Author: Hi guys. I come bearing more fic, this time of the Medivh-variety. Light, the man has grown on me...seems like a lot of characters do that... :/

Disclaimer: lawl not mine

Rating: PG-13 for safety's sake, although you could say it's PG.

~Tales of Karazhan~

The boy was dangerous.

Medivh finished his sentence and closed his book, the binding snapping securely shut.

Khadgar was smart. Extremely smart, in fact. Medivh was occasionally delighted to have him as an apprentice, but it remained that intelligence was a danger.

Admittedly, he was oddly innocent, which was his charm and the reason why Medivh hadn't added him to the secrets of Karazhan. While he could make his own spells and demand the Tower to give up some of its secrets, he believed in Medivh. Believed that Medivh could be trusted, regardless of his peculiarities.

It flattered him and made a small spark of something other than consuming darkness flutter through his soul. It was an odd sensation, and brought up memories of his childhood, of days when he had believed in people.

Before he had been thrust into the abilities that had laid dormant within him since his birth, both gift and curse. Before the need for knowledge and power that drove him to throw away those who came too close to the truth for comfort or attempted to outright deceive him.

He could always spot a spy, and they were the first to fall to Karazhan's unique nature.

Khadgar had initially been a spy, but he had relaxed into the hungry pursuit of knowledge and power, a hunger that Medivh knew quite well.

But that hunger was dangerous.

I'll have to find a way to stymie him,perhaps send him on a wild goose chase for some obscure and useless spell.

Medivh stroked his beard as he thought while the other hand played with the cloth of his sleeve.

"Master?"

Medivh looked to his apprentice as he entered and quirked an eyebrow, although he was surprised at the tiny trickle of genuine pleasure he felt at seeing the youth. "Yes?"

Khadgar walked over to the table and plopped a rather large tome on the wood and flipped open to a page that had obviously been looked at, and looked at, and looked at again, ad nauseum.

Medivh walked to the table and crossed his arms when Khadgar pointed to an incantation.

"It's missing a word, and I've been working at it for nearly a week, but I can't figure out what it is. Can you offer any help?"

Perfect! He thought, but was horrified to find himself saying, "I suppose."

No, no, I can't help him!

But the way Khadgar's entire posture slouched slightly in relief and the small smile that formed on his lips made Medivh want to smile as well.

There was something about Khadgar. Medivh wanted to see him succeed and utterly fail. He wanted to see how far he could push the youth before he crumbled and became just another grain of sand in the hourglass.

He listened to Khadgar explain his thoughts and magical paths, and while Medivh knew that they all would lead to dead ends—as they had—it was still a testament to the boy's ingenuity.

Perhaps this is why he hasn't been bothering me all week, he thought before he corrected that thought with the reminder that he had been working…elsewhere…for the past seven days.

"It is unfinished."

Khadgar blinked when Medivh interrupted him in his discourse. "Sir?"

"The spell. It's unfinished. See?" Medivh said and pointed to a word. "This creates a link, but that link is unspecified by any of the following words, which is why everything has fallen flat. The purpose of the spell needs to be determined before a result can be declared."

Khadgar blinked and his mouth formed an 'o' before it shut and his brow furrowed in concentration. "The phrasing and evocations are archaic."

"But still potent and sensible enough to be used. Now, discover a purpose for the spell and complete it."

Ah, good.

Khadgar looked briefly annoyed before his features smoothed out into pure determination. "Very well," Khadgar replied before he snapped the book shut and hefted it beneath his arm. "With your leave."

Medivh watched the muttering boy go and couldn't help the small smirk that formed on his lips.

Busy-work that is productive, he thought with satisfaction

Busy-work that could lead to terrible things.

Medivh sighed and shrugged. It can be taken care of when it needs to be taken care of. For now, I have a world to destroy.