assuming that was normal practice with the Curse Breakers. “And exactly how dangerous is it?” Nessa added as she pushed her thoughts of stealing ancient artifacts to the side. She had to be all business now so they would actually hire her in two years!

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Nixie couldn't help but smile as she saw the girls body language change from what it was to significantly more interested when she first mentioned Egypt. It was fun to relive her early days working for Gringotts. All the near misses and getting trapped in some room at the bottom of a cursed tomb. Only to hear the more experienced breaker laughing from the other side of the door. "It's a great job to see the world. That is, if you are willing to see all the dark and cursed places in the world." She chuckled a little bit "Besides Egypt, I've spent time in Peru, Greece and Italy." While Egypt was what most people thought about when it came to the curse breakers job, it wasn't the only place with cursed treasure and cursed temples and tombs.

Nixie had to think about the girls question. It was dangerous, that wasn't the issue. The problem that Nixie had was how to truly give the girl an idea of how dangerous it was. "You know how your professors at school teach you defense magic, and skills to survive out in the real world? But you're always safe, and nothing too bad can happen, because the professor and the entire Hogwarts staff is dedicated to keep you safe?" She hoped this helped answer the girls question "Being out there actually working, you don't have those people. Sure, there are other curse breakers around you, but they are usually working on something else. There isn't someone always watching you and fixing every tiny mistake. Bad things do happen, and while they will jump in and help, it's really up to you. One of my first tombs, I triggered some poisonous darts. I dodged them, but the wizard I was with wasn't so lucky." She paused to think about that time "It was up to me to save his life and if I wasn't prepared, or ready, he would have died" She took a breath. "I don't mean to scar you, but it isn't an easy job"

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

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“I think Hogwarts has done a good job preparing for weird places,” Nessa commented in regards to the dangers of other magical locations. Especially over the last few years. Making it through another school year alive was basically a cause for celebration at this point. She had become jaded by the prospect of potentially being killed while at school. Her nihilistic outlook on life told her that would still be better than having to return to the orphanage for one more summer after this one. Virtually anything was better than being locked up there again. Unfortunately that was how it was going to be though, and her only escape would be the one in a million chance that some poor family adopted her or if she kicked the bucket from the illness currently raging through England. Nessa wasn’t sure which one she liked more.

Aside from Egypt, Greece and Peru sounded absolutely lovely locations to be shipped off to. Anywhere that wasn’t the boring old London was fine with her. They wouldn’t even let her visit Ireland, which was supposedly her country of origin (she felt like a piece of clothing at times: Made in Ireland). “I think I’m sold just on the travel, to be honest,” she admitted. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, was there?

Nessa had her pen at the ready to take notes on everything Nixie had to say about the dangers of the job, but found herself at the end with barely anything written down and instead with her mouth slightly agape. “On your first job?” she repeated dumbly. She knew it was dangerous, that was why she had asked the question, but to have an experienced curse breaker get caught like that seemed a little ridiculous. “But like, it has to pay well if your life is always in danger, right?”

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Nixie had heard of the crazy occurrences at Hogwarts for the past few years, but she still felt that there was a level of security of having more experienced witches and wizards that were supposed to have your back, while out in a tomb, you didn't always have that. There were plenty of times that she was alone, or basically alone. But by the spark in this girls eyes, Nixie could see that she really wanted to job. That was told, it took drive to be a curse breaker. "That's good" She didn't have much more to say, but this girl wasn't being deterred from her warnings. Perhaps in a few years, they would have themselves a new curse breaker

“I think I’m sold just on the travel, to be honest,” She smiled at that. "I was sold on that too" She didn't have the best time sitting still, and staying in one place for too long became harder and harder. "Even if you go back to the same country, there are always new tombs, and new areas of old explored tombs."

Nixie's story was maybe a bit too intense, the wizard was fine, but it was a great example of being ready for anything, even when your completely green. "Yup, on my first job. You just have to be careful, and ready for anything"

“But like, it has to pay well if your life is always in danger, right?” "That it does. Better if you find something good. And there are heavy consequences if the goblins find you skimming from the top" There were many curse breakers who thought that taking a little gold here, and a little treasure there was fine, but once the goblins caught on, they didn't think the idea was good anymore. The goblins never joked around with gold and treasure.

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

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The prospect of re-exploration of older tombs hadn’t even crossed Nessa’s mind when she had been researching the career. Obviously there were accounts of cursebreakers and other magical researchers returning because they hadn’t completed their initial work, but she finding new areas of old tombs sounded just as exhilarating as diving into a brand new one. Literally anywhere outside of the UK was fine with her when it came to travel too. Or outside of London, really. The city and Hogwarts were her only experience in the world, and it was even smaller than that considering where she was allowed to go in London as well. Constant supervision had dictated she not stray too far from certain places, though the rare day like today granted her an endless amount of exploration as long as she completed her tasks after the interview.

Nessa understood the warning about being careful while on the job, but she also couldn’t help but think that she had been in loads of more dangerous buildings than tombs. The kind where former metal working factories had become rotting exoskeletons of their former selves. Plenty of those had dangerous pitfalls and structural integrity issues where one wrong step spelled death or certain doom. The only difference between her usual haunts and tombs though, was the loot at the end of it. Her normal explorations led to maybe one or two useable pieces of junk. Gold and magical objects were far from the norm. “I’d never think of doing that,” Nessa lied, positive that her years of fibbing at the orphanage and to professors would trick the professional. “But it’s not like the goblins are strapped for gold either, is it?” She had sat through enough History of Magic lessons about the Goblin Wars to not know that little detail. That and the yearly trek to Gringotts pre-school shopping always brought on unwanted stares from the creatures. Typically a middle finger and a scowl got them to screw off and pay attention to someone more likely to pilfer from them – like Nate. Nessa would never try to rip the goblins off unless they absolutely deserved it. Like when she worked for them.

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Nixie did think that the girl might be thinking of the found gold. It was a common subject. Some wanted to skim a little off the tip. She wasn't one of those people, and just enjoyed the adventure for what it was. “But it’s not like the goblins are strapped for gold either, is it?”

"Do bare in mind, you will be working for them. Goblins think differently from you or I. They see treasure and gold belonging to it's rightful owner, the one who made the item. It doesn't matter who bought or found it." While Nixie couldn't stop what the girl was going to do, she could try to give some good words of wisdom. Working for goblins wasn't easy for many wizards. Nixie got along with them fine, and she did her job well. But many young witches and wizards, just joining the career go into it not thinking of the wizard/goblin relations. There were a lot of issues in the past.

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[nessa abigael byrne]

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She sort of expected that she got. It wasn’t like she was stupid enough not to know about goblins and their passion for gold. At the same time, she had loads of questions about why they desperately wanted it, but also had no problem shelling it out as galleons or even giving it out to ancient peoples. What was the point in that? And if they were such tricky beings that would do anything for gold, why couldn’t they hunt it down themselves? Last she checked, goblins had decent magic and were the suspicious sort that would have no problem getting around traps in tombs or dungeons. Maybe it had more to do with self-preservation, though it was a hell of a business to be in for wanting that. People were crazy about money and those that had a lot of it, surely goblins were the target of a lot of problems over money and gold.

“I guess I understand that,” Nessa mused, though she absolutely disagreed with the part about finding or buying an object the goblins wanted. Purchasing something was a contract between two people. Unless the goblins were disputing how the object got into humans hands in the first place, then she could sort of see it. As for finding treasure? She was one-hundred percent on board with finders’ keepers. “You’d think that if they really cared about the objects cursebreakers were finding, they would have done it themselves years ago,” she finally stated. “Obviously it’s different if it was stolen from them, but still…” Nessa wrote in all caps in her notebook ‘NO STEALING’, and underlined it three times. She really only cared about the exploration part when it came down to it. It was all about going places she had never been to before, and the danger that came with it.

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Nixie wasn't entirely versed in all possible questions that a future curse-breaker might ask. She was just in it for the adventure. They sent her around the world, and in turn, she traversed dangerous tombs and found priceless things for them. The gold wasn't what Nixie enjoyed. She was the one who in it for the adventure itself. Curiosity wasn't a bad thing, and this girl did seem to have some good questions. Nixie wondered if there was anyone better to answer the girls question.

Nixie was glad that the girl said that she understood. If there was one thing that she wanted to stress, was that it wouldn't be any good to lie or steal from your employer's. Though, the girl still seemed to have her own ideas, not wanting to accept the view points of another species. The girl asked why the goblins didn't go and get the items themselves. "I'm not completely sure." The girl was being honest "But if they did, then I'd be out of a job" And she wouldn't want that.

nessa abigael byrne