Oh, it's Hugh... PV Erin Ryan Closed

Hugh frowned for a long time as he stared down at the ground. Missing students, Quinn acting crazy, giants attacking the castle, hags at Hogwarts, the train attack,... "So you don't know why students are being targeted?" He hissed in a whisper at Erin. Confusion written all over his face. "The castle has been attacked, I was in the ballroom when the part-giants came. Reid Kovacs and I broke open the doors." He recalled. "Not so long ago, students were attacked in the train. I was there too, cowboys of all people. They seemed to swear loyalty to SCAR. But they disappeared too quickly!" He slammed the wooden fence that had saved him from falling into the pool a few minutes earlier.

"Which means they either had help, or were the weirdest wizards I've met in a while. And you've seen my friends." He almost laughed at realizing his own situation. Hugh stopped and locked eyes with Erin, falling silent. "I'm sorry. I don't know where the others are." He clarified before continuing his tangent. "But I can help find them?" He seemed hopeful still about the matter, like a kid that got overly excited. "What about the woods? There are all sorts of evil in there, right?" The part-giant looked over his shoulder as he leaned in a bit closer. "And what about the professors?"

That was an entirely different thing on its own. There had been a curfew, yes. But as far as that went, the professors seemed to keep this school running as smooth as possible. Surely if all these kids were missing, they'd have to explain this to the ministry. Hugh's body shivered as his mind stopped on the image of Thaddeus Athanatos. He was part of the ministry. Seeing the sorts of shadow magic that man could conjure, it felt unnatural. "I saw a guy conjure shadows after the train attack, though. Shadows have been taking people in the castle attacks."

"What about the woods?

"Not the woods," she replied. The woods are bad. "The old people live there," she added. "They don't like it when people visit unannounced," she explained. She had no idea who or what SCAR was, that would involve reading and she did not read much. She also had no idea what a cow-boy was, but her head went to a minotaur. "They also don't like each other," she raised her fingers - 2 fingers. "Two houses," covens. "Five" she extended all of her fingers, her palm lacked grooves, palm lines. "old ladies that sometimes look young."

"And what about the professors?"

"They know," she claimed. "I told that nerdy one," she was referring to Caradoc Browne. Not that he was a Professor and not that 'nerd' narrowed it down much. "The one that had the Huggle" Hufflepuff "House."

"I saw a guy conjure shadows after the train attack, though. Shadows have been taking people in the castle attacks."

"The old ladies make the hungry shadows," she announced. "But they" the shadows, the living darkness "don't play with me," she claimed. She made a wiggling motion with her shoulders. "They just wiggle... wiggle and skitter and crawl with bite and claw and leave their babies," a thin smile graced her face as if she was somehow charmed by the creatures. "I don't get their babies, but I am full of worms... No," she shook her head. "Slugs... crunchy, crunchy wiggly, wormy slugs."

Hugh cocked his head and crossed both arms. "You mean Browne, the dancing Head of House from Hufflepuff. He seems a bit... loose." Hugh had no recollection of ever speaking to the man, but he figured he might have been a nice guy. He expected the man to be a joker, though, which is maybe why he didn't pay attention when danger was announced to him. Further than that, Hugh listened intently to what Erin was saying. She was as weird as ever, perhaps even more so over the years. Sadly, there was little room left to question things.

The more concerning matter was that she knew all these things. She spoke of the old ladies in the forest as old acquaintances. And babies? The darkness left babies behind? "What sort of babies are we talking about?" His head rose up, his eyes looking down upon her with his nose turned up as if he smelled something weird. "And why are you filled with crunchy slugs?" The part-giant's gaze lowered towards her belly. "Are you alright?" A question he would have never guessed himself asking Erin Ryan. Yet here they were, and he was in fact grateful for her clear answers. As clear as they could be, of course.

"Is that why you need help?" He asked, the expression on his face a little more concerned, his voice pressing. "The ladies in the woods are hurting you?"

"You mean Browne, the dancing Head of House from Hufflepuff. He seems a bit... loose."

"Yeah," that nerd. She had come to him, well no so much came to him as got stuck with him once in the medical wing while she defrosted. She did not trust him but she could not quantify why. Just a primal sense of agitation, the sort that animals feel just an impending disaster projected upon the the most potentially steadfast and durable target.

She would explain the darkness in the way she understood it.

"What sort of babies are we talking about?"

"Dark, wiggly babies," she replied. "They look like bugs but made from blood but made of shadow," she explained nonsensically perhaps but it was an accurate account. "But they don't always bite, not everyone makes a good mom I guess," she simply concluded.

"And why are you filled with crunchy slugs?"

"No the slugs crunch, they are slimy I think.," she corrected him. "They were put there and they--" an unnatural lateral movement of just one eye side to side in rapid order.



"Wiggle and sing and scream and crunch."

"Are you alright?"

She frowned but did not answer verbally. Admit malady to anyone and it might prove to be her last. She shook her head side to side 'no.'

"Is that why you need help?"

"I never asked for help," she replied defensively. Not for herself at the very least. That was not a conceivable option and even if it was, why would she give it up? Why wouldn't she want to undergo the change, feel a sense of pride. Gain power and purpose. Enter into a sisterhood. Finally not be alone. A childish conclusion top come to, one that she did not truly believe but there was an infectious madness that also drove her, that guided her and prevented her.

"The ladies in the woods are hurting you?"

"I-I'm fine," she would stammer and cross her arms in front of herself defensively. It did hurt, all the time. But the slugs were helping, changing and change was hard, it was painful. But she did not want it, the pain, the change, the deal that was made that was not worth the cost.

"You don't sound fine at all." Hugh remarked, scratching his sideburns. "Could these ladies... be persuaded to leave you alone?" His gaze remained fixated on Erin's body language. Her twitching eyes were just one thing that spoke for itself. The part-giant looked behind him, seeing if there was anyone else nearby or within earshot. "We can gather folks we trust." He whispered quickly. "Hell, we can drive them off, I bet!" An overly cocky statement, one he instantly knew to regret. "I meant like, you know, get a plan together."

He was offering his help to Erin Ryan, who he somehow gained compassion for in the past few minutes. The Hugh that got out of bed today would not have anticipated this evolution of events. Then again, there had been stranger things that happened at Hogwarts. It was precisely part of what he wanted. To be accepted, instead of tolerated. However, Erin brought a new problem to his doorstep. Concern. As if sustaining a friendship with Galton Lansdale wasn't enough, now he actually felt sorry for someone who up until recently was actively trying to take him down.

"An alliance of some sort. No professors, if you say they are compromised. But surely there are other students we can use in helping our search as well as helping your... situation?"

"You don't sound fine at all."

He was not wrong but Erin felt conflicted. A [art of her knew that this change was bad, very bad. That she did not want it. The pain, the deviation from the norm, the lack of control she had over it. It was like puberty in that way, a time of mixed emotions -- getting older, things are progressing as they should but still there is change, unfamiliarity and the fear that should accompany it. She lacked the final part of that equation in both cases, fear despite acting often in and of fear. There was a difference in feeling fear and knowing one should feel feel and therefore acting on it.

She was incredibly paranoid so everything was dangerous. Everything was worthy of fear.

"Could these ladies... be persuaded to leave you alone?"

Erin took a nervous step back. Was she being manipulated? Was the giant trying to turn her against the crones? Was he trying to help? Were the crones the bad ones in this case? They helped her, gave her something that granted her what she had always lacked. It was a curse more than a blessing but could she fault them for the cruelty of her peers? For preferring her cursed state of nothing over one that could foster sentiment. Was this a test? A show of loyalty she was about to fail. Restless agitation as her mind wrestled with the possibilities.

Something was wrong. Something was wrong! With who? With him? No, with her!

Erin Exe. has stopped working. Please contact an administrator.

"We can gather folks we trust."

Hugh whispered. "I-I trust," she stammered. She did not trust anyone. How could she? She did not even trust herself. She could not remember who was who, mistaking people for someone else. People looked the same, anonymous. She trusted the crones didn't she?

"Hell, we can drive them off, I bet!"

'We' as in her and Hugh? She did not necessarily trust him despite the fact that he was the first person to offer to help. In fact, after spending years seeking help, finally getting it made it feel 'wrong.'

"I meant like, you know, get a plan together."

She remained quiet and confused. Everything was crunchy and loud.

"An alliance of some sort. No professors, if you say they are compromised. But surely there are other students we can use in helping our search as well as helping your... situation?"

"They help me lots," Erin was defending them. "It is people" humans "that are bad." They were the ones that took advantage of her growing madness for the sake of diversion, humor or some sadistic impulse. "I just want the bones," her delusion, her fixation. That there were other threats, threats besides the crones. Way to psychologically cope with the death and the loss, the guilt by pursuing a phantom.

Crunch crunch...

She took a sharp, pained breath. Agree. She nodded her head. Smile. A lopsided, forced expression of positivity. Gratitude. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "Yes, thank you," the grateful words pushed forth through her diaphragm. Carry on with your new friend. A grimace, "I don't know who to talk to about this."

The sudden expression of gratitude took Hugh by surprise. Whoever Erin had been in the last couple of years at Hogwarts, this was not at all the crazy girl he had met in the abandoned bathrooms. She was sorry? For what? "For what?" Hugh repeated out loud this time. "Then talk to me?" He asked her with a hint of panic in his voice. Something was moving so fast. He felt really slow in getting it, like trying to focus on a fly buzzing past your nose.

"If you are buddies with the hags, then you must have some clue on what they are after, right? We can use that to set up a trap. Gather enough folks that we can trust. You did say you trusted someone, right? Then we- we just simply spring the trap!" He clapped his hands for effect. Life could be so simple sometimes!

Realization on what this all might mean for Erin dawned upon him a little later than that. His eyes carefully glanced in her direction with her concern. "I mean... It's all a bit much, of course..." He nervously twiddled both index fingers around and stood there like the child he actually was. An almost unreal sight when beholding his tall stature. "But you don't have t-" he swallowed hard. "You don't have to be alone, though." He smiled. Genuinely.

She apologized. "For what?"

She did not have an answer. She did not know. She did to seguey to gratitude because she was "...supposed to." Supposed to what? Supposed to say that. Make amends, placate, ally.

"Then talk to me?"

"I-- don't know what I am supposed to say," she answered honestly. Listen to the screams, the impulses, the urges. Listen to whatever humanity that still remained, that sapian instinct to stop something that has already gone too far. There were dueling, contradictory impressions and inclinations that left her unsettled and agitated.

"If you are buddies with the hags, then you must have some clue on what they are after, right? We can use that to set up a trap. Gather enough folks that we can trust. You did say you trusted someone, right? Then we- we just simply spring the trap!"

Clap of hands. It was just that simple wasn't it. Lure the hags with something sweet, something that they could not live without. Something that would pique their cruel curiosity. And then -- Spring something on the three, the three that she knew of. There were more and they had allied themselves with others. They have sunk their claws into others. They had different plans. The only thing that was suppressing one was the presence of the other. Death witches - a dangerous threat but it had more focus when you realize it was the other coven. something even she did not realize at first, as her madness evolved and her sanity devolved.

"I don't have anyone," she announced. She did not have anyone because she had no friends. She had Oliver Hart who disappeared months ago. No, he was not gone, dead or missing. He was around, in classes, continuing his academics but he was absent. She had been an albatross. She had been cruel. She did not deserve anything from him. "I left Oliver Hart my beating heart," a final vestige of humanity, also perverted. "But nobody else," certainly not Burnett and those who share his face. She was a tool on the pitch, she would not place her faith in her teammates. She was merely a resident of her dorm, she expected no loyalty or concern.

When she changed she was fully aware that she would not be missed.

"I mean... It's all a bit much, of course..."

He twiddled his fingers, they were eye level with her if not above her crown. She let out a sigh. She did not know if he was lying, if this was yet another manipulation. People have been more daring, made bigger lies that she believed. There was no reason to believe he was the exception. The whispers said otherwise liar but also urged her to stay but stay and play.

"But you don't have t-"

"I'm dead either way," she realized. Yes, she was mortal and while death might be an extreme statement because physically she might survive, she would not be her any longer. She did not know what she would be.

"You don't have to be alone, though."

She nodded her head slowly. "Y-you should not trust me," she choked out with a cringe. A crunch, an ouch. Too many angry. Not like that. She backed away another step, there was an impulse to run, to rush past. She felt like there were eyes, so many eyes. She would point down at the water, at the rippled reflection.

She was there but she was not standing next to Hugh, she was screaming but it was silent. There was no sound, just a desperate expression, hands pounding an unseen, invisible barrier. "Others are trapped too," she muttered.

"You don't mean that... literally, right?" Hugh winced back as he pictured the gruesome scene in his mind. Erin holding out a bloodied heart to some boy he vaguely recalled being from Ravenclaw. There wasn't much logic behind the thought, but anything could have happened at this point. Especially if it involved Erin Ryan.

Hugh's eyes followed to where she pointed. His eyes widened as he noticed her reflection move, but not in sync with her own. It seemed to be looking for an escape, as if it got trapped under the surface. "What. What's wrong with- How do they do that?" He cried out towards her, as if she was meant to stop this prank somehow. This wasn't funny at all, none of it was.

The part-giant stood still, staring at the panicked reflection. For a moment, he looked at his own hands. There was little use for all that strength that seemed to be growing inside him. Hell, even for a part-giant, he knew that Quinn could have bested him under a minute. Erin was double the threat he was in that area, too. He was terrible at controlling magic, George had seen to getting him past most of last year, but it didn't exactly help him solve anything remotely close to... well... whatever this was.

"Are these others the kids on your list? The ones you named had disappeared?" It seemed to Hugh, whenever he asked one question, ten others came to mind. Grasping his head in both hands, he let out a growl. "This is a lot." He stared back at Erin. "We need to get you out of there!"

"You don't mean that... literally, right?"

Well, actually "yes?" There was the inflection of a question in her voice, not because she was uncertain but more because what other way was there. "A piece of my beating heart in a--" she made a gesture with her fingers to indicate something small, likely impossibly small and fragile to someone a huge as Hugh. "Locket thing, it beats with mine still - bump. Bump. Bump. It only bled some of the time," she never wondered where the blood came from. "Oliver has it but he is gone to places I have forgot," yes forgot. A notion that sparked a sort of panic in her. She has forgotten too. "They took from my back, through and out and put the wiggly in," the slugs.

Not very interesting, just full of worms. No not worms, but something that wiggled. A fragment of a broken heart left in the care of the last person that seemed to care despite the fact that he had every right to destroy her.

Move on, away from the @[Oliver Hart. She would not mention him again, he was gone and she was going to respect that. Look over there! Something else, the water that rippled and her image that screamed silently. Her reflection was moving but not in sync with the part Veela. It was always trying to leave, always trying to get out. "She wants out to be me," Erin explained. "Don't let them out, they know too much. Yours seems better behaved," she asserted. Hugh's moved in cadence with the part giant's movements. "I wonder if you will catch it moving wrong if you are fast enough," she mused in all seriousness.

"What. What's wrong with- How do they do that?"

"The mirror," not a good explanation Erin. But his loud voice caused her toes to curl and her body to stiffen as if she was anticipating an attack coupled with his emotional response. "The one in the little house," she did not know what to call the place the stocky man used to live in. She was referring to the Keeper of Keys and Grounds' Cabin, a living space that was terribly disheveled with varied concerning objects that were overlooked when the position was filled.

"Are these others the kids on your list? The ones you named had disappeared?"

"Gone" she confirmed but her voice was tiny as he seemed to be getting more agitated. Hugh represented a weapon made of flesh and blood. Large, powerful, a threat she could not overcome. She was powerful in her own right but there was no strength that could save her from his weight. How much did he weight? She could only make a wild speculation.

"This is a lot."

It was a lot, there was an information dump that Hugh was unprepared for. he likely expected an incomprehensible screech about death witches and a head butt to the groin before she fled to the lake. This was much much worse.

"We need to get you out of there!"

He concluded but there was nowhere to go. "I live here?" Where else was there. This was it for her. There was no running. No escaping. No place else to be.