The Lark and the Nightingale PV Thora Abandoned

Interacting with @Thora Larkston

The suggestion of discretion sent a sudden shiver of dread down Evelynn's spine. Despite the fact that Thora had already done so, gray eyes darted reflexively first down one length of the hall, and then the other. How could she have been so stupid? The students' names had spilled from her lips so effortlessly, not a thought given to who else may overhear them. Sure, the halls looked vacant in their immediate vicinity, but the lioness knew first-hand how well a conversation could carry down barren stone hallways. As she nodded soberly, following the snake into the interior of the nearby classroom, she resolved to take better care in future.

"You will?!" All worry of being found out faded in an instant as Thora spoke up again.

The enthusiasm with which she agreed, as though rejection weren't even an option, brought a smile to Evelynn's lips. Relief flooded through her. It wasn't as though she had been particularly worried about finding someone to take on this task, after all she had yet to even meet with whoever might attend the first meeting, but it certainly good to have enlisted aid in an area where she could not venture. And so quickly, too!

"Yes!" She replied, almost as quickly as Thora had initially. "Talking to Marion, that is. It would actually be a huge help. I'd try talking to her, but from what I've heard, she and the others have been keeping to themselves. And…obviously I can't get into the Slytherin dorm areas, so wouldn't be able to go looking for her myself.

"And I mean... if you'd like to — or have the time to — do research, that would be great too," she added, trying not to sound too hopeful. Pivoting on her heel, she backed up just enough to lean up against the classroom wall. "Really, as much as I think we need to be a bit careful with the whole thing given that there are obviously some questionable things going on, I think the more heads we can get together to hunt down leads, the better."

As hesitant as she was to branch out and entrust these discoveries with someone relatively unknown, Evelynn did believe everything she had said. The continued absence of the Headmaster, while unnoticed or inconsequential to some, rested poorly with the lioness. It many ways, she felt as though a guillotine rested suspended above the school, waiting for the moment when the rope would be cut and the blade would fall to sever what peace they currently knew. The ball had been the first sign — at least insofar as she was presently aware — but she doubted it would be the last. She was confident that the student body would need to band together if they (and more importantly, she) had any hope to connect the various pieces and understand the whole picture.

@Evelynn Decipio

This whole thing might prove to be a little harder than Thora had originally anticipated. Commitments weren't something the snek made easily, as she believed that choosing the right path required a clear head, calculation, and plenty of thought. And so, it wasn't like her to jump on board with something as intricate as the Potter trial without a simple sketch of detail or much knowledge about anything that might be related. But then again, this seemed like an issue important enough. She would have to give up precious time, and maybe even expand her comfort zone by leaps and bounds, but it would be worth it. All she had to do was to convince herself that it would be so.

Despite the small smile already pulling her mouth into an upwards curve (which she hoped looked confident), Thora couldn't help but wonder if she would ever be able to back out. Having other commitments was surely understandable, and perhaps business would appear a plausible excuse to anyone else. But again, Thora felt keenly that keeping promises was important. She knew that when she agreed to help, there would be people--Evelynn, at the very least--who would be counting on her to get the job done. And thus was her weakness. She was afraid to commit, yet refused to let anyone down when she did make one.

It was when the redhead spoke up about getting people together to hunt down leads that Thora's mind was completely made up, traces of doubt banished. "I'll do my best," Thora promised, green eyes meeting grey. It was all she could offer for now, but hopefully, it would do. Although she shared a dorm with Marion, literally tracking her down without appearing a stalker would no doubt be difficult. Awkwardness and plenty of defensiveness certainly wasn't out of the question, either. But it wasn't anything Thora couldn't handle, right? Merlin, she hoped so.

"And is there anything specific you want researched? Or examined?" Thora really didn't know much about what was involved in the whole situation. The only thing she could think of was half-giants. There'd been half-giants at the Masquerade Ball, which had ended up in the biggest disaster she'd ever seen in her short twelve-year life. Although they'd been bested by the children who, like Thora, had naively assumed the night to simply be one of fun, the whole fiasco had left scars, physical and mental. But was it simply just the students' bad luck that they'd been locked into a ballroom while horror after horror befell them? Thora didn't think so.

But whether it was related to the Potter trial or any aspect of the investigation, she'd no clue. Maybe now would be the time to find out. 

Interacting with @Thora Larkston

During Evelynn's rambled reply, she had noticed that the Slytherin girl had been smiling. Not a strained or smug smile, nor one as though it were forced upon a face to show a façade of something other than the true internal thoughts, but rather the image — insofar as the red head could discern, at least — of determination and perhaps even anticipation. O, that she could be so lucky to have stumbled upon someone as eager as she to investigate the situation as she! It was more than she could have hoped, really. The sentiment displayed itself apparently on her own features, her smile brightening along with Thora's and the tone of her voice taking on a little more animation.

"I don't think so, really," Evelynn replied, her smile faltering in favour of polite ponderance. Folding one arm to brace over her belly while the other arm anchored its elbow, fingers rose to drum against her chin as her gaze lifted thoughtfully towards the ceiling.

Anything specific she wanted researched...

She paused to consider what all had been looked into to date. Not much, really, when she got down to it. Much of her holidays had been spent — at the behest of her mother — catching up. Not that she'd minded, of course, given that she had been able to play through an excellent campaign arc that her mother had directed, as well as sit through several marathons and enjoy a number of winter rides. But she would have liked to have gotten just a little bit more research done. Of course, there was only so much that she could have looked into given a significant lack of magical resources. At the very least, she'd looked into the tapestries from a muggle perspective, attempting to discern the symbolism and potential meanings behind their various transformations.

On the other hand, there was still far too much to look into: the glove and mask, August VanCleaf, Mrs. Umbridge, Mr. Potter... she would have to profile them all. Then there was the matter of tracking down the familiar figure in the tapestries and identifying him. Not to mention all the little hints she had found in and amongst the Prophet articles: half-giants, squibs, sit-ins, break-ins, riots, but to name a few things...

"I think..." She began slowly, lips crimping along with the furrowing of her brow as she attempted to settle on something a little more tangible. "It would be good to look into the things mentioned in the Daily Prophets. There have been a lot of funny things going on. I don't know if you've heard, but even this month's latest article has announced that there has been another mass poisoning. Have you heard of the group of squibs that have been speaking out? They call themselves SCAR. They've got a few half-giants in their group — two or three, if I remember right — and have suggested they’ve got something or someone powerful backing them up. I just...have this gut feeling that they're somehow involved in all of this. So maybe looking into them?

"Especially..." She continued, pausing only long enough for her gaze to flicker, teeth grazing her lip. "Well, I didn't know about all the chaos at the Masquerade. There's also an article that talks about how there were part-giants present, and a boy that went... well... mental… and tried eating people. Maybe looking into what can cause that sort of reaction, and if we're going to be dealing with half-giants, perhaps seeing if they have any particular strengths or weaknesses so that we can be better prepared if there's a repeat incident..."

"But, really, anything you happen to notice and be interested in looking further into would be helpful, I think," she continued, a blush creeping up her neck with the realization that she had been speaking for quite a bit on this little train of thought, and perhaps with just a little bit too much enthusiasm. There was just so much. It was incredibly difficult for her not to get at least a little overzealous when it came to the enigma that was Hogwarts and the plots that seemed to prevail within and without. "And I think whatever can be found out from Davenport could be very enlightening. What exactly it was that she saw that night, who it was that turned in Mr. Potter, how they turned him in and to whom, whether they think he's guilty and why... that sort of thing."

"And then maybe we could meet up again sometime to go through it all?" she concluded hopefully.

@Evelynn Decipio

There certainly had been a lot of funny things going on. After the Masquerade, Thora had thought she'd been relatively caught up, somewhat understanding everything going on, but as Evelynn continued on, it was clear that she had barely scratched the surface. Although all the points brought up seemed to somewhat ring a bell, even if she hadn't cared enough to delve further into it, she felt almost ashamed at her lack of knowledge. Well, at least she wasn't completely clueless.

Though she didn't exactly care for keeping on top of the news, Muggle or wizarding, she'd skimmed each issue of the Daily Prophet enough to have retained the gist of the articles. She knew about some sort of poisoning, but not the extent of it. She knew that there was a group called SCAR, but not who was in it. A lock of hair was brushed behind an ear as Thora continued to listen, pushing away the embarrassment of not knowing.

But the Masquerade was something about which she could certainly offer much detail. Green eyes widened ever so slightly as Evelynn pushed on, outlining what could be investigated. It was a lot of information to take in, but she'd have to remember somehow. "That sounds good," Thora piped up. "I do think Marion will definitely be useful. And sure, I can send an owl over when I have information, or vice versa. Anything works really," When. When she had information. She knew it wouldn't be easy at all, first to find the third year, and then to get information out of her, but Thora was a girl of honor. She would do as she had promised.

There was one more thing, though. One event she'd tried to forget for too long, and what was, at its most basic level, just another of Hogwarts' infamously disastrous events. Thora hadn't thought about how it related to the Potter investigation at the time, but as things revealed themselves, she'd began making connections. What exactly the crazed boy had to do with everything, though, as with the other happenings, she had yet to figure out.

"One more thing--I was actually at the Masquerade. I don't know if I have the exact details you want, but--I was--I mean I saw it all." Evelynn probably was already aware of what had been a part of the ball, thanks to the endless circulation of tales and words about the event. Thora didn't have much more to offer, but whatever there was left, she was finally more than willing to talk about after months of attempting to avoid the subject. "So if you have anything you want to know… I can try to help…"

Interacting with @Thora Larkston

For the briefest of moments, Evelynn had felt a flash of concern. During what had quickly become a stint of borderline rambling — honestly, she could probably talk all day about the news articles and events and trying to make sense of it all — Larkston had adopted a look of near apprehension. As though she were suddenly having second thoughts about it all and regretting the question that had opened the Pandora's Box that was the young cub's treasure trove of curiosities.

Thankfully, and with no small wave of relief, that look had quickly passed to be replaced with something more akin to collected determination. And at her reply and agreement to send word by owl whenever she had information to share, Evelynn smiled. This was excellent. Her heart even hammered with the mounting excitement of having found someone else who shared at least some measure of her insatiable curiosity, and if she could prove helpful in trying to track down more pieces to this puzzle, the better.

"Yes?—Ooh.." Evelynn's pleasant interest quickly turned into ravenous intrigue as the snake shared that extra little detail. She had actually been there. At the Masquerade. She had a first-hand account of the events. The Gryffindor tried not to look too eager about it, both because she didn't want to seem pitifully hungry to know more, but also because she wasn't sure how sharing the memory might affect the other girl. Still... she desperately wanted to know. So much so that she actually began to salivate at the offer to rectify her lapse in knowledge.

"Honestly..." She had to be careful, think this through. "Anything would help. My mother always said that it was the details that make up the bigger picture. One small seemingly insignificant little thing could be the very thing needed to connect one event to another. But..." She hesitated slightly, chewing lightly on her lip as she fell into momentary thought.

"I wasn't there... and I don't know exactly what happened. But I do know that it was a pretty awful situation. More than awful," she continued, her tone sober. "I wouldn't want you to have to relive more than you can handle. Maybe... maybe writing it out in an owl might be helpful though? Sort of like journaling. It could also help to work through what happened? Not that you necessarily need to—" she stammered hastily, not wanting to sound patronizing or presumptive. "—but maybe that would be easier?"