A Meeting PV

Interacting with Nico, Xailah, Jack
Mentioning Dealla, Aurelia, Howard, Sylvain, Quinn, Evelynn

As Nico proceeded to share her insight with the gathering, Pericles braced an elbow to the table, gently resting a knuckle against his mouth. The subconsciously self-muting pose paired with his steady staring implied utmost concentration. Typically, he knew it was rude to stare, but seemed to have forgotten formalities in favor of drinking in as much information as possible. He had heard of the Slytherin curse, both through whispering tidbits, articles, and accounts, but knew the value of a more direct insight on the situation. He had also heard blurred accounts of the infamous fight club, though those were vague, and the factor of adults placing wagers was entirely new to him. He perked at the mention of Dealla- could that be Dee? his duelling partner?- and listened intently. He had known SCAR was primarily composed of squibs, but to hear the many outcast races were rallying caused a brief lapse in confidence. This was big. Bigger than any mere student could ever hope to handle. At least, not on their own.

Pericles grew all the more still and focused as the breadth of what had happened sunk in. The dhampires were not only victims of circumstance, but a deliberate attempt at exploitation. A stoniness replaced his default dreamy relaxation. If one listened very closely, they might hear a high-pitched whistle as his opinion of Aurelia Notrésvace plummeted. "I interviewed Howard after that article was released," Pericles promptly remarked, an unusual edge to his murmur, something almost indignant. A nerve was touched. He shook his head in disgusted disbelief, but not at Nico. "He never-... does he know that encounter was intentional?" The question had no specific target, given the way he looked around the room. "He seemed very much under the impression that what happened was his fault entirely." This was all wrong. From what they had heard and seen elsewhere, was SCAR being instigated in the same way that Howard had been? Was Hogwarts witnessing a parallel on a smaller scale?

While Sylvain's question was warranted, Quinn politely refused making the meeting about himself. As the half-giant glanced his way, Pericles met him with a rueful frown, one he tried to conceal lest it be misconstrued as unwanted pity. There was very little he knew about Healy, aside from his repute as a Quidditch co-captain and the blatant fact that he was one of the few half-giants at Hogwarts. Peri did not know more about him because he had no reason to: he was ultimately just another student, and it saddened him to hear that being treated as such was a rare and valuable thing. Quinn mentioned his disorder, as well as misbehavior during a Championship. A perplexed glance darted across the table towards Xailah, mutely attempting to establish whether or not she knew the details to both snippets, as the fourth-year was the one he most often looked to for information. The attempt at telepathy ended once the berating of an infamous article began. Silvery eyes trailed down to the table. Come the conclusion, he did what he could to muster up the will to side in agreement against the Headliner, though the presence of his fellow reporters. "Quinn is right. The article oughtn't have been published. The generalizations encourage the public to turn on those deemed 'different', while simultaneously discouraging our non-human members from feeling as though we share a side." This opinion evidently was not new, given the way it was worded. It had been festering for some time. "So many threats surround us.... Hogwarts needs a unified front. Infighting and secret-keeping will be our downfall. We cannot undo what was written, but there must be some method of reversing its impact."

His tone was calm and controlled, but in the wake of his words, the determination driving them receded. Peri promptly looked down, scrawling some notes in a roundabout means of resting. Expressing anything outside of a neutral opinion was exhausting! He glanced up to greet Jack Warren with a weary smile, but was back to staring silently at the page while Sylvain recounted what Ravenclaws experienced in the Forbidden Forest. It was concise, so Pericles would only have a single addition to tack on to the end: "There was a house." An awkward pause brought on by nerves. The memory had yet to lose its edge, that of being lifted into the treeline by an acromantula, ironically providing him a vantage point by which to see the bizarre abode. "A, ah... candy house, like in the old folktale. Between that, and the way the forest came to life in opposition of our presence, we were in the territory of a hag. They've been living out there, though I can't begin to assume for how long."

The same unshakably attentive posture was assumed as he listened to Evelynn recount the things going on. It was a dizzying amount of disaster on top of disaster, so many overlapping incidents that it was difficult to determine what was or wasn't related, let alone distinguish a cause. Could the hags be a blame blanket? For the bulk of disasters here, perhaps, but what about SCAR? Ravenclaw dorms had been spared an attack (so far). Perhaps the forces of chaos didn't want to climb all those stairs. A fresh tidbit sent him scrawling the start of a new section in his personal notes: Living Darkness? Another attempt at telepathy was made with a look towards Xailah. Of course, legilimency was not so simple, so he would opt to mouth one word: Finley? They should share what happened in the hospital wing. Something was blatantly wrong with the nurse, more so his Auror brother, Harry Potter's own Ministry partner.