Banishment PV Professors

A deep chill had settled in the pit of Kateri's stomach the past 24 hours. Coming to teach at Hogwarts she had accepted there would be times of danger and having to protect students. Not that she had anticipated it to come as quickly as it had after her being hired and settling into the castle this past Spring. Still, she wasn't ignorant to the rumors and history of the castle. A part of her had welcomed this knowledge and wanted to face it head on. Help where she could, protect the children and others residing in the castle, defend the castle and what little childhood some of the students clung to. What had been brewing, possibly even long before Kateri knew, around the castle involving the strange happenings and Hags was now coming to a roaring boil. The talk the professors had all shared among themselves and how to best handle the situation at hand had been weighing heavily on the Astronomy professor's mind as of late. She had done all she could think of; sending out prayers and calling on ancestors, ceremonial burning of sage and other herbs while chanting to her long passed mother, researching anything she could that might help her be better prepared... Everything she had done quelled some of the fear and worry she had held onto the last days of Summer.

The last thing she had done was send a letter to each of her brothers. Five letters... all by traditional mail. She knew they would arrive well after the fact should anything terrible happen and certainly did not want it any other way. None of them would be able to help regardless, the four youngest being squibs. Her eldest would be the only one who if she had sent an owl would make it his mission to stop her. Kateri didn't want their last interaction to be one filled with worry, the same worry that gripped her insides for her colleagues and what should happen on their trip below the castle. There was a sixth letter sitting on the desk in her office. One she could not bring herself to send no matter how much she fought with herself. She knew should things go well that it could be torn and be consumed by the fireplace in her room. No big loss, even if a secret part of her knew if she did climb the stairs to the tower after all this was over... the letter would most likely be tucked away among her private belongings.

Shaking the thoughts from her mind, Kateri steadied herself as her feet moved as if on autopilot down the damp stone steps. Voices trickled up towards her and she wondered who had shown for their little "adventure." Closing in on her colleagues, the woman zipped her leather jacket up in an attempt to ward out the cold settling in once more. She had tried to dress light, ample covering but nothing too restricting should she need to move in a moments notice. As her chocolate brown eyes settled on the professors in front of her, talking to one another, she noticed some looked very battle ready. Should she have chosen a different outfit? Armor and gear fit for a fight... A nervous nibble tugged at her lower lip as she joined the others. Her gaze fell upon their Headmaster. She hadn't known the man prior to her hire but seeing him like this made another knot form in her stomach. What had happened to him to make him this way? Was it the same horror that awaited them down here? Maybe she should have sent that letter--too late now. Drawing her wand from the strap holster on her thigh, Kateri held it at her side and nodded at the others.

"Fancy meeting you all here." Her voice broke off at the end of her attempt to lighten the mood somewhat, a smirk playing on her lips. If they were going into the darkness, might as well start off with some light.

Making his way down the stairs to where they were meeting up for this endeavour, Zahid was still reflecting on his visit to his friends – to his family? He had been somewhat of a loner for most of his life and he was not sure he would ever get accustomed to their insistence that he was considered family.

Zahid had originally planned to spend the time after the summer camp travelling until school almost started up again, but this endeavour took precedence and so he had limited his travelling to visit Antonio and Constanza for a tenday, who had demanded a visit from their ‘brother’ in their latest letter. It had been a nice visit, if a bit bittersweet as he had hesitated to tell his friends why his original plans to visit in the latter half of the month had changed. He had – truthfully – told them that he needed to be back at the school early to prepare for the new year (after all, this excursion was to remove dangers to the students) but they had known that he was holding something back. It had ended in a lecture. He was almost fifty by now and was not even sure when the last time was that someone had lectured him, but that had not deterred them in the slightest. So, yes, in a way he was still slightly reeling from that conversation.

As soon as he heard murmurs – the voices of his colleagues, still a bit away and actual words indistinguishable – he shoved those contemplations away. They could hardly afford distractions from whatever awaited them here. Caradoc, Price and him had already almost died once and that was against ... but he also pushed those thoughts away, if a bit less successfully as the memory clung to the back of his head. This was dangerous enough without added jitters.

Now purposefully concentrating on the task at hand, Zahid approached the others. “Good evening.” The '… to die on.' that his thoughts tacked onto his greeting was not spoken but possibly still audible in his tone of voice nonetheless. He tried to offer a smile in addition to his greeting but if he managed one at all it would be a rather grim one.

Racial Abilities: Werewolf Form (Rend, Bite, +10% damage) | Human Form (tell familiar people by smell) | Track Hidden People (within 24 hours) | Wolf's Cry | Predatory Abilities (+25% chance to enter hidden, +2 stealth) | Intimidation (uneasiness, -1 acc, +1 crit fail to all around)

Stats: Stamina: 15 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 20 | Wisdom: 4 | Arcane Power: 4 | Accuracy: 15

Occlumency was a handy tool. In the hands of focused, those who knew where to push their thoughts, it was a weapon, even. The thing with any weapon, however, was that you could cut yourself on it just as well as your enemy.

The moment Valeriu Drăghici had put his silver sword through Alexandru’s heart. The way his confident grin had fallen from his face, replaced by a confused frown, his lips going slack in an O of surprise.

For a week Elena had seen it every day, every waking moment, sometimes in her dreams. The memory was just a glance away, pushed to the forefront of her mind by the summer’s events. Răzvan Drăghici was dead, found in a back alley with his stomach split open. A cruel death for the family’s second son. Elena hadn’t needed to ask.

Her sister would fight Valeriu Drăghici at the autumn equinox to settle the blood feud. A duel until one was unfit to fight, hors de combat, on paper, but they all knew better. One of the two wouldn’t walk out of that ring alive.

She’d been seeing the memory of her husband’s death since Constanta had told her.

Oh, Elena could have buried it, put it deep into the farthest corner of her mind where it had rested for decades mostly undisturbed, but memories didn’t work that way. They were living things, just as much as she was. It would have come back, that one fateful moment of dread and pain and heartbreak, if she’d put it away again, catching her unaware in an instant, crippling her with the sheer agony that was attached to it.

It was better to have the distraction at hand, to be aware of it, than to be caught off guard.

The half-eagle was wrapped around her lower arm, glowering and vengeful. The other three were prowling her body, ready to rip any threat apart. Good. They would need them today if push came to shove. Let them tear her enemies apart, let her shadows annihilate the ones that had taken over the castle. This was the one fight Elena could fight, was allowed to fight, and she would take the chance.

She had not worn battle robes since her inauguration as a Professor at Durmstrang Institute some 15 years ago. They felt stiff on her, a second skin she had no need for, the marks of a lifestyle she’d left behind after Alexandru’s death.

Still, Elaine wore them with pride, this mark of her family, elaborate and detailed, as lavish in its intricate design as they had been expensive. Hidden by the shadows of flickering torches they gave her the appearance of gliding over the floor, no woman but something else, a shade come to vanish its own kind. Today she had come to destroy, and if luck had it she would get her wish.

“Sărut mâna,“ she greeted the group that had gathered at the entrance to the dungeons, the still weakened Headmaster among them.

* lit. “I kiss your hand”, formal Romanian greeting

Reducio

Stats: ♠ Stamina: 12 ♠ Evasion: 10 ♠ Strength: 4 ♠ Wisdom: 20 ♠ Arcane Power: 12 ♠ Accuracy: 12

Abilities: Fearless ♠ Perfectionist ♠ Sixth Sense ♠

Ivar had barely arrived back at his old school before being put to work with something fitting Hogwarts. Only having a short introduction with the Hufflepuff Head of House and his immediate supervisor before being asked to accompany him into the dungeons. Normally Ivar wouldn’t accept invitations to dark corners with other men, but something in the Head of House's voice had told Ivar that this wasn’t a social call, and after a brief explanation of the situation Ivar had agreed to join.

After arranging his things in his new housing Ivar had begun his trek to the dungeons. The school was much as he remembered it, very little seemed to have changed after he left and finding his way to the dungeons was a breeze. It was made even easier by following the constant influx of professors that seemed to have the same destination. He followed a few stern looking colleagues down the flight of stares taking them to the maw of the dungeon.

Ivar was silent as he descended, making little to no noise in his well worn leather and woolen clothing. Years of stalking prey and approaching beasts of all sizes and risk ratings had made him light on his feet and hard to detect. He had dug out his old outfit from his time as a tamer for the Norwegian Ministry of Magic, it was worn in all the right places, as not to make sound while moving. His wand was tucked in a sheet he had on his belt, together with a worn, but well taken care of axe. Its edge was the only thing giving off an occasional glint in the light of an otherwise very dim and dark colored outfit.

Ivar thought he could taste the tension in the air as he leaned on the brick wall at the back of the group of professors. He couldn’t read minds, but he was sure he could see a few tense faces in the group. He wasn’t comfortable with risking his life, but years of taming dragons and handling other occasional high risk creatures had given Ivar the mindset of not stressing at the thought of danger. He would move forward and what happened happened and that was that.

He found it nice listening to his colleagues banter with each other. Ivar had always liked that way of coping with danger, to joke about it. Ivar gave out an audible chuckle at some point in the conversation. The sound being high enough to overtake some of the voices talking. Ivar held a hand to his mouth while trying to make a gesture to say sorry while the chuckling died down. He was sure quite a few had noticed him walking down with them, but if anyone didn’t, then him laughing might have been a bad first impression.

After stifling his chuckling, Ivar waved his hand in a friendly way as he gave them a bright smile “Hi..”. The dark salve around his eyes making the white of his eyes stand out in the light of the corridor and his white teeth grinning wolfishly made him look much more like a fiendish imp emerging from the darkness of the dungeon than a friendly professor here to lend his assistance.

TL;DR - Summary for those who wanted it on what Nora knows and would have told you all until "---". Ignore everything above if you already know.

Hjørdis gave a single nod to Dunaid, who was the first to arrive before turning back to stare into the darkness. She stood silently at the entrance, not phrased by the arrivals of others. Her mind wondered on the task at hand. They were walking in with basically no plans, whatsoever. The only plan was to go in, figure out what was inside the castle and eradicate. At this point, she did not care if that was murdering every single creature or hag within the dungeons, capturing them or simply forcing them out of the castle. All she wanted was the dungeons - and the entire castle - to be free of anything that might potentially harm the students. It was far too painful and frustrating seeing them getting hurt over and over. Seconds were enough to cause fatal harm to someone and there was no way that any of the professors could be everywhere at all times to protect them every second. This... was their best bet.

The fact that they knew the dungeons were unsafe made things worse. The Slytherin common room was far too close to where they currently stood. Over the last term, she had been approached by several students and uncovered some of the potential secrets of the castle. Everything she knew, she had shared with the professors prior to this meeting. Though it was likely not in detail of who said exactly what, the general gist was there. And the general gist went as such...

Some students - and herself - suspected that there were two coven of hags. The first was the one that three professors - Browne, Zahid and Price - found out about and informed the rest of back in a meeting in Lear's office. But they believed that there was a second one, suspected to be hidden with the castle itself. Whilst it was not definitely within the dungeons, there was strong evidence that this was the case. Things looked bad. Because they were bad.

During the meeting, Hjørdis learned how three professors fought one hag and came out cursed and almost dead because of it. The meeting came just after the attack on the Slytherins - spiders attacking the common room in the night. It was here that Hjørdis informed the team that her students were cursed as a result. Cursed by the darkness, it would seem. The spiders they saw were made of shadows. They attacked in the dark, they disappeared in the light. Their curse still affected the students - with symptoms and pain controlled by the Thick Golden Potion but not cured.

But it was the incident that affected the Hufflepuffs months after, coupled by the bits of information she had heard from various students that made her suspect a second one. Of course, it was hard to see how reliable the sources were without evidence and some seemed to be ridiculous but... this was all she had.

In April, Caradoc and Hjørdis patrolled these very dungeons in the dead of the night. She was mostly curious to learn how the spiders got into the common room. Instead, they learned that the entire place was alive. The darkness of the dungeons was alive. Not spiders. But rather hundreds of tiny little insects and bugs. Creepy crawlies. She shuddered slightly recalling the feeling of them against her skin. It felt like they were touching her all over and it was disgusting. Hundreds of insects, rats, and little creatures brushing against you and all over you. The light of their lumos held them back. Their shield held them back. At first, her patronus paved the way. It lit up the corridors, guiding the duo deeper into the dungeons. But the darkness corrupted it. It was slow... but Hjørdis watched her patronus - the magical guardian formed of the most positive feelings - turn against her. Her own patronus... tried to kill her. The darkness could corrupt even the most positive signs of hope and light...

It was within these very dungeons that they found some runes. Runes were not her specialty but she did her best to memorise what they saw to convey it to the rest of the team later. Unfortunately, she got a tad bit distracted... By a Caradoc Browne running into a "wall", which was actually an illusion. One full of curses. The man literally got cursed walking into an illusion. These runes, the illusion, the darkness all pointed at something being in the dungeons.

The other side of the "wall" - that she had gotten through by stepping through with a lumos maxima, the duo found hufflepuffs screaming for their lives as they were attacked by the darkness over and over, cursed to a life that they did not want. They went to investigate how Slytherin were attacked... and ended up walking into an attack on Hufflepuff... Things were dark. But it was clear that the dungeons - where the hufflepuffs had fallen into, after a fire destroyed their floor - was not the safest place to be.

Hjørdis narrowed her eyes staring into the darkness at the end of the hallway. It was the same dark that had attacked not only her but also Caradoc, her house, his house and her patronus all in front of her eyes - on different. As if that was not bad enough... She spent the following weeks hearing from student after student, sharing information about incidents. Further incidents. Opeila told her about the visions she had, that Tyranni had, the strangeness of the Victor-Marian-Vlad trio. These notes were handwritten, stored and saved with the professors. Jack told her about the possibility of two covens, two students associated with either, a pendant that Erin had that seemed to be manipulating her and about how a hag attacked four students near the Groundskeeper's Cabin several months prior. From that conversation, she spoke to Thomas - who experienced a strange incident over the year and appeared to have been in contact with the forest coven of hags. But the most important to this moment was the conversation with Erin.

Erin Ryan did not give her much. Not that Hjørdis blamed her, but their meeting in the Herbology classroom shortly before summer somewhat confirmed what the group was going to run into. However, there were interesting tidbits within her words. Though... it was anyone's guess how much was real and how much was concocted by Erin's own mind. Missing children - which Erin was adamant that the giants, including Quinn Healy, were behind - or how the 'crones' she made a deal with were actually trying to help. They gave her a pendant that gave her the ability to feel - something she lacked - in exchange for nothing. Of course, everything had to be taken with a pinch of salt but... Jack Burnett believed that Erin had made a contract with a second coven of hags. If Thomas had done the same with the first - which they suspected to be the one within the forest - then that meant... Erin's coven was most likely elsewhere.

And Hjørdis suspected it was somewhere deep within the castle walls. After the Hufflepuff incident, and the Slytherin one... she was suspicious of the corridors and hallways they were about to enter. There was no guarantee she was right. She had made that clear to the professors but, it was a real possibility. And right now, it was their only lead. But whatever the case was, the professors were informed of the conversation. At this point, the smallest information could vital. Especially that one conversation.

Hell... At this point... the professors were willingly walking into corridors knowing it was full of danger. Best case scenario? The darkness, the curses and a coven of hags. It was a not a good scenario by any means. In fact, it was a terrible one. Three professors went against one hag and wound up permanently cursed and almost dead. They were going against an entire coven. Of course, this was what the evidence seemed to point to. But...

Worst case scenario? They were completely wrong and they were walking into something far, far worse. Sometimes, it was far better to go for the dangers you are aware of than the unexpected - even if the ones you know are terrifying. But if it was what they expected... there was the possibility of some sort of plan. Sigh.

---

Dunaid mumbled out something. Hopefully to Caradoc because... she did not pay attention. In fact, she had zoned out for a moment, staring intently into the dark abyss ahead of them. Hjørdis blinked, snapping out of her thoughts as she felt something that caught her attention, "Wh-" Turning to find herself gaping at the smirking face of one Charms Professor. He mumbled something about doing it for luck. She blinked at him before her eyes flickered to Caradoc, who interjected, before going back to Artemis. They glared at him. A look that basically said everything she wanted to say. A silent threat that if he touched her again, he would be guaranteeing one of the things he listed happening. Her gaze flickered to the direction of a familiar voice. Narrowing her eyes at Ostrowski too, simply for the fact that he was encouraging the former.

If it was not for the fact that she needed Vernatis to actually be at full health, she likely would have hit him. Sadly, right now, they all needed to be at full health. Ostrowski continued on, making a comment about celebration drinks. A celebration. It was strange to hear in such a setting. But at the very least, all of this ridiculous behaviour of these three idiots seemed to lighten the tension a little. They were not any more prepared than they had been moments before but at the very least, there was a moment of relief as the tension was cut.

Hjørdis quirked an eyebrow at the Potions Master. Huh. She was unaware that he wanted to spend more time with her than they already had. In fact, if anything, she was pretty sure he had enough of their dates and wanted nothing more than for her to leave him alone. It was kind of amusing to see him even entertain the idea. She'd have made a comment about how he was really subtle in his approach on asking her out on a date or made some retort but she was pretty sure that would only egg on the jealousy that seemed to be spurring in the other male. Besides, she had no intention on celebrating today. If they all walked out, completely unharmed, and succeeded in their mission then it was worth celebrating. But the chance of that was almost close to zero. Even if they were successful, there was a real risk of fatalities and... it concerned her.

Ostrowski's smirk was also met by a glare. Before the same glare turned towards Caradoc, who felt the need to chip in. Really? It was not like he had even done that nor would she ever want him to. She was perfectly capable of buying her own drinks. If they survived this... she was not sure if she wanted to send the trio of smirkers - with Vernatis included - several bottles in admiration or punch them in the face for being irritating little boys.

Though, for a brief moment, the tension was cut a little more and... that was nice. At least, until Galim entered, reinforcing the seriousness of the whole thing. She did not bother to reply but greeted her with a single nod of her head. A few others followed suit. Karr - another professor of her own house, who Hjørdis did not know well enough but seemed to be capable from what she knew. Zahid - a friend who had been through this before and still showed up - a sign of bravery and something she could only respect. Marcus - who Hjørdis had grown to value and appreciate over the past months. Though she had not expected them to live together, it seemed to have worked out. Elaine, her blood relative and perhaps the only one that actually knew where she was today. Unlike her peers, Hjørdis did not bother to inform anyone outside of those who stood beside her right now of what she was going to be doing. Ivar, who Hjørdis had no opinion on.

They were greeted by a nod of her head. The most important arrival, however - at least in her eyes - was the Headmaster. Solomon Lear... He was standing. Not as boldly as he had previously but in a far better state than she had seen him during camp. The man knew what they were capable of and still walked into the dungeons. Nothing short of bravery. "Our best guess, yes..." She responded. It was a guess that this was where it was but... it was their best guess. They had nothing else to go on.

Lear's words were like law. If he claimed they liked to lie, then she'd believe it. If anyone knew, it was him. His information was key in this. She had informed the other professors of everything that had happened prior to summer camp. Those at the camp - or Marcus, who had been living at her house for the past six weeks or so - likely had heard it a few times or come across her looking over the notes that she had. Handwritten notes that were saved after each incident, meeting or researched.

This was it... It was time. Hjørdis pulled out her wand. It was a little strange relying on a tool after growing up in Africa but it was certainly far easier and she was not in the mood to take a risk. The plan was simple. Walk in and fight. Stay in the light at all times. Figure out what was down here. If it really was hags... Track down the coven and do everything in their power to end this. A plan that was far more vaguer than she'd have liked, far more easier said than done... But this was all they had. It was time.

"Any last words before we do this?" She asked, wondering if anyone had any final tips or a sudden inspiration in a plan before they walked in. It was time. There was only one thing comforting about it all... The group of individuals gathered were all unique. Some focused on their practical experience, others on their theoretical knowledge. Some focused on their speedy ability to cast, others on their ability to throw a decent punch. Her eyes fell on the wrapped hands of Marcus. It was almost comforting. At least... if the 'on edge' sentiment she felt around him was ignored. Despite their similarities - that she had learned about over past few weeks - they fought very differently. That uniqueness could be an advantage. If they were able to work together as a team. If they could trust each other enough. Then... perhaps, they had a chance.

The army had arrived.

Stamina: 15 | Evasion: 9 | Strength: 2 | Wisdom: 20 | Arcane Power: 10 | Accuracy: 14
Abilities: Sixth Sense | Evasive Maneuvers | Perfectionist | Poison Resistance [others pending]

Outfit of the day

Note: Head down and declare your actions. You are searching for anything specific that could offer evidence or lead you to where you must go. It's in your hands now. Good luck.

With heavy steps, she finally arrived and the ground floor. It had been a bad idea to leave the tower, she had realized about halfway down and at the hight of the third floor when her back had already told her to stop. However, her sense of responsibility had driven her further, step by step.
She had ignored the first calls a few weeks ago, she had thought the other adults would surely be able to find the Headmaster, wherever that boy was hiding. Béatrice had not thought it to be serious. The headmaster had been an adult man, he would surely be able to look for himself.
But then the messages kept going in and when once again one of the Head of Houses asked her to come with the other professors, Béatrice could no longer ignore them.
She had heard about what had happened the past weeks, but things were foggy in her mind and most of it didn't make any sense.

She leaned on her walking stick to catch her breath and brace herself to get the final stairs down. It was said that they would want to meet in the dungeons, and Béatrice knew already, that she was coming in late.

With her right hand, she reached to her side and picked a little pouch that she carried in her belt. In it were her pipe and some dried ingredients. "They can wait a few more minutes," she whispered and fished for a little yellow stick within the pouch: a small piece of dried ginger. With one swift motion it vanished inside her mouth and she started to chew it. With closed eyes, she enjoyed the spicey but sweet flavour. Maybe it was the last nice thing for the evening.

Slowly but steadily, she dragged herself down the last stairs. She thanked the gods in silent when she started to see some figures. There was a lot. At least, she thought to herself, there was a possibility that one of them would be kind enough to help her get up all the stairs again. Alternatively, she would make herself comfortable somewhere on the grounds, she had not have had a good night sleep under the stars for a while.

Stats:
Strength: 2
Stamina: 2
Evasion: 4
Accuracy: 12
Arcane Power: 25
Wisdom: 27

Abilities:
Calming Presence
Statistically Relevant
Fearless
Sixth Sense

Not applied yet:
Wandless
Non-Verbal
Advanced Casting
Occlumency

Action:

1. Maintain Lumos from previous round.
2. Save the group by tackling the hag (Ivar), if successful in pinning him [acc v evasion and then contested strength is my recommendation] he tries to keep his wand in Ivar's face.

Abilities:
1 -- Evasive Maneuvers (10% auto-dodge)
2 -- Evasive Maneuvers (10% auto-dodge)
3 -- Spell Spread (can target a second target with spells with an increased critical fail chance and a bebuff to checks)
4 -- Monster Hunter (additional accuracy against non-humans)
5 -- Crucio (bad boy)
6 -- Imperio (bad boy)
7 -- Apparition (let's run away when not at Hogwarts)
8 -- Advanced Apparition (let's run away together when not at Hogwarts)

Stats
Sta| 8
Eva| 20
Str| 8
Wis| 9
Arc| 15
Acc| 15