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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Jul 28, 2015 8:13:36 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2015 8:13:36 GMT -7
James was absolutely fuming. If it were possible, he was sure that he would be blowing steam out of his ears and nostrils just to show how angry and frustrated he was. His breathing was heavy and uneven and his nostrils flared as he stared at Albus. He hardly noticed Scorpius come to Albus's side, but he heard him... just barely. It was when blue sparks ignited between he and his brother that James was torn away from his angry glare at Albus. James's head immediately snapped in the direction of the only person who had their wand out. Cain Edge.
Cain began to speak and for a moment, James felt the need to interrupt him with some snide comment but Cain's words distracted him of that. James was not modest when it came to his last name, often taking whatever he could get because of it but hearing someone like Cain say that to him... saying he didn't care about Hogwarts, that cut deep. For a brief second, James felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He loved Hogwarts and he wanted everyone in it to be safe. But he couldn't argue with Cain that he wasn't being completely self centered in his arguing with Albus. He wouldn't admit that, but this wasn't about him anymore. Yes, he had found the dead student but there were bigger problems now. He needed to grow up. His eyes stayed low as Moreta added her two cents, and James avoided the eye of anyone that could or would be looking at him for a response. Instead, his eyes automatically found Aurora and locked with her own. It was in her sky blue eyes that he found the strength to speak again.
So now Cain and Moreta had both left. James couldn't blame them after the shameful show the room had just witnessed. And of course Albus had to open his mouth further to Cain. James cringed as he dod so. James turned back to Albus but looked far less angry this time. Instead he just tired. "Stop. Give it a bloody rest, because I'm done." He spat quietly at Albus. He then lowered his head as he walked away from his brother and returned to Aurora's side, his hand automatically intertwining with her own. He looked back up around the room. "Please, someone - anyone speak up about something else then." He gestured his free hand around the room, willing, begging someone else to speak up so he could forget about this embarrassing ordeal that had just occurred. All the while praying that Albus would keep his mouth shut.
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Jul 28, 2015 17:04:20 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2015 17:04:20 GMT -7
Well, that sure escalated quickly.
She wasn't surprised that Alice kept a glare firmly going through most of the past minutes of sudden intense drama. She didn't glare back though, she just took one step closer to Phil, slowly linking her arm through his. She wasn't a very physical person, not really, but she needed the stability. She thought she was going to pass out. She didn't now how intricate the stupid vow was, and now that she did she regretted saying anything.
However, she did think Ethan had a point. About the greater good and all... but she wasn't going to agree with that statement out loud. Not now.
It was odd, hearing Scorpius appear as the voice of reason. The two had a major falling out in their friendship, deciding not to trust the other. But now... things were different, weren't they? He was here, wasn't he? And so was she. She couldn't sit idly by and not admire the man he was becoming.
After the Potter spat, the room was silent for a moment. Andy took the opportunity and stepped away from Phil, stepping right up beside James. "James is right. This meeting isn't about old rivalries," her eyes fell on Scorpius for a moment, before flickering to Alice, then found their place on Abby. "We're here to stop people from getting hurt. Ethan said he'll help as much as he can, and we should move on," her voice was a lot more confident than she thought it would be. However, she kept her feet firm and her gaze focused on Abby.
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Jul 28, 2015 17:16:05 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2015 17:16:05 GMT -7
Abby had kept quiet long enough. She generally didn't get involved with sibling fights, especially when she considered herself friends with both people in the argument. After Moreta and Cain left, she turned to Marcia with a nod. Marcia got the point, jumping up to follow the two Ravenclaws. Somebody had to make sure they weren't turning on the entire group. Marcia would talk to them and make sure the group was still safe.
Abby had waited, arms folded and with a stern look as the fight sort of fizzled down. At least enough for Andy to step in and make her point, trying to help change the subject. Abby nodded at her, then gestured back to the board behind her. "I vote we stick to the topics at hand, and you two can talk later," she gave a firm look of this conversation is over to the Potter boys. She hoped Albus would cooperate, there was a time and place for this and here at the meeting was not one of those times, nor the place.
"So we know what's happened to Ethan. He knows who our perpetrator is, but he can't tell us. And no one blames you for that," she repeated, looking pointedly at him before addressing the group once more. "That's some pretty powerful magic, meaning this person has been working incredibly hard to get to where they are now. You don't just learn that stuff in passing," she continued.
"Anyway, we need to find a way to get more solid evidence. Befriend our suspects, find out what we can. I also think we need to set up a buddy system," it sounded silly, sure, but Ethan had been on his own and nearly died. The other two had actually died. "No one goes anywhere by themselves anymore. In this room, and out. Especially our muggle borns and even the half bloods." She raised an eyebrow at the room, giving the cue for feedback.
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Jul 30, 2015 9:49:47 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 9:49:47 GMT -7
it was no secret that the potter boys didn't get along great at the best of times. they were too different. jay knew this because he had spent a lot of his life at the potter house. he ran his hand through his hair as he listened to them argue, knowing better than to step into a spat between brothers. himself and phil rarely fought, but they had had some pretty marvellous fights when they had been younger. when it was all said and done and they had been put back into their respective corners and told to take it elsewhere. jay had a sudden thought, and it it was one he didn't like. he chewed his lip a little, thinking about whether to bring it up or not. he didn't want to point any fingers or cause any more arguments but things had to be said didn't they? that's why they were here. "al might have almost a point? not about james. but about the fact that .. as horrible as it is to say, we can't one hundred percent rule out anyone in this room yet, or anyone we're friends with or even our family. people can be swayed, if the people doing this can come up with good enough arguments, coerce people into joining them or make them an offer of power or something they want, that might be enough to turn someone to the other side. someone might not even realise how deep they are into it until it's too late to get out" that's how history read. death eaters in the past had been driven to do the dark lords work by the hopes of power and purity and more money than they knew what to do with. "there's also the fact we need to consider the ones who might not want to be there .. but are pressured by loyalty to their family and are worried about not being in the firing line" he said, hoping that people were going to take this well. not everyone who fought against the side of good wanted to be there, they just wanted to survive. he knew how strong loyalty to ones family could be, there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for his parents or siblings because he loved them. he heard abby mention the buddy system. it was a good idea, though it might be a little difficult in practice. "so we need to find someone in our houses and in the same classes as us?"
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Jul 30, 2015 11:10:28 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 11:10:28 GMT -7
Casey Finnigan decided to get involved, stepping in to defend James. This bothered Carcer—Andromeda had asked if her way would work, probably without knowing that the Unbreakable Vow had absolutely no loopholes. James, however, had already been told that it would kill Ethan, and he was still defending the idea. Carcer had every right to be angry about that. But rather than let James know when he was crossing a line, Casey decided to side with him. Really? Side with a guy advocating letting a classmate die just for information? Then Casey asked him if he was sure. Carcer didn’t even hear what Casey said next—there was a weird static in his ears. Then he realized he was growling quietly, and there was nothing human in that sound. Carcer dropped to one knee, to bring him closer to Casey, and when he spoke, his voice was guttural, almost struggling to remember what words should sound like. “Which of us pays attention to class material instead of which girl fills out their robe the best, Finnigan? Yes, I’m sure.”
Then of course, James had to step in again, challenging Carcer to unveil a better plan. They were both STILL defending the idea of sacrificing a fellow student! His father had always talked about the stubborn nobility of Gryffindors that made them stand between their peers and those that would hurt them, and never back down. What had happened? Carcer opened his mouth, about to respond that his idea didn’t involve hiding behind someone else’s nobility, but no words came out. He couldn’t find the words. And something in his brain was thundering, telling him to stop being civil, to just pummel the two lions into submission. With his strength, he could literally kill them in one strike each, but they deserved to suffer a bit first, no?
And that was when Ethan asked if maybe his sacrifice would be worth it.
Carcer was dumbstruck. Was he serious? Willing to trade his life away for a single name? The half-giant surged to his feet, spinning around to look at Ethan. The pounding in his skull intensified. James and Casey had convinced him to give away his life for a slim chance at saving someone. James and Albus arguing faded away to noise, and he was hardly able to think past the idea of bringing his strength to bear, reminding these puny beings that his was the strongest—
A burst of pain stopped this bloodlust for just an instant, and Carcer seized control with all he had.
He stood still for a moment, slowly forcing his giant’s blood to settle, missing all the arguments going on around him. He had raised his hand to his mouth and managed to bite into his thumb. It wasn’t enough to do any serious harm, but blood trickled down his arm. Move away from them. Before you hurt someone. Everyone.
He backed away from the group as Abby started talking again. He pushed up against the back wall and slid down it, sitting down, before slowly removing his hand from his mouth. He tuned out what Abby and Jayden were saying. He couldn’t afford to get any angrier now. If he got angry again…he might not be able to stop himself.
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Aug 1, 2015 8:19:45 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 8:19:45 GMT -7
dom stood silent for a change as the events happened in the room. she was still thinking about ethan saying maybe it was worth it for him to reveal the person behind who had attacked him. how could he even think that? was he an idiot? did he really think that getting himself killed and leaving cordelia like that .. merlin or even her could be better? she almost strangled him, had to hold the urge not to as she took her hands from his shoulders and folded them tight against her body as her cousins started to have a mine is bigger than yours contest in the middle of the meeting. none of them should have to be here. be going through this and discussing plans to help stop attacks and who was behind horrible things. they should be enjoying school, worrying about quidditch and focusing on exams so they could leave school and get on with their lives, now they were here trying to do what they could to make sure they or someone they loved weren't going to be the next targets. her attention turned to carcer who at that point was biting his thumb. she spotted the blood and chewed her lip, wondering how much effort he was really putting in to stay in control. she felt for him. she touched ethan's shoulder lightly, skimmed her fingers over his hair in a friendly gesture before she moved to kneel beside carcer. she wasn't afraid of him. she reached for her wand, summoned something to help him stop the bleeding if he wanted to and held it out to him without saying a word, knowing there probably wasn't anything she could say, though she offered him a small smile as she tried to tune out the rest of the group.
@everyone <3
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Aug 1, 2015 12:59:57 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 12:59:57 GMT -7
Things had escalated quickly, to say the least.
Not only had a few idiotic Gryffindors suggested throwing Ethan to the dogs, but then Albus had to open up and express his own opinions. It had surprised Alice at first that he had spoken at all, but then when she heard what he said she had wished he would have stayed quiet. James was then in front of Albus, and Alice was sure that there was going to be a physical altercation as she stayed completely quiet, unable to move due to shock. That was when Cain, thankfully, broke the Potter boys away with a spark. She didn't take her eyes off of the Potters, however. The last thing she wanted was for them to hurt one another, and from the look on James's face... Albus's words already had.
When Albus then copped an attitude with Cain, Alice could not help but gasp quietly. What was wrong with him? It was so unlike Albus to act out like this! That was when she saw Carcer in the corner of her eye, moving back away from the rest of them. Alice turned around slowly and saw the blood trickling down his thumb. Her brow furrowed in worry, then. Alice immediately was unaware of who was talking now as she slowly followed Carcer, being able to look him straight in the eye now as he sat down and she stood in front of him. She just gave him a sympathetic look and then leaned up against the wall next to him. When Dominique joined them against the wall, Alice smiled softly at her. It was good to see someone else was tired of all of this nonsense, but also cared too much about the beings in this particular room to leave. Alice looked back at the group and continued to listen to them. She just caught the middle of what Abby was saying.
So this was real. Someone was intentionally going around hurting people. People Alice knew, and she feared deeply for the ones she loved. First muggleborns, but who was to say halfbloods would not be next? Or even halfbreeds? A tinge of fear shivered down her spine as she tensed beside Carcer. The idea frightened her but it also made her extremely angry. And when Alice was angry, she almost always spoke her mind...
"So," the eldest Longbottom spoke up after a moment. "I think we should make up a list. Things we know for sure, and things we don't." She looked up at Abby for approval.
@abigail
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Aug 2, 2015 7:06:53 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2015 7:06:53 GMT -7
Zander was not really one for confrontation, unless a friends live was at stake, of course. Still, he stayed still in silent horror for a moment as the conversation went on, up until the Potter boys had their little fight. Zander had brothers, more than one of them, and he had never said or received words as harsh as that from them. He loved his brothers, more than himself even. It was strange and sad, watching two brothers treat each other that way. It just reminded Zander how lucky he was. They had their disagreements, sure, but it was never like that...
He was grateful when the topic changed, back to trying to solve this mystery. He looked over at Jayden as he went on to explain how it could be anyone in the room, and how some of them didn't have a choice. At that his mind flickered back to his own family again, and how grateful he was for them. He was brought back to reality when Alice suggested making a list of what we do and do not know.
Not that Zander was really a listy person, but... "yeah, Alice is right. Organization is key in a group this big. We also need to do something to make sure people keep their mouths shut," he suggested. His voice was far from cold, and he gave a quick little smile after his harsh-ish words.
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Aug 18, 2015 17:38:05 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2015 17:38:05 GMT -7
Phil smiled at her as Andy took his arm, but kept his attention on the spectacle that had just occurred. He had known the Potters along time, but he had never seen something like this. They were at each others throats. He was almost thankful when Cain Edge nearly blinded him with blue sparks. Cain's speech even made a little bit of sense. Bickering wouldn't get them anywhere, and, honestly, if Ethan died to tell them who was behind this whole mess... would they be any better than them?
Then, in the silence following the storm, Andy stood up. The confidence she spoke with was inspiring. And then Jay. Did Albus have a good point? Did Phil agree with him? He might have to think on that. But Phil did think that Jay was right. Not everyone was evil by choice... or good for that matter. Some people were coerced into it. And some people were only out to save their own skin. Which is why Zander was right. They need to make sure everyone stayed quiet about what had happened here. But how to do that was beyond Phil. He knew of plants that could stop people from talking, and potions. But what they really needed was a way to keep track of who, if anyone, did rat them out. How to do that?
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Aug 24, 2015 7:46:51 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 7:46:51 GMT -7
It was funny how clearly he could see her.
Everything else was a little blurry, hazy from the unfocused rage he’d been feeling. But she stood out, clear as day, as she approached him. But it didn’t make him feel good, to know how close he’d come to losing control in front of her. Carcer had very rarely lost his temper—mostly it had happened when he was younger, which wasn’t so bad, as his parents tended to be around. As time went by, he learned to control himself better. But not completely. Carcer had a lot of advantages over his dad, but if nothing else, Rubeus Hagrid was at heart a gentle soul that held all life up as sacred. That was what made it so easy for him to restrain himself, to think and act rationally even when his temper was at full blast. Carcer was gentle as well, but he had inherited his mother’s temper, and Olympe Hagrid was a terror when pushed. Carcer had inherited that, only worse, as he was a guy and aggression averaged higher in males of both humans and giants. When Carcer lost his temper, he was little more than a berserker.
Alice looked at him for a moment before moving to the wall to stand beside him. His temper cooled quickly under the shame and guilt of knowing how close he’d come to hurting someone. “Don’t let me hurt anyone. Please.” She could stop him. She could cut right through that blind rage with but a word. He knew it, though he didn’t know why he knew it.
Dominique joined them after a moment, summoning a bandage roll from nowhere and holding it out. “Thanks, Dom,” he said quietly, unrolling the bandage to wind around his thumb. One of the downsides to being a giant was that magical resistance didn’t discriminate. Healing spells, just like any other, were ineffective on Carcer unless cast by his own hand, and he had no training in that branch of magic—it was too specialized, something not learned until after Hogwarts. Not that it tended to matter, of course: even past their physical and magical resistances, giants and half-giants were superhumanly resilient and could recover from injuries on their own that a normal human would need medical attention to survive. But wrapping up his thumb dulled the throbbing a bit, and he was able to shakily pull out his wand and vanish the blood trails from his arm.
He looked up again, considerably calmer, as he listened to the conversation continue. He said nothing yet, because it was a powder keg waiting to happen, but he listened to make sure the idea of sacrifice had been dropped. If it hadn’t, he would make perfectly clear that he could and would put a stop to that plan himself, physically if need be, and to hell with what the group decided.
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last online May 1, 2024 0:56:31 GMT -7
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Aug 25, 2015 17:00:30 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2015 17:00:30 GMT -7
Abby turned to Zander, "we'll take care of that, Zan. There are a lot of us in this room which is a good thing and bad, because we don't want to lose track of who's on our side" she emphasized those words, trying to make a point that they were all in this together. "So, first assignment for everyone is to sign this," she whipped out a piece of parchment and a quill, making a mental note to get Cain, Marcia and Moreta to sign it later. "Put your names on there and I'll know if you didn't sign it, I'm pretty sure I know everyone in this room," she added with a bit of an eyebrow raise as she passed the paper to the first person closest to her.
"Now, as for things we know and things we don't. We know that people are dying and being attacked, so far only muggle borns. We know that it is happening within the school. We know that Ethan can't tell us who it is, but that Ethan knows who it is. We know that this person is sick, twisted and may even have people working with them," she paused at that, knowing people may react verbally or via shuddering and whatnot. "We don't know who it is. We also know that it isn't safe out there. So, as I mentioned previously, we are placing a sort of.. rule into effect," she couldn't believe she had just used the word 'rule'. She shook it off.
"No one in this room should go anywhere by themselves anymore. Prefects," she glanced at those who fit the bill, her eyes lingering for a moment on Carcer on the sidelines, "I'm counting on you to keep this plan in place. As for the people not in this room, we need to protect them. We can't let the muggle borns or even half bloods go anywhere alone if we can help it. I know that's a lot for roughly twenty kids to handle. Be thinking of ideas as to how we can do this efficiently."
"I know that some of you guys want to take offensive action. I know I do. But we can't have a good offense if our defense is faulty. We have to prevent this stuff from happening before we can stop it completely. We have no idea who it is, so the best we can do now is watch, research and protect those we feel may be in danger. This meeting is adjourned."
Adjourned. Oh dear, she needed to go run a mile after this...
(FIN)
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