Locking The Doors Main Story Closed

Adonis was expecting the usual to happen for dinner. That being just simple eating, talking to others, maybe eavesdropping on a few conversations. Just overall socialization. The normal. But nope! The four Heads of House had something else in mind as they authoritatively stood there behind the table, watching all the students as they filed into the Great Hall and eventually took their seats at their respective tables. This was different compared to other times. Usually they would just get straight to eating unless it was the start-of-term feast or the end-of-term feast, which in this case it was neither. So, it must've been something important or some sort of announcement, right? Their food wasn't on the table yet either. Weird.

As they began to finally speak, Adonis gave them his full attention and focused on what Professor Pendrast had to say first. Her firm and serious tone as she spoke and Adonis could tell as they informed them. It was obvious Headmaster Lear had not been around, of course. The most he knew about Lear were the letters left in his office that Rafael had mentioned to him, the 'love letters' more specifically from him to Umbridge. Gone due to personal matters though? He didn't know how much he believed that after everything was seemingly going to shambles now ever since his disappearance with the constant attacks. But he just went with it and accepted the fact that he was gone due to personal reasons and would be back next year for now.

Hags? Like literal hags, a coven of them to be exact. Are currently somewhere around their school? That was frightening to think of and sort of made Adonis begin to question things. Had the professors known this whole time? Why were't they on lock-down or evacuating? Adonis caught Opeila's look towards him and took it, "Yeah, they do. Specifically children like a little younger than us, so like my brother for example which I wouldn't mind." He was kidding, of course. "I heard Muggles stereotype you witches to look like Hags in their stories and whatnot." The boy said with a chuckle, pointing a finger at her accusingly before setting his hand back down to rest on his lap. They warned them to stay away forbidden forest as if people were dumb enough to even go in there. Adonis for sure wasn't or at least with no reason to he wasn't dumb enough to go into there. Either way going into the forbidden forest is just a whole other type of thing and big risk to take. Adonis wouldn't do that, not without one hell of a good reason to.

Dang so no going back to Hogwarts after the International Quidditch Tournament between Wizarding Schools? That was a shame. Nonetheless, Adonis was still excited for everything to come with that and all the activities they had planned for them after seeing the schedule a few days ago. They were having a new curfew too? They had to now be in their common rooms by eight o'clock and be in their dorms by ten pm without being able to make much noise either, meaning no being able to make fun of each other or screw around. Lame. Sheesh expulsion? They really were at it to make sure everyone would explicitly follow the rules from now on. Hopefully it would put fear into some kids and help stop their impulse. As for Adonis? Probably not.

At the mention of their late night shenanigans in their dorms, Adonis suddenly sucked in his teeth as their Head of House gave an example which was the celebration party they had. Yikes. Adonis gave their Head of Slytherin a small wave with an embarrassed smile from his seat whether she saw it or not. "Yup. We all did. Not surprised we were all called out like that anyways if I'm being honest." He said in response to her and began digging into his food once Professor Browne made everything appear on their plates in front of them.

Interacting with @Opeila Seilun
Mentioning: Rafael D'Spacito and Heads of House

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Interactions: n/a (open to Hufflepuff interactions)
Mentions: Howard White

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𝓘f Amadea was being completely honest, she wasn't exactly sure what was going on. When she had stepped into the Great Hall for dinner, she had expected to have a normal meal with some of her friends. She had not been expecting this giant meeting while the professors instituted new rules and talked about the general safety of the school. She had been gone for most of the third year and missed out on whatever was happening. She heard of the infamous BlossomBall of course, full of mosps and other adventures. She had noticed that the Headmaster and former Head of House of Hufflepuff was absent, but she hadn't thought much of it. Clearly something was going on but Amadea had no idea what that was. All she knew was that she was hoping that they wouldn't take too long...she was hungry.

She had never been the one who was right in the middle of all of the drama going on at school; during her first year and the drama with the Masked Figure, Amadea had somehow been roped into some sort of group meeting in which they had tried to figure out who exactly the Masked Figure was, but other than that, she had just watched from the sidelines as the drama unfolded. It seemed like this was what was happening with whatever was going on at Hogwarts now. Amadea was completely fine with this, of course. She figured being on the sidelines was much safer than being involved in whatever was happening. Her heart hurt for everyone who had been involved in the attacks and hoped that all of these safety precautions that were being installed would help to protect all the students.

As she looked around, most of the students around her looked as confused as she was. She tried to focus on what the professors were saying, instituting new rules for many of the different races and a new curfew time. This wasn't a problem for Amadea; she was a full human and she never broke curfew...well, almost never broke curfew. Following the rules was something that was common sense to Amadea; after all, they were there for a reason. Unfortunately, not everyone was satisfied with these new rules. A Hufflepuff student Amadea didn't recognize stood up from his seat, swearing and screaming about the new rules before storming out of the Great Hall. Amadea looked back at the table, unsure of what to say or do. She wondered why the new rules angered him so much; they seemed fairly reasonable to her. it seemed like the Heads of Houses were just doing their best to keep everyone safe.

Amadea focused on her food that had finally appeared in front of her, taking a bite to quench the rumbling in her stomach. Even though students were now talking and conversing in a normal fashion that accompanied dinnertime, Amadea still had a weird feeling. She was perfectly safe within the walls of Hogwarts...right?

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Interacting with: @Callie Jensen
Open to further interactions

If Thomas had received such news at the start of the year, he may have accepted it meekly. Potentially receiving detentions was a nightmare scenario for the boy, and he wasn't eager to create a reputation of being a troublemaker. Up until fairly recently, Tommy was the calm, overly cautious one of the friend group. It was remarkable how much the boy had changed throughout his time at Hogwarts, not that he particularly noticed the difference.

Hearing the Head of Houses talk about safety, despite the fact that Thomas was very clearly only twelve years of age, he couldn't help but instinctively start to rebel against the assertions that hadn't even been explicitly stated yet. Was this about the Ravenclaws' adventure in the Forbidden Forest? He hoped not; Thomas didn't want to be responsible for whatever new rules would be put into place. At the mention of Solomon Lear, vague recollections of the headmaster at the sorting ceremony filled his head, but he pushed them aside. He'd been far too anxious at the time to take much notice of anyone in the room, so any worries he might have harbored considering Lear's wellbeing weren't coming to fruition.

As his own Head of House spoke he listened with thinly veiled apathy. It wasn't that Thomas was disrespectful, he just didn't care much for the actions of his Dhampir peers. He'd not attended the Masquerade Ball and didn't even really know what race baiting entailed. As Equinox finished his announcement for Dhampir students, he slumped a bit further in his chair. The boy was hungry, and just wanted these announcements to be done so he could start his supper uninterrupted. He cast a glance around the table, looking to meet any sympathetic eyes. Most notably he noticed a certain Ms. Callie Jensen, and made a mental note to talk to her once these announcements reached their conclusion.

As the Hufflepuff Head of House started talking, Thomas' initial reaction was to sink further into his chair to avoid being seen by Caradoc's impressive glare. So this was about the hags that had been encountered in the Forbidden Forest, at least in part. His gaze flitted around the table, looking to see how the other Ravenclaws were reacting, but at the mention of stupidity Thomas abruptly sat back up. He was many things, that young boy, but he didn't accept assertions that claimed his lack of intelligence. Mind recollecting the prefect in the halls when he and Breana had had their spat, Thomas remembered that that boy too was a Hufflepuff. Perhaps that's where the young prefect had gotten his nerve from. Fitting. The Ravenclaw's gaze sharpened as his posture straightened, as if the perceived insult had ignited such a reaction. Protection? Protection?! That was a ridiculous idea! How could the young witches and wizards better fight the danger if they were never allowed to look it in the face?! Thomas had learned a lot during his traipse in the Forbidden Forest; it was knowledge that would not have been privy to the young Ravenclaw otherwise.

Thomas didn't mind the announcements on the Quidditch game over the summer. Thankfully, the boy did have somewhere safe to return, and he hadn't actually been planning to attend the game anyhow. He had no interest in the sport, and since there wouldn't be boarding at Hogwarts specifically, he had no real reason to stay for the time being. His love for the wizarding world wouldn't be sated by living in London, off of campus grounds where he likely couldn't even practice his magic.

However, as his own Head of House resumed speaking again, Thomas' neutral expression once again became a scowl. No, it was a foolish thing, to simply lock kids up at night in an attempt to keep the population secure. That's not what they needed. They needed knowledge. And goodness knew that the Head of Houses were keeping it to themselves. He was convinced by now that there was some sort of conspiracy to keep students in the dark; that's why they wanted students to remain out of the attacks and other occurrences of madness on campus grounds. It couldn't be just about safety, at least not to the young Ravenclaw. If that were the case, then surely there could be more rigorous Defense Against the Dark Arts classes to be taken. Perhaps more defensive spells could be learned in all of their classes. The efforts currently being taken made the boy feel rather stifled, rather than protected. Thomas' expression grew more embittered as time went on, as the new curfew was explained, but the icing on the cake was the threat of expulsion. Over a simple curfew violation?! That was quite frankly absurd, and though he wasn't normally the type to defy such a rule (as his nightly routine followed it with ease anyways), he was half tempted to just to test the waters.

Too busy seeing red to pay too much heed to Jensen's words, Thomas did note the new staff positions with vague annoyance. It didn't concern him much at face value, but with his ever-increasing paranoia of conspiracy, he steeled his resolve to remember those people's names and to avoid them at all costs. He couldn't avoid his professors, of course, but certainly, he could remain away from the scrutiny of the two new members of the staff.

As the announcements concluded, and Thomas now had food before him, he took a few bites as all of the news just sunk in. There was a stricter curfew, summer plans were altered, Dhampir students were instructed to... feed at a certain time, whatever that entailed... and two new members of the staff team were brought on to keep watch. It all smelled fishy to Thomas, and he wasn't pleased with any of the current events thus far. In fact, though his better judgment and rule-following nature kept him away from such behavior, he felt the urge to defy the new rules just out of spite. He looked over to Callie again, noting her seeming lack of appetite. There was even a twinge of concern in his tone as he asked, "Feeling alright?"

Interaction: @Dymphna Teague
Mention: @Phaedra Stavrou

WHAT?

As if things could get worse. She knew that there was a lot happening in Hogwarts throughout the year, but were there really other students breaking rules just to test the limits? Even more, their curfew was already very early and just to make it earlier... She felt as though she was in a prison, not a school. Was it even safe to be at school knowing that there are Hags nearby waiting for anyone to be off their guard?

I guess anything is better than home..., Bloom thought to herself while looking at the other Ravenclaws that were sitting by her. Everyone had some sort of reaction on their face whether it was shock, disappointment or just pure excitement of what is happening. It was a rainbow of emotions filling the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was jam-packed full of every student in Hogwarts packing up their plate with the food in front of them. The food that abruptly appeared with snap of Professor Browne's fingers.

Bloom looked around to see some faces she knew. Most of the faces were in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. She did not spend as much time with her own house as she would have liked. However, there was a friendly face she spent some time with during her first year: Dymphna Teague. Sitting nearby as a third year, Bloom tried to catch her attention. She seemed to be talking to Phaedra Stavrou. Bloom knew who Phaedra was, but never really interacted with her. Maybe today, the end of the school year, would be a good time.

"Hey Dymph! Can you believe it?" she asked, starting up conversation with her fellow third year Ravenclaw. "Just when the rules were already strict," she added offhand.

"Well th- that were some news, no?"

Scott snapped his tired head up from the way it'd been impolitely facing his shiny plate (as he'd been busy heaving food into his mouth with some determination), and finally smiled in agreement at his friend, taking a napkin to his lips. It didn't really matter how strange things got, did it? There was always someone nice to talk to.

Alan had taken to sit across from him earlier, when they'd both entered the Great Hall, but was now hosting quite the dismayed expression instead of his usual carefree one... The boy, Scott figured, probably belonged to those astounded by the new rules and curfews then.

He got that. He didn't feel it himself, but he got it.

"Certainly..." Scott sighed, and shook his head in a mirrored disbelief. "Not quite the end-of-the-year cheer you might've expected from an evening in late June, was it? Christ..."

He wasn't at all trying to convey an annoyance with their professors in his words, since that would've been more than arrogant of him, but rather the slowly fading astonishment he still felt towards the news they'd just provided them all with. He wondered for instance, as he looked to his dormmate, how much Alan had known himself? Had he been to the ball, for example? Had he seen what happened?

It wasn't difficult, Scott realised, to put two and two together and assume that chaos had ensued as always- but the boy was still a bit disappointed by his own lack of curiosity. He'd wanted to know that Anastasia was alright, of course- but other than that he didn't feel the intense urge to shower the students around him with endless questions, the way he usually would...

Perhaps the holidays just really were due.

"But we shouldn't complain, should we? After all, they wouldn't do this if it wasn't absolutely crucial. And it does sound... Well, crucial. Especially without the headmaster.

It's a shame how lethal our education has turned out to be."

Giving in to a dark chuckle, Scott impaled another piece of his meal with his fork, pointing it conversationally at his friend. What better way is there to forget the fact that you're confused, scared and hungry- than to talk, talk and talk?

"But we're soon out of here! Summer's nearing... You'll be at the game, won't you? I will. Hopefully London isn't as riddled with beasts as our grounds apparently are... Would be sorry to give our international friends the wrong impression."

closed to other interactions

Open to interactions
| Ravenclaw Table |

Interacting with @Mars T'ien

Alexis's attention shifted to the Griffindor Head of House when she started speaking. Right, Headmaster Lear. The Headmaster had been absent for sometime now. At first she didn't care, he is the Headmaster, he can go anywhere as he pleases. But then they were news about his office, yet he still didn't make an appearance. It didn't take genius to know something is wrong. Pressing personal matters?

Rolling her eyes, she gently nudged a girl beside her. “No one here is an idiot.” or at least, she isn't. “We haven't seen him for what? Months? He just disappeared.” Alexis was pretty certain that the professors didn't know where he was either. “Surely, this is not all they want to talk about.”

The raven haired girl leaned forward, placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on top of her intertwined hands, in an elegant manner. “I'm Alexis.”

Her gaze turned back to her Head of House as he spoke. Dhampir needs to report to him blah blah blah... Masquerade ball blah blah blah... She wasn't paying much attention as this doesn't really concern her. Race bait? Morons.

The professor went on and on about stuff that happened in the past few months. “Hags? Cool.” While hags are basically considered evil, Alexis just couldn't deny that she admired their intelligence.

“Do you think they'd let us wander in muggle London?” The quidditch tournament sounded interesting, sure. But the idea of being stuck in a camp and not allowed to go anywhere else just made her skin crawled.

“Rules. So many rules.” Seriously! What was she supposed to do in her dorm with all that time. She rolled her eyes once more, “Did they just threaten to expell us? Unbelievable.” Worse, Alexis let out an offended gasp when the professor told them not to make any noise after ten pm. “A curfew and a bedtime?”

Finally, the food appeared. Alexis began eating but she just couldn't get this trapped feeling to go away.

Jack sat back with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression grim as he listened to the Heads of Houses make their announcements. Once in a while, his gaze flickered to his fellow Slytherins, like how he sought out Flash along their table when the change to the curfew was mentioned. The redhead wondered if he could talk to Professor Jensen about that, especially since he knew he had other things to discuss with her anyway after dinner.

It surprised him that it took so long for the teachers to announce the hags he'd known had been around the school, but it sounded as if they either knew less than he thought he did or they simply weren't choosing to divulge everything they were aware of to the entire student body and staff of Hogwarts. He wondered how they connected the hags to the attacks on the school. Did they know of Thomas, then? Or Erin, at least?

Jack wasn't even sure which of them might have been in contact with their coven for longer. However, if the adults really didn't know about the high possibility that there was not one, but two covens around the school, perhaps it was up to him to inform them. The first and last time he knew of that he'd encountered a hag had been a little too close for comfort. He would have told the adults then and there about the encounter if he'd thought they might have believed him. Now, however, it seemed more likely they would; especially because they were telling students to give them any information they could no matter how trivial it seemed.

Glancing at Opeila as she spoke to Adonis about the hags, Jack wasn't going to say anything. He didn't want to scare or worry his fellow schoolmates unnecessarily and he wondered if that might have been the reason the teachers had kept mention of the hags from the students for so long. However, when the brunette made her ignorance of hags known, the redhead decided it was probably better that the stubborn, headstrong Slytherin be frightened into behaving rather than staying so carefree that she pulled another reckless stunt like a late night party or a forbidden ball.

"The hags are no joke," he told her across the table, his demeanor deathly serious. "One almost took a bite out of me before Erin managed to snatch me away. It wasn't in the forest we saw it, either; it was near the Groundskeeper's Hut." He frowned, expression dark. "I'm also pretty sure there's at least two different covens, but it doesn't seem like the professors know that. I'll have to mention it to them after dinner."

As he continued to glance up and down the rows of Slytherin students, he noticed that her eyes had begun to grow wet with blood red tears. He blinked at her, about to ask her if something was wrong, but Kara had already spoken up by then. Well, maybe if she felt like it, he could talk to the strawberry-haired girl when Kara was done.

Not too far from Nico was another semi-familiar face. She was already digging into her meal, but Jack wasn't about to wait for her to be finished before he addressed her.

"Martin," he called to Santario, trying not to draw the attention of too many others if he could manage it. "...What do you know about the one you called 'Reaper'?"

Interacting with: @Opeila Seilun, @Adonis Thorn, @Flash Holmwood, & @Santario Martin
Mentioning: @Nico Shymane, @Kara Capricorn

Alan would nod in agreement as he filled his plate with some cottage pie and poured some pumpkin juice into his mug. One question could not leave his mind however and he just had to ask @Scott Alexander. Were you th-there? At th-the ball?", he wondered out loudly after taking a sip from his pumpkin juice as he glanced over at his friend. Possible he could have been since Scott was a people person even though Alan could not remember seeing him there. Then again Alan had spent most of his time in the changing rooms and never really left to the real deal.

"Yeah... Did you know th-that he was missing? I mean, I know th-that he was gone but missing... th-that's scary," he explained as he shook his head a bit shaken from the confirmation of the headmasters absence. It made him feel unsafe and wonder what could have happened to cause such a thing and at such a bad timing as well, while the school was under attack by hags and whatever else. It had been a lot of information at once and none seemed positive in the slightest. Except for that just perhaps the headmaster could be back after summer which was not all that relieving to hear because of how uncertain the statement sounded.

"Of course I will be th-there! Some of my friends will actually be playing in th-the game so I have to be th-there for th-the emotional support!" Alan made it clear and would grin in a toothy manner. "Who are you sharing your t-tent with?" Giving the other kid time to answer, Alan would eat some of the cottage pie before it could grow cold from all their chatter.

Interaction: Open to Professor Interactions

For every announcement spewed from the Heads of Houses, the students looked more and more overwhelmed. It was a lot of information that was shared with all students ranging from as young as 12 and as old as 18. Maya wondered how many of them really understood the important rules that was directed at them. Would they keep it? Probably not all of them.

Maya showed her utmost respect by looking at each Professor giving their speech. Her hands clasped together, resting on the professor's table that was slightly in front of the four speakers, she sat still. Wearing her signature red cloak, her hood was down showing her crisp, clean hair tied back into a bun. All information stated was talked about among all professors earlier in the week. It seemed that certain information was finalized by the Heads of Houses and was now being shared with all who live in the castle.

Once the announcements ended and feast began, Maya watched many of the students talk among each other. Heads were turning left to right. Most of the students needed to vent what they heard. It was only reasonable. Opening her ears to different voices, she could hear some students shocked by the amount of rules that were in place, some were thankful, and then there were some that were neutral about it. It was a spectrum of emotions all in one room.

One thing was for sure, it meant more patrolling for all professors and staff. There were going to be some students who are going to take these announcements with a grain of salt.

Caradoc turned heel and slowly began his usual walk to his seat. Only to find another in his stead. Lazarus was a man who tested his patience in each and every way. Only this time, he seemed to be really looking for trouble. While entering his common room invited by one of the prefects wasn't exactly worth making a scene over, the fact that he was looking for Jake certainly was. The Head of Hufflepuff's gaze found Jake in the crowd and checked his location. Being somewhere down the sea of badgers was enough for Doc to keep him safe. Lazarus wasn't going to make a sprint for it anyway. What the man did do, was take Caradoc's seat. Yep, he had managed to plant his ever-presuming arse down on the Head of Hufflepuff's seat. Looking back over his shoulder, Caradoc realised this was no time for another scene. Especially with all the children in attention. So he instead chose to turn to the right this time and find an empty chair next to the Head of Slytherin.

Realising it must have looked odd for any professor who usually sat in Nora's vicinity and to his Slytherin counterpart herself of course, Caradoc quickly shot a few smiles towards his colleagues as he took his seat. His blue eyes did not meet Nora's for a good while as he made himself comfortable. Only after he had filled his plate with several bits and pieces from a few choices, did he clear his throat. "It seems Plott hasn't lost his touch..." Turning his head to meet hers and nodding in the American's direction, before slipping back to focus on his food. "Though I... suppose I don't mind..." He added with half a whisper and a soft smile. His head stayed locked onto his plate, not trying to draw attention. He wasn't eating. There was little to enjoy from food when the room was filled with tension and drama. They all knew it. They all felt it.

Placing his fork next to his plate he let go the pretence of trying to act normal. Nothing was these days. Even compared to the past, these had become strange times indeed. But there were some things left to enjoy. His eyes lingered sideways as they searched for Nora's. Perhaps there was- well he did not know what he'd find there. He'd offer her a smile. "I like the dress, by the way. I might have missed a memo for the dress code, I think." He joked quietly to her as he wiggled his nose a bit. "You look beautiful." It flew out of his mouth as a rapid escape. As if he needed to say it quickly in order to get it out. It was hard to keep looking at her. He made several attempts to say something else, but nothing would come out. His eyes fell on the braid in her hair and travelled down to her neck, which in turn brought him looking up towards her face again. Her eyes, lips, ... She had made sure to look absolutely stunning tonight. Which made his own look considerably less impressive. His cheeks got flustered as a wave of shame rolled over him.