"You shouldn't leave the pages blank," Rhys said absently, as he flipped through the book, then murmured the spell to make the white paper give up its secrets. "It makes people wonder what should be there, especially when the book looks old, like this one."

As the drawings revealed themselves, the professor went silent. He studied each page carefully, saying nothing at first as he took in the drawings. Sometimes he smiled faintly, but other than that, his expression didn't change. Truthfully, they reminded him startlingly of his own work as a student, so many years ago. The themes were obvious, over the top and without a certain subtlety, but the boy was young. What they were not was crude, or drawn for shock value. It was clear from the level of detail that these were images that Kurloz either felt he had to get out, to exorcise, or they were something he enjoyed. Perhaps both. The technical talent was strong, but the professor knew that wasn't really what the Slytherin was asking about. This was the child's own test, for him.

He flipped back to the picture of the skeletons dancing. It was his favorite, by far, and he slid it back over the desk to Kurloz. "You're talented. But this one is the most pure. You're getting lost in the details with some of these other ones, trying to include too much at once. This tells the most cohesive story, and there's a joy here that's quite impressive. It's not something many people would understand, the imagery is too macabre, but I quite like it. Death as a celebration, a dance, certain expectations perverted and tossed aside. Yes, I like it very much. It captures a certain truth about the world, about the things under the skin."