S.C.A.R-y News Finished

@Dealla Prince, @Yousuff Baid, @Emerald Hwang & @Willow Anderson

It seemed that her statement about S.C.A.R. had rubbed Dealla the wrong way with the way she snapped back at her. Bloom, hating confrontations, took a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly. Dealla was right, but it was not the case from what was happening so far. Sure, not everyone were terrorists, but there were terrorists in their group. Bloom decided against speaking back to her. She assumed that the reason she did not agree with her was because she was young.

Bloom was still wondering what it meant that a special contest. Would a special contest be wise to have? As a half-blood herself, Bloom was all in favor of equality within the Wizarding World, but she never thought that people who represent her would go at lengths as they are.

Another young student came by, a Gryffindor who introduced himself as Youssuf. He wanted to get to know of those around him. "I'm Bloom," she said, her eyes smiling. Although she was not very social, she was always happy to meet someone new. Another person joined them. It seems like it was going to be a HUGE conversation piece in the Great Hall. What did Bloom get herself into?

"They are advocating the wrong way. You can make a scene, but there shouldn't be any casualties and they're doing just that. I'm a Half-Blood myself and I find S.C.A.R. doing wrong," she said to everyone in reaction to the young Hufflepuff stating that the terrorist group had done 'some things'.

@Dealla Prince @Willow Anderson @Bloom Silverton @Youssuf Baid @Emerald Hwang

Opeila had joined their two classmates with the hopes to find out more, but never had she expected to hear what she heard now. Advocating for halfbreeds and squibs to be integrated more didn't sound unreasonable. Opeila could feel quite a lot sympathy for that goal, since her own half-sister had been a squib and was sent away when she was only five years old because of it... but their methods, oh, their methods.

The girls were joined by another, Bloom, whom Opeila had met a few months ago. A nice girl, at least judging from the vague memory of their very brief meeting. She spoke of events that sounded more like the sorts Opeila had experienced and hearing Dee... defend them, questioning the truth of the events even, made the Slytherin angry. Her first friendly expression had dropped, the green eyes seemed to pierce the younger Ravenclaw.

"The crimes people said they did", she slowly repeated Dee's words, "And I say they did. They are terrorists. Those are the people who violently broke into a compartment of the Hogwarts Express and demanded that everyone handed over their wand before they took me hostage. And then almost beat another student, who had tried to protect me, to death, in front of me. I won't even start about how many people were seriously injured and could very well have died during that." Opeila spoke as calm as she could.

It had been a whole year and it was one of the many events that still haunted her dreams. And since she had read of Vladimir's death, she had buried it in silence, tried to banish it from her thoughts. What brought her a little peace was the memory of their last conversation, in which she had finally gotten a chance to apologize. Speaking it out brought the memory to life, the smell of smoke and the smell of the man who had held her by her hair, pulled her to him, making quite a strong argument for his demands. Vladimir falling while the men kicked him until he bled, Gris' yelling, her own screams...
"No matter their goal, people who attack and hurt children, eleven and twelve year olds, are not good people. And if what you say is true, it was a goal none of us here had any influence on, that is a political problem and was handled wrongly. I'm not opposed, my own half-sister was a squib and she was sent away because of it, but I can't have sympathy towards anyone who supports or associates with terrorists."

Opeila had talked herself into rage, her hands were clenched into tight fists. So much, that she had failed to notice the two first years that had joined them. One of them was the kid they had been forced to duel a few weeks ago, the other was not familiar at all. Immediately Opeila regretted her outbreak that surely had to be frightening to them. After all, not too much had happened since the beginning of the year, fairly little in comparison to the previous year. Taking a deep breath she ran her right hand through her hair, calming herself again. "Sorry.", she murmured, only halfway turning to the first years.

For anyone interested: The S.C.A.R. Heist.

Bloom's reaction to Dee's rant was an impressively calm one, and it slowed Dealla down, taking the wind out of her sails before she crashed into a cliff. She was right, of course - there was no excuse for the murders and attacks committed by the group, and Dee felt a little ashamed for having let her temper run away from her. She hadn't meant to sound like she was defending terrorists.

But that hadn't really been her point. The point was that those people named in the paper, they hadn't been the ones who had done those things. Dee didn't believe they were, at least. It wasn't them. The point was that those statements about half-breeds were wrong, and that people shouldn't be vilified for trying to stand up for their rights. She was about to nod at Bloom, turning to welcome the two new arrivals to the conversation, perhaps offer another small recap - except Opeila wasn't ready to leave it at that.

Dealla's eyes narrowed, and she stopped her movement to direct her attention at the Slytherin instead, her temper back flaring up again as quickly as Bloom had calmed it down, heat rising in her cheeks. "Oh really," she sneered. "The crimes you say they did. Because you were in Hogsmeade and saw Mathias Mulrain and Claude Avery blow up the students from Koldovstoretz? Oh, and the murders S.C.A.R committed years ago in London, I'm sure you were personally around to be able to confirm that Professor Mulrain was behind that too." Opeila's personal involvement in the attack on the train a year ago was news to Dee, and under different circumstances, it may have stopped her. Caused some sympathy for Opeila, because frankly, that sounded terrifying. But Dee had been on the opposite side of the situation - she'd gotten in the middle when other people set the preparation of a peaceful protest on fire, by people who were now in the papers portrayed as the bad guys. And so, Dealla didn't stop.

"Clearly, you know everything, because obviously a person who is attacking you and claiming to be someone could not possibly ever be lying about who they are. They must be speaking the absolute truth. Do you ever question anything you're told or do you just straight up believe everything you hear?" Dee shook her head mockingly, smiling without warmth. The words that came flooding out, rushed and unfiltered, were harsh. "Saying everyone associated with S.C.A.R is a murderer is about as intelligent as people claiming everyone who wants to be in Slytherin likes to torture Muggles and Muggle-borns just because Voldemort did. Try some critical thinking, would you? I'm not saying that S.C.A.R are innocent, I never said that." She pointed at the newspaper. "I'm just saying it wasn't them. They helped me when we were the ones being attacked."

And that was what it came down to. No matter what she had read or heard, Dee's experience was that those people were the unjustly attacked innocents, and that went deeper than words could. Was her stance any more rational than Opeila's? No, and the other girl did have a point, which Dealla may have realised if she had thought it through, but that did not compare to the instinctual knowledge derived of her own experiences.

@Bloom Silverton | @Opeila Winters | @Willow Anderson

Sorry for the delay Youssuf has left the site in the meantime, but @Emerald Hwang, if you're still around, I will try to include you more in my next post!! Dee is just very... focused right now

Interacting with no one

Serena gritted her teeth, looking up from the newspaper to look around for a moment. Was this... what everyone else thought? Was whatever was happening outside the walls of Hogwarts going to mean that people like her no longer got an education? Was this the future? First, they came for their wands... What was next? Did everyone else agree?

The thoughts flooded her mind. Mostly just question after question, with no answer available. The fear started to build up inside of her. She double-checked that her ears were fully covered, which they were. It was the biggest giveaway of the secret she had been trying her best to keep for years.

Looking over to the sounds she could hear, she noticed the girl speaking not too far away about S.C.A.R. One of the prefects, if she was not wrong. Serena's eyes fell onto Bloom and Willow, who was also there talking to her. There were others too but she did not recognise them. Looking down at the newspaper again, just so she was not staring at them as her eyes started to water. Every part of her hated this. First, the Headliner and now the Daily Prophet was coming after them. Her gaze fell onto the section where it spoke about some specific people - the people Dealla seemed to be talking about. From the sounds of it, this Avery guy had tried to protect her. Whether or not that made these claims false was not something Serena knew the answer to.

Her hands curled into fists, crumpling the edges of the paper in her hand as she tried her best to steady her breathing and avoid crying in front of everyone. The prefect read the same quotes that were haunting her mind. The plague of half-breed, mistake to trust half-breeds- All of this... it was awful.

Her teeth clenched tightly together as she heard the words 'an excuse to tell people that anyone who isn't human is dangerous or lesser'. That was... exactly how they were treated. Those strong enough to defend themselves, like Hugh or Howard, was seen as 'dangerous'. People like her were seen as 'lesser'. That's exactly how it was.

Perhaps she was lesser. But other part-goblins definitely weren't! Some of them were badass! Not that she knew many but like, her father was pretty awesome! He could bend metal and shit. The conversation turned into an argument. It was practically one-sided. Someone claimed they were a half-blood, as though they understood. Another voice called them terrorists. Serena stared at the newspaper angrily, not understanding what to say or do. She did not know if what they said these people did was true or false. The only ones who seemed to know any of them had claimed they weren't capable of doing it.

Serena did not care about whether S.C.A.R. were terrorists or not, though. She cared about the fact that these supposed acts of terrorism that they were doing affected everyone, simply by association. Even those who were not in the group or associated with it... If they were a half-breed or squib or anyone who was 'different' to what they considered 'right' was treated like shit.

Her eyes were unable to stop the waterworks. She blinked rapidly, trying hard to force her watery eyes to just stop. It was not happening. And listening to this argument was not helping. She hated it. All of this. It was just so wrong. Most of them wouldn't get it. They could have a squib sibling or a half-breed friend but they didn't get it. They wouldn't get it. Until the day that the student population turned around to look at them as though they were monsters. Serena had witnessed the audacity of a human, deciding that Hugh deserved to have his tendons slashed because he was 'dangerous'. Hugh. The guy who was literally trying to save someone from turning into a hag without killing her. Murder was never an option for those in the operation of Saving Erin Ryan. But it was for another human, who decided the best option was to kill her before she turned into a hag. Something she did not have control of. Something he decided that meant she was evil.

Hags were seen as 'evil' for eating children. Erin had never done such a thing - at least, as far as she knew. Even turning into a hag did not guarantee she would do that. Yet someone judged her, simply for existing. But that guy got to walk away with his tendons intact. He wasn't dangerous. He was literally attempting to commit murder but he wasn't dangerous, of course not. Why would he be? He was only human. Obviously, the part-giant trying to save her life was the one who was dangerous and evil and wrong. That was... just how society saw it. As wrong as it was, that was exactly what happened in front of her own eyes.

And now these people were calling them dangerous, threatening to take away their wands, to exclude them from Hogwarts... for being born, for being turned into something they probably did not even want to be or for simply existing. It did not matter how nice you were, how much you used your ability to protect people, how anti-the stereotype you were... You were still labelled as dangerous and lesser for just... being.

Serena crumbled the paper in her fist, standing up abruptly as she pushed herself off the table. With the newspaper still in hand, she stormed right off, walking past the debate without interfering. She was done. She had heard enough. The only thing she did was pause to look at the prefect, memorising who she was. It was the face of someone who might understand. Just a little bit... That was enough for now. With that, she left quietly before her rage consumed her and her tears started to stream down her face. As she angrily scrunched the stupid newspaper even more, she made her exit quickly.

As soon as she walked out of the door of the Great Halls, the tears flowed .

Serena has left the Great Hall.

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Interacting: ...
Mentioning: @Scarlet Salvatore | @Bloom Silverton

@Dealla Prince

Opeila had expected that Dee would snap back, she had hoped for it almost. The young Slytherin felt provoked by Dee's defensive talk over S.C.A.R., so she had pushed the Ravenclaw a little. However, Dee's response felt like a slap into Opeila's face. She didn't know the prefect well, barely at all really, but from everything she had seen and heard from her so far, Opeila had been rather impressed by her intelligence.

Perhaps because of that, the response came so entirely unexpected and... disappointing. Opeila really was disappointed. She had expected Dee to snap back and bring up valid counterpoints, not twist every word that the Slytherin had said. So very disappointing.
Opeila looked at Dee for a few moments, not sure what to even say to that. The whole counterpoint seemed so silly to her, that it wasn't even a counterpoint, more like an attack that was built on a thin layer of ice that already had a crack or two.

"You're absolutely right.", she then started, "I don't know those people from Hogsmeade. And of course, saying that everyone associated with S.C.A.R is a murderer is silly and wrong. Almost as silly as putting words into other people's mouths to make a point, wouldn't you agree, Dealla?" Opeila forced herself to stay calm. She didn't mind being corrected much, but not like this. "So please, don't you dare tell me anything about critical thinking."

She inhaled slowly. "I could give the same thing back to you, by the way. What makes you so sure that the people you met are really S.C.A.R.? I don't know what you experienced, but this- this is not okay." Opeila ran her fingers through her hair, suddenly feeling like she couldn't bare staying here another moment. "I'll get some air.", she announced curtly. With a fierce movement of her hand, she threw her own newspaper onto the table in front of the Ravenclaw and turned away from the group.
She wasn't hungry anymore.

Opeila is storming out of the Great Hall.

@Dealla Prince, @Opeila Winters, and more

The conversation was getting heated by the moment. Perhaps being older, Bloom knew when to pitch in and when to not. She had made her statement about how terrible S.C.A.R. is in trying to be heard. They've killed countless of people in their decisions. The worst, that hit Bloom closer to home, was the attack in Hogsmeade that killed most of the Koldovstoretz sports team. It could have been avoided, but no, S.C.A.R. wanted to scream out to the world about their needs.

Most to all were on Bloom's side of the argument. But it seemed that Dealla had a different perspective to bring in, one that Opeila did not like at all. There was a professor that she kept referring to, Professor Mulrain, who she believed would never do anything like this. Perhaps that was true. Perhaps he was in the line of fire. But even more-so, he knew what to expect when being a part of a very passionate group of people who would do anything to be heard.

Instantly, people came and went, saying their beliefs and then storming out. Bloom felt that this was perhaps her time to leave as well. Nothing was going to come to this conversation anymore. Opeila had already put down Dealla for her opinions and things had shifted for an awkward moment.

"It seems that we all need a breather from this," Bloom said, standing up from the table and looking at those who were still around. She wanted to say something more about everyone needing to be well informed about the situation, but she knew that would only blow things up more. Bloom, without saying another word left the group, exiting the Great Hall.

THREAD LEFT

☁ Interacting ☁
@Dealla Prince

Well... this turned out to be a less than pleasant breakfast. She watched as people around her fought and threw dissenting opinions at each other. Her eyes stayed blank as they traveled between Bloom, Opeila, Henry, and Dealla. She really didn't know what to think about all of this really. Before breakfast she didn't really know about SCAR, the train attack, the attack in Hogsmeade. She could go on. But apparently she should start reading up on it.

After everyone had left, Willow reached out and placed her hand on Dee's if it was available. "I believe you, that it wasn't them. I don't know if this is a bad opinion to have, but I think SCAR has some merit in fighting for the rights of half-breeds and squibs. Even if some of their methods are... well, you know. Again, not that um... Anyway." She was in way over her head in trying to provide any opinion or comfort.

"If you want to talk about this later, just owl me. I don't really know... anything about this so I'm interested in learning more." Willow stood, staring at the Daily Prophet once more. "I hope you're still able to have a good day." Willow started heading out, her mind filled with concern about what this meant for the upcoming tournament, or the half-breed students that already attended school. Well, there was reading to be done later.

Opeila's reply brought a sneer to Dee's face, unkind and unrepentant. She hadn't put any words into Opeila's mouth; the girl clearly hadn't been ready to listen to what Dealla had said before, so Dee had echoed her own words back at her... just a little exaggerated. She had taken what Opeila said and interpreted it in the very worst way, that was true. But there was nothing in there that Opeila's stubborn insistence hadn't implied. The crimes I said they did, those had been the Slytherin's words. Yet, now, she admitted that she did not actually know at all.

There was only one thing in the other girl's words that gave her a slight pause. Did she know that Professor Mulrain and Mr Avery were S.C.A.R.? Did she really? She'd had her suspicions after their meeting, and the Prophet had identified them as S.C.A.R. associates, but it was the same paper that she was currently accusing of spreading lies. And yet... "Not really the point," she replied, which was true. "I was just saying that those two are not responsible for the crimes that were committed." Which Bloom had claimed, and which had triggered this whole outburst in the first place. "They're good people." At least, as far as she could tell.

Opeila left, and seemed to take Dee's righteous anger with her, leaving her feeling tired and deflated. It was only breakfast; but it felt like hours had passed since she had rolled out of bed. She barely acknowledged Bloom leaving, just a slight nod, not even looking at her. The older girl had contributed nothing but spread prejudice and generalised half-information that she had likely heard from a random student's mouth. Better that she go, she had not earned any respect today in Dealla's books.

Willow was still there, looking overwhelmed, but her hand was warm when she placed it on Dee's, and the Ravenclaw looked up to meet her fellow duelling captain's eyes. At least someone didn't take any bad thing that was flying around about S.C.A.R. as absolute truth, and Dee smiled a small smile. She'd needed to hear that. "Thank you," she replied, nodding. "I will."

There were other things for her to do, too. Opeila had made a point about the things that Dee really did or did not know; but there were actions she could take to change that. And perhaps to do something to give others more information, as well.

@Opeila Winters | @Bloom Silverton | @Willow Anderson
End of thread!