Locking The Doors Main Story Closed

Friday, 19th June 2020, Dinner Time

It was shortly before dinner time. The Heads of House had finished their meeting moments earlier, arriving together at the Great Hall. Together, they stood behind the Professor table. Elaine was wearing the same as usual, dressed in dark robes with a high neck and long sleeves. They were a shade of red to represent her house. Caradoc went for a rather bright and easily recognised Hufflepuff sweater - for rather obvious reasons - with beige trousers and brown shoes. Hjørdis was in a long black sleeveless dress with a golden snake ornament on the back that draped on the floor even in her heels. Alaric was smartly dressed in his dark waistcoat and a matching pair of black trousers, with a blue shirt and his trademark bronze pocket watch showing.

Within a few moments, students would start to flood through the doors of the hall. Students were free to sit down and just wait.  The other professors should be there shortly after too. Normally, everyone would just eat and go. But today was a little different. The Heads of House had an important announcement to make. With the disappearance of Lear, they were forced to make the announcement together, as acting Headmasters and Headmistresses together. It had been a while since anyone had actually seen Lear, though people have claimed to have received letters from him. They had no choice but to address the school today. It was not Lear's disappearance that had prompted this. Even though they did not know where he was, they knew he was somewhere. If he was not, the wards would have disappeared.

Lear was somewhere. And he was alive. It was just a matter of finding him. Caradoc and Hjørdis had searched the dungeons, going deep within it. Though they had not found Lear, they came across the darkness that lurked within it. Hjørdis suspected he was deep within the undergrounds of the castle. There were many rooms that were hard to find or new secrets. There was more than what people knew. They had heard the rumours of the Chamber of Secrets or the former Philosopher's Stone Chambers but, as she found out recently, the dungeons were even deeper and greater than she could have imagined.

A few professors entered the great hall, followed shortly by one Lazarus Plott. It had been almost a full academic year and he was still here. The truth was, none of the Heads of Houses trusted him. Not even slightly. There was no trust between them.

Alaric pointed out the timing of his arrival and Lear's disappearance being far too closely matched. Lear disappeared and Plott stayed? No good, not at all. It was also a little odd that Plott had attended the masquerade ball on Halloween in a full suit of armour - Solomon Lear's signature outfit. But the armour was different. Elaine and Hjørdis had even heard the voice. They knew it was not Lear under the armour but rather Plott. Strange that the man seemed almost be impersonating the headmaster of Hogwarts before sticking around for so many months as though he wanted to replace him. Caradoc did not like how Plott seemed to be hovering around one of his Hufflepuffs. Like the papa badger that he was, Caradoc refused to let Plott near him.

The only reason Plott was still permitted to be here was because they could not remove him. The ministry had permitted him to stay and the only one who could fight that was the Headmaster. Without Lear present, they could not actively kick him out. The Department of Magical Education ruled that Plott, the Ilvermorny Headmaster, could not be removed for 'fear of damaging international relationships between the magical schools'. They went as far as to say that 'Hogwarts should be grateful that Headmaster Plott was willing to stay and help run the school', which was utterly ridiculous. However, since Ilvermorny had a deputy headmistress who had taken the role of acting headmistress for the US school, Plott was able to stay freely in the castle. He was only permitted to stay for the remainder of the term, however, which meant that his days were fast running out and the Heads were counting down the days till he left.

Lazarus Plott sat down on the far end of the Professor table, towards the Hufflepuff end, joining a few of the other professors. Shortly after, the students flooded through the great hall with their usual attitude, seating themselves down at their own house tables. The tables were set but there was no food yet. The four Head of Houses waited patiently till every student and professor was present.

Elaine was the first of them to speak. "Quiet, please." She did not have to raise her voice, simply spoke, her tone firm and deliberate. She wasn't one for many words, both inside and outside her classroom, and lacked the flair for giving big speeches or making grand announcements. The Gryffindor Head of House was a sombre witch, but maybe it was her austereness that was needed this evening, would help to make the students understand that the four of them were quite serious.

"As some of you have already noticed, Headmaster Lear is currently not in attendance at the castle." The Headmaster had been missing for over half a year's time by now, there was no sense in pretending that he was just hiding in some room, especially given the recent events including his office that had been broken into and vandalized. "He is temporarily unavailable due to pressing personal matters he has to take care of, but his absence has no negative effect on the quality of your education or the proceedings of your final exams. Come September, when you will be back at Hogwarts for your next term, we fully expect him to be with us again." It was a stretch; not an outward lie because they did indeed hope to find Solomon Lear and return him to his position during the summer, but still too close for comfort to Elaine. She didn't enjoy making a habit of lying to those in her care.

"In consideration of recent events, however, there will be some changes made to daily life at Hogwarts to guarantee the safety of all of you. I, therefore, ask you to pay close attention now."

Her gaze was intent, dark eyes scrutinizing all of the students, or at least it would have appeared that way. And if her eyes lingered the longest at the table that was filled with her lion cubs then it was surely only because they held a special place in her heart and not in any way because some of them had a penchant for enjoying getting into situations that held the possibility of being lethal to them.

Stepping forward, the head of Ravenclaw caught everyone's attention. "Effective immediately and from here on out. All Dhampir students are required to report to me every morning before breakfast and every evening before supper. You will be given a drink to satisfy cravings, and this will prevent you from being able to be race baited. This is a result of what happened at the Masquerade ball on Halloween. It has taken time to set up because of coordinating with the Ministry. There are no exceptions if you expect to remain at this school." Alaric spoke up, getting the Dhampir matter out of the way. They were race baited at the Halloween ball by other students. Perhaps it was ignorance, perhaps it was fear. But whatever it was, it was not acceptable. This change would help Dhampir students to regain control. It was a simple method but it was similar to how the Werewolves were given wolfsbane in line with the moon cycle, without fail, under supervision.

In the past few months, two of the houses had been attacked in their common room. It started with Slytherin. Their common room was overrun by spiders within moments, trapped and locked inside. The school was still recovering, when Hufflepuff became the next victim. The badger common room exploded, setting everything alight. Both incidents took place in the middle of the night. It could no longer be ignored. The other houses could be next or one of the previous victims could end up targeted again. There was absolutely no way of knowing. But either way, it was becoming more and more apparent that the school was not safe. Things had to change.

A group of moronic (in the Slytherin Head of House's opinion, anyway) students organised a secret ball after they explicitly said that the ball was cancelled for safety. And like sheep, other students blindly followed them into danger - which might be even more idiotic in her opinion. But, as expected, the secret ball went horribly gone. Just to make matters worse, a large group of students - mostly Ravenclaws - also ventured into the forbidden forest in the past few weeks. It was both reckless and terrifying.

Shortly before the students stupidly walked into the forbidden forest - which was clearly forbidden for a reason - three professors had been attacked in there by a hag. It was suspected that a hag coven was present but they had no idea where. Professors tried to keep the students out of the forest, for their safety, to keep them away from the hags. But obviously, students did not listen. It was at this point that they came to the realisation that they had to be told. Hjørdis sighed, this was why she hated working with children. There was a limit to what they could do when students ventured out on their own. But alas, they had no choice but to admit the truth. She had been one of the professors to push for it. Perhaps they deserved to know the truth, perhaps not. But they needed it. It was the only way to attempt to protect them.

Caradoc stepped forward, speaking up next. He had the most experience with the hags. He was one of the three that had been attacked. "One matter we must address, is the presence of hags around our school." Caradoc's face was devoid of all joy as he spoke about the crones of old. "Some time ago, we have discovered that a coven has taken up residence in the forbidden forest. We have enough reason to believe that they are behind several attacks on this school by now. The part-giants attacking our ball in October and the two attacks on the common rooms all show evidence of their involvement. We will be in contact with the ministry in order to deal with this issue. As we can not allow for these offences to continue." He cleared his throat. "The Forbidden Forest is dubbed forbidden, for a damn good reason!" He raised his voice for all to be clear. "Stay out of it, stay away from it. We are trying to protect you, but we can not protect against your own stupidity. Please listen to me, when I say that you need to stay inside."

The hags was news to some but it was certainly not a shock to everyone. "As such, we are cancelling summer boarding at Hogwarts," Hjørdis spoke up next with her usual blank expression and matter of fact tone, "I want you to listen to me very carefully when I say this..." She paused for a moment, looking around with her eyes narrowing into a glare, "This will not be a repeat of April. We cancelled the blossom ball for your safety and students who chose to ignore that now understand why we cancelled it. If you were not there, ask your peers if you need a reminder." She said pointedly. Students organised the event ignoring their instructions after it was formerly cancelled. This time, there will not be a repeat of that. No student would be permitted to stay in Hogwarts.

She saw a few Hufflepuffs - likely members of the Quidditch team - looking around with panic, about to throw up a fit. Her gaze silenced them, "For those participating in the International Quidditch Tournament between Wizarding Schools, we will be relocating to London temporarily. This will take place until the 20th of July. After which, you will be sent home. You will find full information about the event on the bulletin board located outside." She said, cancelling their plans of staying in Hogwarts over the summer. There were many that did not have a proper home to go to - or perhaps had one they did not want to go back to. However keeping them on the grounds when there was no need or guarantee of safety was foolish. In the interest of their own safety, they would have to return to their legal guardians. Hogwarts was first and foremost a school, in any case, not an orphanage.

Alaric would look out over the students with a somber expression upon the usual happy Head of House’s face. He did not like having to do things like this, but it was for the best of the students, and that was what they needed to do the most. Protect the students. He would wait silently while anyone else spoke. When it was his turn, he cleared his throat. “Ladies and Gentleman, please understand that we are trying to protect you at all costs, because of this there are going to be some new rules and guidelines. All Prefects and professors will be patrolling in at least groups of two. Curfew has now changed. All students will be expected to be in their common rooms by eight in the evening, and you are not permitted to leave them again until seven in the morning unless it is a state of an emergency. Unless patrolling, all Head of Houses will be accessible through their offices off of the common rooms. We also ask that students travel in groups if possible, for safety.”

He paused, looking over the students hoping this was sinking in, and if it wasn’t, it might now. Alaric’s voice became sterner than anyone in this school had ever heard it before. “If anyone of you is caught endangering the lives of your fellow students because you are refusing to follow the new rules, please note that you will be reviewed, your guardians owled, and expulsion will be on the table as a possible punishment.”

Time and time again, Hogwarts had been attacked. From the Slytherin Head of Houses's perspective, it was usually due to a student starting a fire in the middle of the ballroom or students breaking curfew. But things had changed. Things were getting worse, more coordinated and sadly, they were no longer because of a single child misbehaving. From the information that the team had gathered, the school was in danger. Every single day that passed where nothing happened, was a day of peace and quiet. It felt like they were pretty much just counting down the days till the next attack.

Hjørdis wanted to prepare for it, as much as they could. But there was a limit to what four people could do. They could not see everything, be everywhere, or fix it all without the cooperation of each and every being in the school.

"With that in mind," Hjørdis spoke up again, "We will be hiring two new staff members in the coming days. A Caretaker, who will assist with internal patrols as well as any necessary punishments and, a Grounds Keeper to assist with external patrols and ensure that none of you decide to wander into a clearly forbidden forest again." She avoided making a pointed glance at anyone.

She paused for a moment before looking over to her own house table. The Slytherins that decided it was appropriate to hold a party in the middle of the night, and ended up waking up several housemates who panicked thinking that they were under attack again. "Furthermore, if you're out of your dorms and making noise after ten pm, I expect it to be because there's been another attack. If we catch you after ten because you've decided to have yet another party, you will face the same consequences." She added, knowing full well that the Slytherins needed that lesson after their 'celebration' party that turned into chaos in the middle of the night.

Hjørdis placed her arms behind her back, looking over the room, "All of the changes explained today will continue into the new school year, for those returning. They will be in place until further notice." She added, making it clear that the new curfew, the patrolling rules, the off limited areas, the changes to the dhampirs' routines and so on will continue until they say otherwise. Students were advised to travel in groups, for their own safety. They were given these rules for their own safety and if they did not understand that, then there would be repercussions. In all honesty, Hjørdis thought it better to expel the students likely to get themselves killed than to actually allow that to happen. They would lack the essential education they required and miss out on that or have to relocate to another school but at least they would be alive. Expulsion was nicer than death.

His voice would now return to the normal tones that the students were used to. “Finally, I would ask that if you see something, you say something. None of us four care how trivial you think it might be. If you see or hear something that you think is wrong, you come to one of the professors or your Head of House as soon as possible. Thank you.”

In times like this, Hjørdis was genuinely not sure who to trust but she had to do whatever she could with whatever information she was given. Some students had willingly come forward, sharing things that they might know. Hopefully, Alaric's words would encourage them to share their information, no matter how trivial.

The Head of Hufflepuff stepped forward, hands folded behind his back. The man brought up the faintest of smiles. "Be safe children. Please heed our warnings. We are only trying to look out for you and your fellow students." Caradoc would swallow and sigh before he spoke again. There was a sadness to him, perhaps disappointment? With a slightly tilted head, the man's smile would widen but not grow into a grin. "How about some food after all that, ey?" He nodded to himself as if he needed to convince everyone of the fact. "Hang in there for these last few days. Enjoy your meals." Caradoc nodded once more before stepping back and walking off to find himself a seat.

Once Caradoc had finishing speaking, everyone else found themselves a seat too. With a snap of his fingers, the huge feast quickly started to appear and dinner started as usual on each of the five tables. Whilst they did want everyone to understand the severity of the situation, they also did not want to terrify people. However, the students deserved to know the truth and it was this truth that they hoped would keep them safe - or at least, prevent them from organising secret events, running into the forest, walking into dangerous situations without help...

For now, however, it was just time to eat and to forget about everything that went wrong. Spend some time with their friends before the new rules were implemented. Once they finished their meals, each house would be escorted back to their common room by their house prefects or professors, or the head of house.

If they had any questions or wanted someone to talk to, it was best to go to their head of house in private. As Alaric said, they would be present in their office and available for any students who wished to talk to them.

OOC Guidelines for this thread:
- This thread is open to all. Your character will be present for the whole speech as the speech started after everyone was present.
- Those starting Hogwarts in September (i.e. deferring their graduation) will not be present here. Only post here if you have been at Hogwarts in this past academic year.
- Please limit your interactions with those on your house table only, as you will be seated throughout.
- Feel free to post here before continuing into your own threads, just post a [thread left].
- If you have any questions or wish to talk to your head of house specifically, contact them via owl or visit them in their offices.
- All of the curfew rules and new rules IC will be applicable from today, in character.