A Plan to Combat Fear Itself PV

Place: Kit's caretaker tower office
Date: March 25th following the publishing of the 13th edition of the Hogwarts Headliner which includes this article, 'Devils in the Walls' by Thomas Lestrange as well as a number of articles in response to the hunt for T.Ruth incident (and a suspecting article titled 'How Low Can We Go?' by George Henry)
Time: Evening after dinner

Kit read the latest edition of the Hogwarts Headliner at his desk while he waited for the students he had invited to his office to finish their dinner. The student-run newspaper had just been distributed that morning and it made him smile. There was so much time, trouble, and work put into the paper and it made such an impact on its readers. The caretaker always found it fascinating how big a deal it was, particularly after several students protested the publishing of the dhampir article by T.Ruth. It had certainly seemed to hurt Howard and Nico enough to become an issue.

Some articles were both amusing and informative, such as George Henry's article about those the school hired and put in charge. While it mentioned how he, Kit Paine, didn't have much of a past on record to speak of, Ivar Eide's history was downright concerning even to Kit. Who had decided to hire the man to teach the Care of Magical Creatures, particularly after what he had been accused of? Not to mention the fellow himself seemed more terrifying than many of the creatures he taught about.

He looked to Kit like a real-life version of the Bowler Hat Guy from the Meet the Robinsons movie, which made him creepy as hell. However, if there was one person who knew better than to judge a book by its cover, it was the metamorphmagus. That didn't mean he wouldn't be looking into and keeping an eye on that professor in particular, however.

At the moment, however, they had more pressing matters to discuss and think of. Thomas Lestrange, while Kit still owed him for the poison ivy rashes he had caused, had written an intriguing and persuasive article on the topic of hags that the caretaker wholeheartedly agreed with. Not enough was being done or explained about them to the students. How would a student know if they had encountered one? So far, from what he'd heard, several had and not even all of them had known it at the time. What else had to happen before the staff at the school finally took action other than trying to set more strict curfews?

No, Kit thought. There needed to be a stronger, more wide-spread response. If the Hogwarts Headliner told him anything, it was that students had the biggest impact on other students. They cared about what their fellow students knew and thought. Professors were obeyed when necessary, but there were just too many students and not enough adults to keep an eye on everything. If change was going to happen, it would need to start with the kids themselves.

That was the main reason Kit had decided to contact those he thought who had the most potential to instigate that change. Thomas Lestrange may have been a terrible detention host, but he seemed to at least have a passion to let more students know about the hag threat at large. According to Jack Burnett, he was or had been in deeper than most other students with the hags as well, so Thomas had that advantage of knowledge on his side. They needed what he knew.

Howard and Nico had both proven each individually how they were leaders in their own way and how they could each get their fellow schoolmates to start thinking and acting for themselves. Both also had a huge role in recent events regarding the outcry against non-human prejudice and had support from many students; that much Kit had seen himself. If he could just get the three to work with him together on an idea he had regarding the preparation for students against potential threats in the future, perhaps the kids stood more of a chance against whatever dangers lay in wait.

It would be tough, certainly, and a lot of hard work, but from what the caretaker had seen of those pupils' accomplishments so far, he was confident they would succeed. That was, of course, provided they were keen on his idea and decided they wanted to help with it. Maybe Howard and Thomas were at odds with each other (and for good reason, Kit had decided after their last detention), but perhaps the two at least shared a mutual desire to help their Hogwarts student body. It was a gamble, too, as to whether Nico would decide to take on the responsibility along with everything else she had to worry about. Only time would tell.

@Thomas Lestrange, @Howard White, & @Nico Shymane