Crown of Zark! PV EMMI!!!

December 2025
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
@Colin McCoire

"There you are!" Emily had been waiting a little longer than usual for Tavra to deliver the fortnightly letters from "Auntie". Weather in Belfast must've been more miserable than usual if Tavra was running behind. The Huffie opened up her arm where she let her little owlie Tavra land, the latter unclamping a small collection of letters onto the windowsill before she took rest on Emily's forearm. Emily sifted through the letters. Mostly updates from "Auntie" and a few photos of her and Matthew. Lovely! And the best part?

"You managed not to nibble or tear the paper this time too!" She gave her owlie the proudest head scritches. "Well done, sweetpea!"

Because frankly, watching Tavra demolish everything like the little hoover she was, was getting beyond a joke. If anything, it was starting to become expensive, replacing everything from notebooks to bookmarks, to textbooks to clothes. Emily was convinced she wasn't even an owl, more like the Tasmanian Devil.

Emily packed up the letters and photos into the inside pocket of her uniform. Just as she and Tavra were about to leave, she heard a harsh bang from downstairs, the sound of which startled the little owlie, prompting her to headbutt Emily in the chest as she sought her cuddles.

"It's alright, pet," Emily soothed. "Probably the sound of someone dropping their books on the stairs or something."

But then it happened again. Louder with a "YEEP!" attached to the end. Something hard and thumpy... But also familiar.

Tavra took residence upon Emily's noggin as she began to descend the Owlery. The sudden bangs and bumps reverberated off the walls and echoed down the corridor. Hogwarts wasn't without it's peculiarities in every shape and form. Emily was apprehensive to discover what this new one might be.

She rounded the corner and stopped, standing dumbfounded as she watched... Whatever it was she was looking at.

A skinny lad with something stapled to his vision, banging off every surface he collided with. He could put bumper cars to shame with all the commotion. A few other students were mirroring Emily's puzzlement. A couple of them simply rolled their eyes while others dodged out of the way before the guy would topple over them from his lack of awareness.

Owl and Huffie jumped out of fright when he ran smack straight into some poor befuddled student. Watching the mysterious fool try and apologise wasn't really doing him much service. Emily couldn't help but feel sorry for him... As well as the student that was almost flattened in the process.

The blindfolded figure paused and soon made a courageous beeline towards Emily.

"EMMI!"

Emily recognised that accent anywhere and her face washed over with just as much concern as there was confusion.

"Colin?! What in Thra happened to you??"

HELP! A canna see, lassie!!"

"I can see that!"

Emily should've known that Colin would be the only one capable enough to get something like a... Uh...

"What are you wearing??"

She cringed when Colin bumped into a pillar as he stumbled towards her, though only making as far as the next one that was in his way.

With Tavra safely perched on her head, Emily made it to Colin. "Take that off you, for the love of--"

When Emily went to remove the bizarre artefact herself, it didn't budge. Not in the slightest. So that already ruled out all accusations of her telling Colin to do that himself. She tried again, attempting to pry it open at a latch she found within Colin's mop of hair. It stubbornly refused to open.

"I can't get it off!"

Colin shifting about the place wasn't helping either. Emily seized him by the arms, holding him in place in the hopes he'd sit a peace for a second.

"I don't want to use magic in case it backfires..." Emily would rather not deal with the slightest chance that Colin would be transfigured into an inanimate object and still have that thing welded to his face.

Tavra hopped off and landed on Emily's shoulder, sticking her beak into the inside of her cloak. Following the owl's gesture, she remembered she carried her knife.

"Oh! That might work...!"

Plucking the knife out of her pocket, she made sure Colin stayed out with another firm tug on his shoulder.

"I'm going to try and pry the latch with my knife, okay? Do not move! Unless you want a nasty scar to your head..."

She angled the knife towards the latch. She huffed when she couldn't reach and patted Colin to bend down a little. The blade snicked against the metal of the latch a few times before Emily was able to slide it between the fiddly bits. After a couple more tries, the thing snapped open and she pulled it open.

"I got it!"

_{Word Count: 804}

Stats: Stamina: 8 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 7 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane Power: 8 | Accuracy: 8
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace |Calming Presence

"A canna see lassie!" Colin reiterated, a little more desperately this time in answer to her question about what in Thra happened to him! He followed the sound of Emmi's voice asking him what he was wearing. "Well, lass, A'm wearin me kilt and shirt, and I'll have ye know I managed to keep them mostly rip free today!" Colin blinked. Well, he would have blunk if it weren't for this dratted thing strapped around his head! "Oh! I mean!"

Colin stuck his hands out towards where Emily should be. His fingers found something warm and feathery. Not Emily? A quick nip to his blindly questing fingers revealed the identity as none other than Tavra, Emmi's cute but protective owl! "Sorry lass! Didna know that was you, Tavs!" At last, his fingers found Emily's face. Yes! Twas her! "Emmi! I found ye! Only, A wis doon in the dungeons, right? And I found this really cool artifact down there --- some ancient magic no doubt!"

His fingers shifted to his own face. "This thing! Clearly tis the work of the Goblins of old Emmi! Maybe even the Crown of Zark itself!"

"Take that off you, for the love of--" Emily began. Colin could totally imagine the amused eye roll. Not at all unlike AngelFyre's. Must be a Hufflepuff thing, he thought.

"I tried Emmi! But it wadne budge! It's like a belt that only tightens! See?" CLICQ! CLICQ! "AAACK!!! It only gets tighter lass!"

Colin could feel Emily's fingers trying to pry the dratted thing off his face. "I can't get it off!" she cried. She tried again, but to no avail! Colin squirmed about as his girl pulled this way and that.

"I feel like a bit of taffy being pulled every which way!" Colin said with a laugh. Emily pushed him up against a pillar and down to the floor so that he wouldn't shift around so much.

"I don't want to use magic in case it backfires..." she began.

"Oh! That's okay lass! We've got spells to undo spells that were misspelled!" But Emily ignored him. Colin never would get why Muggleborns were always so hesitant to use the magic they were born with. After all, that's why they had spells and charms to begin with, so they didn't have to muck about with overly complicated Muggle things!

Emily's hands left Colin's head. He heard the faint rustle of Tav's feathers and the gentle sounds of Emmi rummaging around in her pockets. There was a good thing about wizards robes. They always had loads of pockets for keeping needful things in! "Oh! That might work...!" Emily didn't say what "that" was, but it didn't appear to be her wand.

"What shall work, Em?" Colin asked. " She didn't reply at first. She shoved his shoulders up against the pillar and tilted his head to the side. "What is it love?"

"I'm going to try and pry the latch with my knife, okay? Do not move! Unless you want a nasty scar to your head..."

Colin gasped and tried to back even further into the pillar! What is it with Muggleborns and knives!? Colin wondered. Not that knives were useless to wizards, but poking at people with them? "Emmi! What if ye poke me eyes out and all!?" She held his head firmly in place by his hair. He heard a faint scraping sound as the steel of the knife met the eldritch metal of the Goblin crown. "MEEP!" he squeaked.

Colin reached for his own wand. "Emmi! We've got a slicing charm!" The tip of the knife wiggled around, making sharp rasping sounds against the Crown of Zark! What if her hand slipped and plunged the blade into his ear or his eye!? She patted his head and he relaxed a bit. There was nothing for it, Colin thought. There was no use struggling against the inevitable. Colin trusted Emily. He trusted her with his life and his heart. Surely he must trust her with her knife and his eyes as well.

She muttered as she worked her knife around the clasp thing. The change was rapid. Where Colin had been a wreck moments before, now he sat patiently as his girl sorted everything out. Perhaps there was something to be said for Muggle methods after all, he thought. Still, he didn't think it would be terribly prudent to trust a Pureblood with this kind of Muggle manipulation. If their situations had been reversed, he was certain she'd trust him to use his wand to remove the strange artifact; so Colin could do no less than trust Emily!

And then with a smart snap, the buckle let go and the crown sprang open! "I got it!" Emily cried!

Colin grabbed the thing off his head and opened his eyes. They met Emily's beautiful hazel eyes. He smiled broadly, showing Emily all his fangs! Ignoring Tavra entirely, he threw his arms around Emily and gave her a grateful hug! "Ah, I could wake up every morning just to look into those eyes, Em!" he said softly. Once he released her from his embrace, he leaned back against the pillar.

"Thanks Emmi! I knew that if anyone could sort this mess out, twould be you lass!" He held the Crown of Zark up between them, exploring the curious artifact. "What do ye make of this, anyway? Surely it must be ancient magic, Em! Else, how could it grab on to me head and not let go?" He held the buckle close to his eyes, to get a better look. He sniffed at it. "It doesn't smell, ye know, normal? Tis not metal or leather or stone or rope or anything like that! It smells, and looks, kind of --- made by artifice? Artificial? Why would someone make this, and then put it down in the dungeons?"

Colin pondered the mystery, wondering what Emily would make of it. She was pretty wise when it came to things like this, after all!

@Emily Shephard

December 2025
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics
@Colin McCoire

"Colin- Hold still!"

It was like trying to catch a fish out of water. Colin was flipping and flopping about the place while Emily was trying to wrestle the contraption off his head. She chased him up and down the hall while her careful hands worked at the thing that she was certain must be suffocating the poor boy.

Emily caught snippets of Colin's babbling and understandably - in her defence, at least - raised a very suspicious eyebrow.

"Goblins? You were playing about with cursed goblin toys? Colin- That's- You're such a tool sometimes!"

He was this far from Winnie the Pooh with a pot of honey over his head. Oh wait...

"And who's this Zark fella? Another one of those Eaters of Death you told me about?"

Colin flapped at her to use magic to get the "crown" off of him. Emily shook her head so hard she made herself dizzy. "No! You can beg once, twice, forty times! I shall not use magic. I don't trust myself to point my wand so close to your head, my friend! Besides, the neat thing about us Muggleborns is our reliance on our hand skills to get out of tough situations-!"

When Emily finally twisted the head piece thingy free with her knife, it fell unceremoniously to the ground. But hey! At least Colin's handsome head was free!

"Phew..." Emily chuckled softly as she put her knife away. "You were spazzing out so much I was beginning to think you were going to suffocate to death...!"

She went to hug him in relief, only for Colin to beat her to it. He huggled her to the ground, his lean figure wrapping around her own like a scarf. Emily squeezed him in kind. He was such a brilliant specimen for snuggles!

Colin got back up and reclined on the pillar behind him, meeting Emily's eyes with the trademark sparkle in them, the one that sang infatuation. Emily's cheeks responded on cue with a scarlet hue at the sight of them. It was a familiar dance they had rehearsed hundreds of times by now but it was worth the giddy feeling that brewed in Emily's chest when they locked into each other's visage.

Emily's bapped Colin's arm playfully. "Next time, look and don't touch the weird Goblin toys!"

She came to Colin's side when he began examining the head piece. He had his nose all over it. Literally. The man loved using his nose.

"What do ye make of this, anyway? Surely it must be ancient magic, Em! Else, how could it grab on to me head and not let go?"

Emily took the buckle and investigated it herself, smoothing over its surface with her finger and tapping it with her nail. A damp ringing travelled across the surface.

"Hmm... It might be neither strictly fabric nor metallic. It could be a compound of different materials. Maybe a blend of copper and leather? It's hard to tell really... I'm not an expert on textiles or science so..."

She thumbed over it a second time. "However... I do feel certain that it's no evil contraption. Perhaps mischievous, but not malicious. Believe me..." She teased her hand where she once had the infamous black mark, smiling wryly. "-You'd know all about it if it was evil."

She handed it back to Colin. "How do you end up finding these bizarre relics, Colin? I understand Hogwarts is notorious for being an impromptu museum exhibit sometimes, but surely not everything you find has come from within the castle. Right?"

_{Word Count: 595}

Stats: Stamina: 8 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 7 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane Power: 8 | Accuracy: 8
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace |Calming Presence