Who Did What? PV Dan, Thora, Saskia Abandoned

Permission granted to godmode @Saskia Nicholson

Thora was dreaming. No, she wished she was dreaming. The ballroom behind her was in ruins, its tables overturned, windows broken, and dance floor singed black. There were two unnaturally large unmoving things in the center of everything and blood everywhere. And that wasn't even to mention the students limping as fast as they could away from the cursed place, away from the trauma. They'd all been pretty much left alone to the battle, as nearly all of the professors had long left the room. Thora thought it was pretty safe to say that everyone had barely survived the Masquerade Ball.

The corridors, which seemed longer and emptier than they ever had, was the last place the small girl would've expected to be at any point of the night. All of the student's should've been packed into the hospital wing, for Merlin's sake. First practically locked in with fire and decidedly inhuman things, the students'--well, Thora's first thought--was one of survival. Then came the stabbing, and the possessed boy, and put simply, everything somehow got worse. As for heroes of the night, there were many, without whom they no doubt would've all been kidnapped or killed. Despite her tendency for modesty, the Slytherin would say that she played a slightly heroic role. But now wasn't the place to reflect. There was no time to reflect.

Anyone who knew Thora well enough to see her true character would know that she was a coward. Practical, loyal, and smart, yes, but the type who would never even consider running headlong into danger. Ironically, she was doing just that. Despite everything she had to keep track of, she didn't miss Dan--her Quidditch Captain--being practically dragged out of the room by some masked adult (she should've known that masks and therefore hidden identities would be a problem). Something was going on, and Thora, despite her instincts urging her to just escape from the chaos, had followed.

She couldn't stop now. Trying to keep her arm steady enough for Saskia to use to support herself, Thora quickened her pace just a little bit. "Still okay?" she asked. They couldn't exactly risk taking another tumble. As the two girls neared the doorway to the lavatory, she was relieved to be met by a scene of Dan and another boy talking in a decently normal manner, rather than a fight between man and boy.

But it was the boys' words that caught her attention. Something about Headmaster Plott killing half-giants. Confusion whirling around the ruins of her brain like a tornado, Thora nearly jerked to a stop. Wasn't Plott the Ilvermorny headmaster? The visitor? "Dan!" she finally called out, desperate for answers. "That was Plott?" Though in her mind, Thora was referring to the masked person who had taken Dan out of the ballroom, she didn't even realise that she couldn't exactly be understood, or that she sounded terribly ignorant.

Yes, she'd heard what Dan and the other boy had been talking about, and she knew they were talking about the huge things--half-giants, apparently--but her brain was slow. Thora'd seen too much in the span of hours, done too much, and her mind couldn't catch up with reality yet. And besides, Saskia needed the hospital wing. Thora needed to keep her promises. Hopefully, this would go fast. She just needed answers.

@Andrew Vance || @Dan Palmer || @Thora Larkston

The pain was starting to dull. What used to be a sharp pain in the head was just a massive headache. It was annoying, and she could still feel a ringing in her ears, but at least it didn't feel like a drill directly jammed into her skull. If anything, it was like someone was constantly applying pressure to her head. That was really the only positive thing Saskia could think of at this moment. Even then, it probably didn't mean she was getting better. Maybe she was just getting used to the pain. Like how she had to endure a bludger hit in a Quidditch game. And like a bludger injury, this headache probably wasn't going to go away on its own too. It would have been nice if it did, though.

But it was her stubbornness that led her in the corridors, trying to find Dan, along with Thora. A rational person would have headed straight to the Hospital Wing. In fact, that was probably one of the first few things she thought about after she took a plummet on the concrete floor. But there was also Dan. He may have been a part of a murder scene for whatever reason, but who knew what would have happened to him while he was being dragged out of the ballroom? Amidst the havoc that were the giants, the fire, and the crazy kid, what else would be out there? And so, despite the pain, she found herself wanting to help out. Whatever this new threat was, they weren't going to get away with it.

Thora's voice was what jolted her back to life. The aching still made it hard to think straight, but she had to try to say something to reassure her. Something that would let her know that carrying her around like an heavy sack of bricks wasn't for nothing. "Yeah. I'm fine." To someone else, she was definitely not fine. But she was still standing, was she? She may have needed the support of someone else to keep standing, but that was enough, wasn't it? She could still think. She could still talk, however limited she could talk. She could still breathe. That was all she needed right now.

Then they came at a stop. To be precise, somewhere near the girl's lavatory. Weird. Why were they stopping there? But then she understood once she looked over to where Dan was. He was lying down, near the entrance of the lavatory, along with another boy who she couldn't recognize. She was positive it was someone she didn't know, although there might have been a possibility she saw him somewhere before. Not that she could afford to think at the moment.

Voices. There were voices. All in scatters. Dan and the boy were talking about something. She couldn't piece them all together. That damn ringing made it hard for her to concentrate. But she could hear some key words. Headmaster Plott. The American Headmaster of Ilvermorny. Then half-giants. Killing. She wished she could kick herself for not being able to think straight. Or at least kick the migraine away. It sounded important, and she wanted to help. That was why she was here in the first place. But she had to face the truth. She really was a burden. She couldn't help. She could only bring people down. She brought Thora down and she was about to bring Dan and the other boy down. But it was too late for her to turn back. She had to deal with the situation at hand. At least Thora could have been more useful than she was right now.

Then the boy looked over at her, then at Thora. Probably asking if she was okay. He knew Saskia wasn't lucid enough to answer herself. "I-" She tried to answer for herself, but she stopped. She couldn't say she was fine. Not when it was so obvious that she wasn't. The look of concern on the boy's face was enough for her to know that whatever this was, they weren't going to ignore it. False reassurances wouldn't cut it for anyone. "I'll be fine." She would be fine, right? This pain will come to pass. Somehow.

She grimaced and it wasn't just from the pain. The boy assisted Thora in guiding her somewhere. Probably the Hospital Wing. She felt even weaker than before. They had one more thing to worry about when they should have been worried about Dan. About what Plott might have been planning. Or even if it was Plott who was behind it. She couldn't even tell what to believe anymore. But now they had to worry about her. They had to focus on her and made sure she was alright. Just one stupid girl who made a mistake. A girl who was foolish enough to think that she could help.

"Thanks," was all she could mumble and she stared towards the ground.

But there was one more thing that she was wondering. She only heard about Headmaster Plott. If what they were saying about Plott was true, then that would mean he was the tall masked figure at the ball. Maybe it was her state of delirium. Maybe she didn't make sense. But if she was right... "Where's Professor Lear? Shouldn't he have... Been there too?"