A Million Miles Away [Renfri]

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

1 January 2026

A discovery like this wouldn’t go unnoticed for long – and Cas was determined not to waste any time. From the moment Ana had first contacted him about Yrisle and her initial observations, Cas had begun to strategize. What could this island mean for his business – what sorts of ancient artifacts might be waiting? What could this island mean for Ouroboros – an opportunity to investigate what Dark or twisted magic had been locked away? And what could this island mean for the Purifiers – he was almost certain they were scheming at this moment to exploit the island and its powers for their own mysterious ends.

There were plenty of unknowns, and Cas had never been one to leave a loose thread hanging. He knew the organization’s broad goals – to discover the island's magical secrets, to uncover the other groups’ intentions, and if necessary to stop them from exploiting that magic for chaotic or destructive motives. But he had his own reasons to explore, answers he needed to find that likely couldn’t be found anywhere else. Not to mention that, like most cursebreakers, Cas had always had an intense desire to collect and study items of power. An island like this one was bound to have a few of those, and plenty more secrets, and he was determined to uncover every last one of them. His intellectual curiosity demanded it.

He could have chosen any number of partners for this mission, and he likely would be visiting several times more in the future with a  variety of Ouroboros members. But this time, the first time, he’d reached out to Renfri. She was officially as retired as he or Jasper were, having moved on to a new career at Hogwarts after an accident had ruled out any future expeditions for Gringotts. Still, speaking with Jasper a few days ago and introducing him to Ouroboros and the power struggle between the factions had proven an additional point to Cas. The things that drove people to cursebreaking – the adrenaline rush that came with breaking into a tomb, the burning desire to uncover the secrets of ancient cultures through the artifacts they left behind, and the sense of freedom and fulfillment that was impossible to find anywhere else – never went away, even after retirement.

Cas had phrased his invitation to Renfri as exactly that – an invitation, a choice – but he knew the offer would be irresistible. He knew exactly how much she would miss venturing out into new and unknown horizons, because he felt the same way. They had traveled to the island with Bjorn – who had agreed to extend his services to other Ouroboros members as well, although Cas kept the explanation of how he knew Bjorn simple for the other squad leaders. They had started in the direction of what appeared to be a large volcano, and were now picking their way through a rocky field with the occasional rift running through the rocks. Cas kept an eye on the Dial Back as they walked, although he made a hum of contemplation as he studied it. “This fog must be unnatural, but it isn’t Dark magic,” he observed, tapping on the Dial Back again to check before turning to observe Renfri’s progress. He shook his head. “It's surprising. We haven’t encountered any Dark magic at all.”

@renfri

[Deleted]

January 1 2026
Casimir Elias Karkaroff

Was this potentially a bad idea? Most definitely. But once a curse breaker, always a curse breaker. You couldn't get the adventure out of your blood once it was there. The desire to uncover something new. So of course she'd been enthralled by the news that morning. When the news broke out about an unknown and mysterious island with a strong magical connection. Of course she wanted to go. The curse breaker demanding the adventure. But yet, she knew it was a pipe dream. How could she go? That was when, much to her surprise, Casimir had reached out to her. How Casimir had the connections to travel to the island so quickly, why he'd asked her, who their ride was. She didn't know. But at this moment? She didn't care. Because Casimir had asked her to come with him. Despite her lame left arm. At the very least seh was still a witch. She still had her knowledge. And if anything did happen, she was still an Animagus. Just because she'd lost the use of her dominate hand didn't mean she was defenseless. So she'd immediately said yes.

Being the History of Magic professor certain had it perks, especially now. Because now she was discovering history, and could potentially use her knowledge to their aid. She'd made sure to bring a notepad and enchanted quill, since her writing with her right had was absolute chicken scratch, and she'd brought a camera. To try and document everything. It was also her way as a curse breaker. Taking note of everything, so that it could be reviewed later.

The journey with Casimir was nice. They'd never gotten the chance to work together as curse breakers. She'd been trained by someone else. "Magical, at the very least. But so far harmless," she answered as he mentioned the fog. "If it was dark magic I would have expected at elast some side effects by this point." No, they'd been walking through the desolate field long enough. If this was dark magic, something would have happened. "Considering everything we've seen, I don't think we'll encounter any familiar magic here." She countered. The odd creatures and plant life, this fog... No, while this was clearly magic it was not any magic she was familiar with. "Though that would bring into debate the controversial belief that dark magic is man made." She was a History of Magic professor after all. IT was a trend that had been argued many times in history. The curses, dark creatures, they all had a wizarding hand to them. "It seems this place in general has a rather lacking... wizarding touch to it. As if wizards haven't been here in sometime." No, they hadn't seen any sign of wizards, aside from those exploring the island now...

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

It was always risky to work with a new partner in an unknown location, but two senior (if not retired) cursebreakers would know how to mitigate the risks. Even with his overdeveloped sense of curiosity and penchant for finding danger, Cas preferred to work within a small circle of contacts. He had hated the process of breaking in a new trainee at Gringotts, and generally had very little patience for mistakes or stupid questions. He and Renfri had history, but they had never worked together – she had been trained by another cursebreaker while Cas had taken charge of Rhys and Ilija, and drilling cursebreaker trade secrets into their occasionally thick skulls. Still, they had known each other for some years at this point, and Cas’s nature as a businessman meant he could pick up on subtle cues. For instance, he had quickly discovered in the last several days that Renfri qualified her potential to contribute by her injury, and that she tended to fixate more on her limiting factors than qualifications. It hadn’t stopped her from accepting his invitation, but he wondered if she had still quit too early. He had seen cursebreakers retire after accidents – Jasper and Leo, to name a few – but there had been others that had taken their required time off before returning to the job. A paralyzed limb was a game-changer, but not necessarily a game-ender. And Cas had heard enough stories from Rhys and Ilija about Renfri and her level of responsibility and dedication to the job. It seemed like wasted potential to see her limit herself to a teaching position at Hogwarts.

But there was a right time to share, and a right time to wait. As the duo disembarked, Cas nodding a farewell to Bjorn, he reflected on the fact that it wasn’t the right time to broach the topic yet. They had never shied away from difficult topics before – such as the subject of their similar pureblood upbringings – but there were ways to pull and twist at the situation first. Remind her of what the ‘good old days’ had been like. Nostalgia was a powerful motivator, after all. Cas finally tore his gaze away from the Dial Back to better examine the scenery – the rifts running along the ground in a seemingly random pattern, the dark shadowy outline of the volcano in the distance, and the fog swirling and settling in unnatural shapes. He made a skeptical sound as Renfri commented on the seemingly harmless fog. “We both know that the most dangerous things tend to appear harmless at first sight,” he responded, stopping briefly to attempt to gather some fog on the tip of his wand. It curled briefly around the wood before quickly dissipating, and he continued after Renfri.

She was right, of course – they were very unlikely to encounter any familiar magic here, Dark or otherwise. Still, Cas sighed slightly at the thought. He had become incredibly comfortable with curses and unusual manifestations of magic in the last decade, and had even begun research into older forms of Scourer magic in recent days. The island was unsettling, and he would have much preferred a Dark spell to whatever fueled this fog. He shot Renfri a slight smirk as she began to speculate about the origins of Dark magic. “Will there be an exam on this, Professor?” he asked dryly, although he could appreciate the piercing question. There weren’t many witches who found the theory behind magic worth their time, after all. Still, Cas gave their surroundings a contemplative look. “There is still evidence of human habitation,” he countered, mentally reviewing the first steps every cursebreaker followed in examining a new area. “The carvings we found seem to follow a runic alphabet, if not one we are unfamiliar with…and magic lingers. It may have evolved separately from our own, but it must still share a common thread. Perhaps one that can be experimented with...” He broke out of that train of thought. "At any rate, I expect that unlocking the pattern of these runes will answer some questions." Cas had recently become fascinated with runes, and their potential for storing and recording ancient forms of magic. Magic that could then be unlocked, or manipulated with a modern twist. And if it could be done in America…perhaps it could be done here as well. Who knows what secrets this island was hiding, written in plain view on its pillars and stones...

@renfri