Rumour Hunting PV Colin McCoire Closed

A low whistling sound softly reverberated along the dark and damp stonework of the dungeon walls. At first indistinct to anyone not right next to the source. As the sound neared, however, it resolved into a tune. Nothing fancy or complex, just an old tune that wouldn't be recognised by most. Evocative of streams and gay woodlands more than dark places and evil times, it seemed both strangely out of place and curiously at home down here in the dungeons.

The music neared. If one had the ears to hear soft sounds, one might just be able to hear the soft footfalls of bare feet on cold stone slabs, might barely catch the soft whisking sound of a battered old green kilt as its owner stalked his domain.

The music stopped suddenly.

All was still and silent.

Colin sniffed delicately at the tranquil air, his lips curled back slightly. He smirked. Someone's been down here! he thought. A voice called out, softly, into the chill air as his footfalls carried on. "I know ye're down here!" he said in a sing-song cadence. "Are ye lost, ickle firstie?" he asked, looking from side to side, searching for the intruder.

He whistled a bit more.

"Are ye one of the secret people, perhaps? A Veela maybe? Or perhaps a wolfy?" Colin chuckled. He knew he was nearing the source of the strange scent. "Or, might you be one of the Children in the Walls? Have you found your way out? What secrets are you hiding down here?" He took a few more steps.

Colin's voice lowered in pitch, almost menacing. "Or have ye come down here to steal from my wee workshop? It's not far from here." The boy turned to his left. Behind him there was a nice cosy little cranny, just right for two to sit. Colin sniffed again. Or perhaps one with a stack of parchments? Softly, his feet carried him over towards the opposite wall. There was a niche set into the stone. Whatever was there in years past was long gone. But it was now occupied by a few interesting odds and ends. A couple of magical candles, a little crucifix and a picture of twin boys, probably in their first year. The photograph had been folded many times, but the figures in it ruffled each other's hair as boisterously as ever!

Colin reached out to touch the candles. They lit up, casting a faint ruddy glow about.

Colin turned to face the darkened cranny.

"I know ye're there! Reveal yerself!"

@Emily Shephard

September 5th 2024
An Encounter with The Wild Card Himself - @Colin McCoire
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
OOC Notes:

Emily had returned to her little study corner after a five minute break, only to already be swiftly frustrated by the overwhelming presence of the stacks of paper at her feet and knees. Any more and she would be swimming in a pool of old stories and notes on centuries worth of reasons why magical creatures needed to be purged. It was all quite upsetting really. There was so much writing beneath her that her eyes were starting to cross, the lines of words blurring before her. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, the sound from her lips on the border of defeat. She was four days from turning 13 and already life was becoming crushing for the Hufflepuff. At the same time, were there many people who could claim that they were investigating a weirdo in a freaky-deaky forest and try to help find other clues for a friend so he could track down his missing brother and try to bring magical beings and humanity together as one despite the obvious tensions and try to be a saint in general?

Take a guess.

Emily whined, shaking herself out. "Baby steps, Em... One thing at a time."

She went to her book, opening up at a bookmarked page entitled, "The Fundamentals of Veelas." Okay. Fair enough. She'd start with that. A bit of light reading tended to calm her down after all, regardless of how wacky or wonderful the topic.

Of course the second she would try to settle down and accrue some knowledge she immediately picked up on the notion that she wasn't alone, when she heard whistling travel up the hollow corridors, far from where she was cooped up in her hidey hole. Putting the book down she sat and waited, the sounds echoing up the chamber increasing in volume.

She stood up suddenly and blew out the light from her wand, having not anticipated company. A thick accented voice sung down the halls demanding to know the identity of the living soul that had been occupying the otherwise ethereal dungeons.

She bunched up her research and hid away deeper into the wall. The voice continued to get louder the closer it got, as did their interrogating tone. The more they goaded on the more intimidated Emily got. She was getting the impression she was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, which wouldn't be the first time as last year would tell you.

She saw the sudden illumination of orange flickers brighten up the corridor inches away from where she was hiding. Their footsteps were uncomfortably loud now and before long they were right outside. Emily's features scrunched up, foreseeing either an awkward meeting or a shaky confrontation. If there was anything to go by the stranger's boisterous attitude, it would probably be a mix of both.

She was cornered. Which only meant one thing to do.

She peeked round the corner before stepping over the out of the crevice, her small brown ponytail falling down her shoulder as her hazel-brown eyes looked up to meet the strong emerald eyes of a boy a bit taller than her. She quickly glanced over his messy platinum blonde hair and was just about able to make out a scar over his eye under the dusky light. In her timid disposition she managed a friendly albeit nervous smile.

"Hi..." She squeaked softly. "I think... You've been looking for me..."

_{Word Count: 638}

For the Know-How (Le Plot )
@Scout Fu-Hai - @AngelFyre McCubbin - @Simon Kincaid - @Danielle Alden - @Ophelia Northwell - @Ava Winchect - @Ruby Night - @Renelle Dalton

Stats: Stamina: 7|Evasion: 6|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 8|Arcane Power: 7|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace

Colin waited. Contrary to popular opinion and speculation about his personality, he could be very patient. Especially when stalking or tracking someone. He cocked his head slightly. Someone was clearly breathing. Someone besides himself, that is! The low glow of the candles didn't help much, but they did identify the edges of the little nook on the opposite wall. Whoever was in there was clearly here for a reason. And the proximity of the miscreant to Colin's own little work space made him rather suspicious. Not many people came this far into the dungeons!

At last a soft little voice squeaked in the darkness!

It greeted him with a very good impression of trying to act nonchalant. It was a girl's voice. While the voice didn't sound familiar, it was a voice he had heard before. While perhaps not a safe voice, as he recollected, it was not a particularly threatening one either.

"Indeed?" he queried the timid response to his command. "I've been looking --- for you?" Colin wondered about her turn of phrase. He hadn't, in point of fact, been actively looking for anyone. Though, upon realising that someone was lurking about in his dungeon, perhaps the voice had a valid point. "Perhapsss..." his own voice trailed off.

The voice had been accompanied by a small dark shape. A shadow in the deep darkness. It did not cause Colin any fright. It didn't smell evil. In fact, it smelled rather familiar. Like hot chocolate and baked goods. Pancakes and cosiness. In other words, the figure smelled of --- "Hufflepuff! I'd know that scent anywhere!" Colin said excitedly. More softly, he said: "Not my Fyre Angel, though... We've never met down here..."

Colin whuffed in the darkness, like a dog clearing its sensitive nose. "Lumos!" Colin said forcefully. As the end of wand lit up, a circular area around him lit up, revealing at last who it was who had been hiding down here in the dark. "Hey! I remember you! Ye're the girl with the stack of books and all the parchments! What are you doing down here in my dungeon?" Colin demanded. It was indeed Emily Shephard! A Hufflepuff second year. He looked up and down the dank corridor. Then tried to peek around Emily's head. "Is yer sus red haired friend with you down here? What are you two planning anyway?"

@Emily Shephard

September 5th 2024
It's Him Again! - @Colin McCoire
Mentioning @Ava Winchect and @Scout Fu-Hai
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
OOC Notes:

Emily knew that voice all too well. The one that was synonymous with the most rash and outrageously wild individual that Hogwarts has probably ever seen before. Looking up at the tall and untamed boy in front of her as she revealed herself, her eyes widened and a smile curled across her mouth. She let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding upon seeing his figure.

Colin McCoire. Of course! She thought she recognised that Scottish flare from somewhere. It was hardly going to be anyone else. It was hard to try and find a match for Colin and his identifiable charm, save for his twin brother who was surprisingly not with him this time. Emily couldn't imagine anyone capable of keeping up with Colin, let alone herself. She was doubtlessly quiet and slow compared to Colin's rambunctious personality.

She squinted at the light from Colin's wand as she was met with a mild interrogation. "Hey! I remember you! Ye're the girl with the stack of books and all the parchments! What are you doing down here in my dungeon?"

"Heh, yeah... It's me. Hi...!" She waved a little to defuse the unwarranted tension in the air. "Hey... Your dungeon?" It was then that she scratched the side of her neck shyly. How the hell does she keep managing to wander into places belonging to someone else? Lord only knows but she sure had a knack for unknowingly stumbling into other people's territory.

She scanned the dank and dusty dungeon. "You spend time down here? Hm... I never would've pictured you to wander about in a space like this..." Colin always struck her as the bright, outdoorsy kind of fella, as any signs from the "Book-Collision Incident" and their time together in the Forest with Ava and the gang had given her. To see him in the Underworld of Hogwarts felt a bit out of place to her.

It was at the same time Colin was looking about himself and behind Emily. "Is yer sus red haired friend with you down here? What are you two planning anyway?"

Emily blinked, tilting her head sideways. "You mean Scout? We're not planning anything. And she's not here... In fact she doesn't even know I'm down here. No one does. Well, apart from you that is." She stepped further out of her kink in the wall, glancing about the dungeons herself. "I've never been down here before. It's nice and quiet, if only a little spooky." She chuckled thoughtfully. "But I like it...! It's not a bad hidey hole for thinking. Besides, the dark never really scared me." She smiled reassuringly.

Emily was tall, but Colin was taller. If he had looked behind Emily's being he would've most likely seen the array of papers behind her heels, which she gave a backward glance towards. She swallowed. Something told her "homework" wasn't going to be as persuasive an answer if he were to ask about it. She gently brushed a sheet behind her with the back of her shoe to keep all the papers together. This was going to be fun to explain.

_{Word Count: 562}

Stats: Stamina: 7|Evasion: 6|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 8|Arcane Power: 7|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace

Colin smirked. The wee badger was smiling before she challenged his claim to this place. "Aye, my dungeon! Practically no one comes down here." Colin looked up and down the corridor, before lowering his voice. "Sometimes, late at night, you can see --- shadows --- creeping through the darkness. I've even met the Liche King down here in battle on occasion." He nodded knowingly, then drew a deep breath. He certainly wasn't going to let this jolly little badger go without some kind explanation. "So. What are you doing down here, eh?"

At least Emily revealed the name of her totally sus red haired friend. He paced back and forth as she spilled the tea. He nodded thoughtfully as she explained. Not planning anything? Unlikely! No one knows she's here? Colin narrowed his eyes. That likely checked out. You didn't just blurt out over dinner, hey! I'm going down into the dungeons later to try and brew a highly dangerous and suspicious potion, want to join?

"Hmm." Colin ended up leaning against the cool stone of a door frame. She continued on about this being her first time down here. He carefully edged his fingers towards the handle, checking to make sure the door was still locked and untampered with by a potential snoop. He hoped she didn't notice. One just doesn't reveal one's secret study and workshop on a chance encounter after all!

"It is indeed spooky down here!" Colin smirked again. "Did you know? There are children living down here? Most kids don't believe it. But it's true! Kids disappear from this school all the time! I've even got a list of the friends I've lost! Professors never say anything. You never get letters or anything." Colin's green eyes glinted in the wand light. Shadows played over his features, adding to the spookiness! He leaned in close to Emily's face. "Sometimes you can hear them groaning in the walls! And in some places down here, the damp on the stones?" Colin tenderly touched the corner of one eye. "Salt. Just like a little kid's tears."

Colin gave her a slightly teasing smile as he straightened up. Satisfied that she hadn't tampered with the door to his study, he still waited for her to explain her presence. He sniffed at the cool air. "So! I can smell parchment and books all over you! What's really going on here?"

@Emily Shephard

September 5th 2024
Some Very Familiar Ghost Stories with @Colin McCoire
Mentioning: @AngelFyre McCubbin and @Evelynn Decipio
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
OOC Notes:

There was a splash of genuine intrigue that was written on Colin's face when Emily answered him, dare she might believe that she surprised him with her explanation. Though the inevitable question she was dreading finally came from his mouth; "So, what are you doing down here, eh?"

She swallowed. "W-Well..." Her shy stuttering had Colin lean down and close to her face, their noses inches away from touching each other. Emily's eyes repetitively darted between him and every direction around her while his focus was a straight beeline to her features, his own twisting into blends of curiosity and suspicion, almost as if he was judging her like a piece of meat.

Emily shrunk and swallowed again when Colin's expression flipped into a teasing one and monologued about the strange happenings in the dungeon, pacing around her like a mad ringmaster. As dark and ominous as it was really was, Colin's theatrical ghost story-telling only slightly dampened the effect he was going for, eliciting a tiny wayward smirk from Emily as he kept up the mischievous rambling. The amusement didn't last for long though when he sniffed about her position.

"So! I can smell parchment and books all over you! What's really going on here?"

Yep. He noticed. Yet with the talk of ghosties and ghoulies amok in the castle, the whole situation actually made Emily feel a little more prepared when he asked her. Nevertheless she bit the inside of her mouth and picked at the skin around her nail sheepishly.

"Don't think that this is weird or anything, okay...?" She stepped aside to let him get a good look at the stash of papers, documents, scribbles, books and notes strewn across the cold floor. When enough time had passed she searched through them and lifted up several pages brimming with handwriting.

"You talk about how kids go missing without a trace and teachers not batting an eyelid at every occurrence... Well, I've been looking into them," she began. "And with some of these incidences, I find it amazing how there is a shadow, let alone a teardrop left of a remnant of a victim. With some of these disappearances, I'm surprised a soul still lingers enough to howl."

She flicked through more pages. "And it's not just missing kids... It's attacks. Mysterious ones. Violent ones. Students turning on each other... School events being hijaxed by malevolent beings..." She was shaking her head, still not quite believing that Hogwarts had such a tainted reputation in secret, yet the evidence in both her hands and at her feet went beyond outweighing her beliefs.

"Miss Evelynn... From Gryffindor... She spoke of awful things happening in this school. Details of injuries and insufficient aid to the students affected by these deathly happenings. Remembering that meeting last year always made Emily shiver. Today was no different as Evelynn's weighted words rung between her ears once more like she had been rehearsing it since then.

"And even AF... I mean, AngelFyre... Even she revealed to have carried a painful memory from a ball a couple years back now."

Emily had the right page in her hand, looking down at it uneasily. "She talked about a hag doll that upturned the event. Students went to take it down but ended up getting hurt. Especially one student in particular..." Emily clutched the paper tight that it began to crease. "AngelFyre said her best friend's cousin was preyed upon and got severely hurt..."

She slowly looked back up at Colin with serious but sympathetic eyes. "Your cousin..."

Her words died in her mouth as she looked away nervously. She just about managed to recollect her courage to finish her thought. "... Attacked by the kind of creatures that I want to make allies with. Better yet... Want to be friends with... And bring back peace to the people who deserve it. Human and... Half-human alike."

_{Word Count: 732}

For the Know-How (Le Plot )
@Scout Fu-Hai - @AngelFyre McCubbin - @Simon Kincaid - @Danielle Alden - @Ophelia Northwell - @Haime Yoon - @Ruby Night - @Renelle Dalton - @Ava Winchect - @Eugenia Karageorgiadi

Stats: Stamina: 7|Evasion: 6|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 8|Arcane Power: 7|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace

Don't think this is weird... Yeah, this is totally going to be an unsus explanation! No worries here! Nothing to see! At least the girl let him look inside the little nook. Satisfied that she wasn't hiding bodies in there and that nothing was obviously out of line, he nodded curtly. She brought out several sheaves of parchment, all scattered with various notations. Finally, they were getting down to the real explanation.

That was something Colin wasn't expecting!

It was true. The teachers didn't seem to notice when kids went missing. Colin had been keeping a list. Not one of those kids was ever mentioned in class after they'd gone. And here was another kid who actually seemed like she understood. Colin wondered if he'd been a bit harsh on her at first. "Hm," he began. "You've actually been looking into the disappearances!? And what have you found?"

"With some of these incidences," she began, launching into the heart of the matter; "I find it amazing how there is a shadow, let alone a teardrop left of a remnant of a victim. With some of these disappearances, I'm surprised a soul still lingers enough to howl."

Colin nodded. "It's a wonder indeed. Yet, you can hear them down here, sometimes. I reckon there must still be some Old Magic down here. Something that sucks the missing kids in and won't let them go!"

"And it's not just missing kids... It's attacks. Mysterious ones." Colin nodded at this. Hadn't he lived through a couple himself! "Violent ones. Students turning on each other... School events being hijaxed by malevolent beings..."

"Hijaxed?" Colin wasn't quite sure what that word meant, but he reckoned it wasn't good! "Aye. Students do turn on one another from time to time." He lowered his voice. "It's not like we've never had killers, even in our own House! Couple years ago... Tsk. That was an almost, was that. I've heard kids have actually died here too. And you're not wrong about malevolent beings too! Hag dolls."

Colin shook his head slowly. He never did find out why there was a hag doll at the ball where Lily nearly died, but he did wonder what this Hufflepuff had uncovered! Even the girl before him was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Miss Evelynn... From Gryffindor... She spoke of awful things happening in this school. Details of injuries and insufficient aid to the students affected by these deathly happenings." Colin nodded slowly.

"Well, she's not wrong there!" Colin noted that Emily had one page in particular gripped tightly in her hand. "I mean..."

Emily dropped another name.

AngelFyre.

Fyre Angel? Colin shouldn't have been surprised, as they were both Hufflepuffs. Still, he was surprised to hear his best friend's name so casually introduced into the conversation. She was there after all. Well, a whole bunch of kids were! Lily had been attacked and, well, Colin stepped up along with the others.

"AngelFyre said her best friend's cousin was preyed upon and got severely hurt..." Clearly this Emily had done her homework. Colin's gaze couldn't help but soften. The younger badger seemed genuine in her concern. "Your cousin..."

Colin nodded. What was she up to, really?

"... Attacked by the kind of creatures that I want to make allies with. Better yet... Want to be friends with... And bring back peace to the people who deserve it. Human and... Half-human alike."

Colin blinked.

"I--- What!?" he said at last. The girl's words dawned on him. She wants to make friends? "You want to --- make friends? With actual monsters? Em--- Emmi, I --- Do you think that's a wise idea? They --- don't want to be friends. That hag doll only wanted to suck out Lily's life. You know? So it could replace her. Are you sure you didn't mean to say you want to utterly destroy them so that you can bring peace to people who deserve it?"

This was really a strange turn of events! Colin wasn't entirely sure what to make of the girl. Maybe she'd misunderstood Fyre's recounting of the tale?

@Emily Shephard | @AngelFyre McCubbin

September 5th 2024
Some Very Good Explaining with @Colin McCoire
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
OOC Notes:

Yep... Emily sort of expected an outburst like this. She had to since this was coming from one of several who've suffered extensively at the hands of Hogwarts's tragedies. Colin was part of a long line of people to have reacted in the same category of "What the hell??!" though weirdly enough, it didn't sound so venomous coming from his tongue. Maybe Emily was far too exposed to his merry side to really picture him in a deep, dark and brooding light, though that didn't mean she didn't take him seriously.

"Now just-- Hang on a minute...! I know what I said sounds strange... To be honest, I don't really know an awful lot about dark creatures as a whole... But if I could observe them, maybe I could learn more about their intentions. They must have originated from somewhere, right?"

Though it was clear Colin was none too thrilled with the idea, however she at least got him hooked on the whole missing students side of things. A big school yet the number of disappearances was scarily large.

"Surely with enough kids going missing, it'll have warranted someone to think of practical solutions to find them... Unless everyone just goes ahead and assumes they're dead already..." That was an awfully macabre thought that was quickly dispelled before Emily would upset herself. Colin is the last person, if not many, to see the Huffie cry. It would not be a very pleasing sight.

The two were at odds but for a very good reason. Colin had every right to shut down whatever speculation Emily could come up with if it was related to "befriending" creatures with a track record for harm. At the same time, Emily was only going about this the only way she knew how... Getting close to nature. It was just a thing Emily could do, and always did! It just so happened her inquisitive brain was the powercell for all the investigative activity she had been doing in the background.

If it weren't for the fact Emily was seeking knowledge beforehand, she would have started looking for these supposed "hag dolls" already.

In any case, Colin was expressing clear forbiddance of any and all interaction with them. Not that Emily would blame him.

"That hag doll only wanted to suck out Lily's life..."

"I know, I know! But there has to be a deeper reason than just mindless--"

Wait a minute.

Lily?

Emily repeated the name over and over in her head like a mantra. It sounded so familiar. Why did that name sound so familiar...? Then it hit Emily like a ton of bricks.

Of course.

"My word... Lily... I remember her. I met her once...!"

That was so long ago now... At least that's what it felt like. It was only last year that they met. It was such a short encounter that Emily almost forgot it even happened. The realisation of what would now be Lily McCoire's identity left Emily near speechless. "I can't believe I didn't piece it together sooner..."

Talk about a small world. And that was after thinking the castle was so big too. Emily frowned at the ground beneath her.

Her voice fell quiet and sorrowful. "Oh Lily..." She was such a nice girl too... Another punch in the gut as Emily reminded herself that evil doing never discriminates.

She shook her head as she tried to wrap it around too many things at once, as per usual.

"Why come here? What's so special about here? Why is it that creatures sneak in and try to... Well..." Even her hand movements couldn't finish for her, but Colin could most likely take the hint.

Threaten. Hurt. Kill. The list was ever growing at this point that Colin could just take his pick.

_{Word Count: 694}

For the Know-How (Le Plot )
@Scout Fu-Hai - @AngelFyre McCubbin - @Simon Kincaid - @Ophelia Northwell - @Ava Winchect - @Eugenia Karageorgiadi

Stats: Stamina: 7|Evasion: 6|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 8|Arcane Power: 7|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace