Locking The Doors Main Story Closed

interacting with N/A
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Lizzie looked down at her hands slightly as the Professors were stood at the front of the Great Hall. She felt like most of it was directed to her but it wasn't. Many people had gone to the Secret Blossom Ball and at least another ten Ravenclaws had gone into the forest with her. That really was one of the house's downfalls.

She turned her palms towards her face and pouted a bit. They were completely fine but she could still feel the pain that she had gone threw with multiple thorns digging deep into her hands along with then being ripped off of her hands. It had been such a traumatic experience. Including having her ankle nearly being burnt off of her whole body due to that Slytherin casting Incendio.

Her ankle had healed well but she sometimes woke up in the middle off the night breathing heavily with a pain of the vine and fire lingering there. She would always flinch whenever she even thought about going to move It hopping it would become more comfortable.

She quickly looked up to the mention of the Summer Cam being cancelled. She didn't even know about a Summer Camp. She was just planning to go home all together which would have been pretty boring at the least. She probably would only be sitting in her room playing her guitar practising some songs Cassie could have asked her to learn or listen to.

She looked back down at her hands and zoned out. The information did concern her. It was information everyone needed to know but she didn't want to know it. If she was hearing it then that meant that the rules were final were probably not ever going to change for the next year or so.

She closed her eyes and lifted her hands onto the Ravenclaw table. She didn't want to look at anyone. She hadn't even told Cassie that she had gone into the Forest. They probably would have been very angry at her for not telling her about something so dangerous but exciting.

She gulped as the word 'expulsion'. That was not a good word at all. If she ever got expelled from Hogwarts her parents would have been so disappointed. They probably would been her from any and all music for the next of her whole life meaning she would have to give up her dream and reach for something more in her grasp like a desk job at the Ministry. Lizzie shook her whole body at the thought of ever being stuck behind a desk all day every day. It sounded so dull.

Lizzie shook her head finally opening her eyes and daring to look towards the Professors and Head of Houses. This would defiantly be something she would not forget. The dread of knowing their freedom would be striped away from the,. It was all they deserved. It literally was their own fault for planning a Ball and going into a forbidden forest.

Suddenly, food appeared on the table. Lizzie was not hungry at all. She had lost her appetite at any mention of attacks or anything like that. She shook her head once again and placed a hand over her mouth hopping it would not lead to her throwing up.

The food look disgusting. Normally, she would start to scoff her face [nicely of course] and could go back for seconds without even having to do any exercise to stay thin. Now, she felt guilty eating and felt if she put anything in her mouth it would just come up straight away.

She stood up quickly and gulped trying to keep down her lunch. She looked around hopping no one would notice her and would just keep to themselves. She stepped out from the bench and dashed down the tables and ran out of the Great Hall moving to the closest bathroom.

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Interacting with @Thomas Baines
Open to Further Interactions

"I'm..I'm not sure." Callie replied a few moments after Thomas decided to spark a conversation with the young girl. Thomas was one of the people Callie spent the majority of her free time with and even to this day she wasn't entirely sure why he put up with her endless yammering. Callie knew she could be a bit of a handful, especially when her and Sylvie were together so even now the girl was convinced Thomas only put up with her out of obligation. Regardless Callie trusted and valued his opinion a great deal and was rather curious to get his perspective on things. Even if she wasn't entirely sure on her own views on the matter just yet. "It has to be serious if they're doing all of this, right? Nora seemed pretty serious and I've never known her to be a liar..." Callie stopped for a moment in thought as she pushed her food around her plate. She respected her cousin a great deal and if Nora was proposing putting such methods in place things had to be serious. As she pondered such things Callie looked over to the table where Nora sat overlooking the student populous before turning back to Thomas.

However Callie couldn't help but harbour some doubts as something felt..off and she still couldn't put her finger on what. "But I don't know..something feels weird. Like something is a bit..off you know? I didn't realise that I'd missed out on so much this year..even if it was some nasty stuff. Maybe I do spend too much time in the library after all." Callie mused whilst forcing herself to eat a stem of broccoli that lay on her plate. She didn't have much of an appetite but Callie knew she'd regret it later if she didn't at least try and eat. "Doesn't it seem a little..weird bringing in two new staff? I wonder what's going on. Maybe I'm just being a bit too suspicious."

Interacting with @Jack Burnett

As soon as she got the piece of chickenwing in her mouth she heard her name being said. The fork still between her lips, the dhampir slightly alarmed, looked over to Jack. Did she say it that loud or... Was he actually focusing on what she was saying. Her eyes carefully darted to her plate, the table and him. Putting the fork beside her and quietly pretending to wipe her mouth with a napkin, Nico cleared her throat after she swallowed.

Not sure if anyone else was following their conversation, the dhampir flashed him a soft warm smile. 'Well. Yes. Why wouldn't I be?' Many reasons. Almost too many. One of her hands slid down to her leg, gently scratching the scars. The visits to the Hospital Wing for that golden liquid, helped to soothe the pain but it never really fully dissapeared. What would her parents say if they saw her with those? They'd be writing the Professors and House Heads like maniacs, most likely. In the owl she sent both her mother and father, she only brushed over the Common room event. Nico didn't want them to worry for the entire time she'd be here.

The Prefect wasn't sure if he was putting her on the spot on purpose for others to hear and see. The dhampir recently chose to keep a low profile since her presence usually was unwanted or a sign of so-called abuse of power. For now she'd lay back to get her own mindset straight. She'd still do her best to do her job and... avoided most interactions with her peers unless absolutely necesarry or... when she knew she could trust them. Jack was one of those she felt she could trust to some extend. The few times they ran into one another, he was one of the few people who didn't saw her as one to abuse power and was fair to others. If the rest didn't like the way she handled things well... Wait until year three, everyone.

Interacting with: @Callie Jensen

Open to further interactions

Thomas heard her out, intermittently taking bites of his food as he did so, which may have conveyed a lack of interest in what she was saying. In sharp contrast, he was listening quite intently! It was just Thomas' typically disaffected demeanor shining through, which often made him seem abnormally apathetic. Attempting to seem more engaged, he occasionally nodded along with her words as they came, but it may have appeared as a dismissive or condescending gesture. His people skills left an awful lot to be desired, after all...

As Callie admitted to experiencing a similar feeling--an offness that was hard to describe--Thomas visibly perked up. He nodded, with more enthusiasm than he'd openly expressed in weeks in all likelihood. Lowering his voice, as if the ambient chatter of the Great Hall wasn't already drowning him out, he responded to Callie's question. "Gosh, yeah. Feels like they're hiding something from us. Seems stupid," he said, without a shred of irony in his tone. Bold words for a literal twelve-year-old boy, but ones that would be spoken nonetheless. "There's obviously something going on. How are we meant to help, or even defend ourselves, if we don't fully understand it? Keeping information from us could get us hurt, and all of these measures to keep us safe seem like they're just going to make people relax. We have to keep alert..."

Sighing, the Ravenclaw boy cast a disparaging glance to the staff table, before looking back at Callie to continue his spiel. "Those hags in the forest caught us by surprise. That's why people got hurt," Thomas said, firmly. It may have sounded like he was in denial... Perhaps even a twinge of guilt was in his tone. "If we would have known what we were getting into, things would have been different. With the professors keeping us in the dark and hiring more people to keep watch over us, things aren't going to be better. They're all going to get much, much worse. Heck, they're restricting our curfews and such to make sure we can't read up on too much..." Thomas was convinced it was all some sort of conspiracy, and he wouldn't be swayed from such beliefs easily.

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@Phaedra Stavrou @Bloom Silverton

Hearing the nickname, Dymphna turned to see Bloom sitting nearby. It had been a long while since they spoke and even longer since their meeting at the Great Lake with Reid. She wondered if the two were still close, as she and Bloom had drifted over the years, starting sometime when it was revealed that Ben was the one in the mask. Were they still together? She hadn’t seen him around much either.

“I don’t mind it, actually,” Dymphna replied with a shrug. If Bloom didn’t know what happened at the Masquerade Ball already, she didn’t know if she would be able to tell her. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to or that she didn’t trust her, but talking about it was difficult. She didn’t exactly remember everything, and relied on others accounts to piece everything together. “If students don’t follow the new rules, there should be consequences. Maybe even expulsion.” She realized the irony of her statement, but the few times she broke the rules weren’t intentionally harming anyone. Knowing the school, something could have happened and she’d been lucky.

Secret meetings were another thing entirely. The blonde sighed at Phaedra’s words. “I hope so. It’s nice to be back, even if things are changing. It’s probably for the best.” Or so she hoped. Only time would tell. A change of topic was in order. All around them were murmurs about the rule changes, most complaints and it was bringing down the usually happy mood in the Great Hall. “So, how’ve you been, Bloom? You’ve met Phaedra, right?” It was almost impossible not to at least have heard of the Prefect but it felt impolite to not introduce her.

Selim nodded to the first two comments the fox made to him, and responded in a subdued voice to the third one... perhaps there was the slightest ghost of a smile on his lips? Or maybe it was just a trick of the light...

"Yes, but now it'll be more of a challenge." He hadn't gotten caught the last few times, but his excursions outside the Slytherin house were less common then most might think. No, mostly he just stayed in the common room studying.

Selim went back to his food, picking at it absently as he unwillingly zoned out again. He didn't know what to believe anymore... his father, the one who had been there when he was born, had been there since day one (Sure, he didn't do much with Selim other then train him, but he was there... he couldn't just dismiss that flicker of guilt he saw in that man's eyes when he had found him bound to that chair... suffering).

Or was he to believe Jack? The boy who had, for some reason, willingly hung out with him when he first came to this cursed school, the boy who had stuck to his side, despite how... turbulent, and broken Selim was... who... seemed to genuinely care for his wellbeing... to the point of... that request.

He clenched his chopsticks tighter, almost like he would snap them in half... but his hands shook with that bone-tired exhaustion that always followed him, no matter how hard he tried to sleep... an exhaustion that was rooted deep, as if within his soul, leeching away the vitality in his muscles.

Selim sighed deeply, he was tired, and torn between two options. He never though a simple 'one or the other' question would be so mentally taxing.

'Onii-san... who would you side with? Which would you choose?' Selim asked futiley to the gaping void in his mind... only the hiss of mental static answered him.

Blankly, Selim let the chopsticks fall onto his plate, his appetite lost, despite not eating since yesterday morning. He just wanted to go back to his books, his notes and research, but even that had lost its appeal thanks to the massive indicesion that weighed down his shoulders.

Despite this, though, Selim did reach for the earl grey teabags on the small platter before him, the water in his mug heating up with his lethargic will to make it hotter. Magic mugs and cups were so convenient.

Dropping the tea bag into the steaming water, Selim let it seep, then took a sip, relaxing minutely, and basking in the few happy memories that came with the simple mug of tea.

Mentions: @Jack Burnett

Stats & Abilities:

Reducio

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/35

Stamina: 4
Evasion: 9
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 7
ArcPower: 3
Accuracy: 9

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Abilities:

Martial Artist

Opeila's questions drew Jack's gaze. As he had told Adonis, he didn't want to say anything more about his suspicion of two covens until he could confirm more, but there was at least one question he could answer. "Yes," he clarified. "It - she - talked to me."

He sighed when the brunett commented on hags looking like old witches rather than students. "Who's to say the couldn't change their form? Even if it's not said in any books, that could just mean they've never been caught at it. It's a shame the professors haven't told us more about them and what they're capable of, though..." The line of his mouth twisted. "The one I met was barely recognizable as female, let alone humanoid."

Though Jack had expected Flash to talk to Opeila by that time or speak in defense or support of her, when he saw his dorm mate, the blue-eyed boy appeared to have nothing to say. The redhead watched him listening and learning to everything that was going on and being said around him, but there was no telling what was going through his own head. It worried the Welsh boy a bit.

Well...perhaps they could talk about it later if and when Flash felt more comfortable doing so. He wanted to reassure the cautious snake as much as possible, but as there wasn't much he could do just then without drawing the attention of their housemates, he simply settled on offering Flash what he hoped was a comforting smile.

When Nico afforded Jack her attention, he realized he had accidently caught her in the middle of taking a bite of her dinner. Apparently, he had decided to question her the moment she finally appeared to find her appetite.

"Oops; I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask you to talk while you were eating," he was quick to apologize, putting up his palms to let her know he had meant no harm by it. But then a thought occured to him.

What if, like Flash, Nico was only putting on appearances for the sake of her fellow housemates present? Being a prefect must have meant having the pressure of constantly being judged under the eyes of others. Would he be harming her more than helping if he pushed her to tell him what might have been wrong?

"'Why wouldn't you be'?" he repeated, looking thoughtful. "Where should I start? I could write you a list. But, as I should probably leave you to your meal in peace for now, perhaps we could discuss said list later."

He reached for his glass of pumpkin juice again. "That is, if you feel up to indulging me." However, when he looked at her again, his hazel eyes and steepled brows spoke only of concern for her well-being.

All of a sudden, Selim's chopsticks fell upon his dish with a clatter, startling Jack out of his thoughts. "...Fangs?" he asked quietly, studying the other boy's face.

"Is...is something the matter?"

By then, Selim had reached for tea, supposedly to soothe himself, but Jack continued to watch and wait, hoping to learn what he felt he needed to be soothed from.

Interacting: @Opeila Seilun, @Flash Holmwood, @Nico Shymane, & @Selim Faust

Jack was one of the few people who truly watched and thought about what he said. Or so it seemed. He didn't straight up expected an answer and read someone before judging them. As he apologised she gently waved it away, quietly munching another bit of chicken, making clear that it was alright. Her eyes rested on his hazel ones as he explained himself. Nearly ready to mention the many reasons why she couldn't really be feeling okey.

Was it that obvious? Nico started to feel like she questioned herself that way alot of times. Could he see it from her face? She did try to get her make-up on point again. Her finger carefully brushed a few strands of red hair out of her eyes. For some reason, the dhampir didn't feel weird or awkward to talk about all what's been going on from on her side. But maybe... talking about this at the table with... a few particular individuals, might end up in a discussion Nico didn't have the energy for. Something she tried to avoid at all costs these days. That was why turning to herself had become her number one priority.

'I... see no problem with talking about this... But maybe not for everyone.' Her former warm smile slid down into a neutral to sad expression. She didn't want to mention who'd probably disagree with whichever she had to say. And throwing herself at someones throat was the last thing the dhampir wanted to do today. Not to mention, infront of the Professors and House Heads. As Jack looked over to someone else, Nico slid the cup infront of her closer to her and gently rubbed her thumb over its small foot.

Interacting with @Jack Burnett

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INTERACTING WITH; @Serena Towers, @Willow Anderson, @Amadea Campbell

Jack had clarified to Adonis that he had specifically seen only one. But still just possibly having seen one hag was not good for the school nor the students. Then he mentioned the possibility of them changing shape. Was that even possible? Well, as a metamorphmagus and with Polyjuice Potion, yes. But it was most likely they weren't the first one so possibly they used the latter? "One near the Groundskeeper's Hut. Got it." Adonis repeated while correcting himself. "Yes, of course. It makes perfect sense. You don't want to start a panic even more so. When you say change shape, do you mean like with Polyjuice Potion or metapmorphmagus?" He inquired with a raised brow, sneaking in a bite of his food in between. "Right. Sounds good."

Adonis listened to what Jack had to say in response to his second question but this time it wasn't much relevant information. "That's a dumb name if I have to be honest. She seems like a really sweet girl though, just absolutely lovely." The last sentence was obvious sarcasm with the smirk on his face.

His gaze then returned to the girl he had originally been talking to, which was Opeila. "Wha- no. Hags don't look like witches of any age at all. They look like some nasty, ugly old lady that went all bridezilla on her wedding day and stayed like that forever. I was just saying that in the Muggle world they picture all witches to look like hags from what I've heard." Adonis mentioned with a shrug, not really caring about that part. "Don't worry though. I'm sure we'll be fine. We all got that spark of fight in us to defend each other if need be." Adonis reassured Opeila with a smile and a confident look on his face.

One thing the boy couldn't help but notice was Flash being so quiet and reserved at their table while the rest of them talked about different things. "Yo, Flash. You good there or?" Adonis asked him to try and check-up on him. He paid attention slightly to the constant back and forth between Nico and Jack. His dorm-mate was something else and seemed to have a way with words. It was quite amusing to him.

Interacting with @Opeila Seilun, @Jack Burnett, and @Flash Holmwood