Meeting of the Lions PV Closed

The position of Professor of Flying was given to Quillius with open disclosure on the dark matters lying within the shadows and whispers at Hogwarts. He was aware to some degree of the nature, yet not entirely sure of the severity. Students had been speaking about strange occurrences and experiences, some possibly not connected to the peculiar individual, yet of course he could not be sure. It didn't take very long for the Gryffindor Head of House to call for a meeting with the newest hires out on the lawn, to which Quillius was eager. This would be the perfect time for questions.

Arriving next to the Spaniard, Quillius would look rather bland by comparison. Robes were not his style, nor was he much for presentation apart from just appearing clean with a soft pop of red in his neck tie. Brushing his hand down is plain vest, he briefly wondered if he was perhaps under dressed for Hogwarts entirely as Sebastian certainly made him feel as such.

"By all means," he said as he motioned out with his hand. He waited for Sebastian to finish the incantation before continuing. "The matter definitely justifies it if I'm assuming correctly. I have a lot of questions and concerns about this... well, what would you even call it?"

She was happy that this meeting was on the grounds. She enjoyed the fresh air and sunlight. It was early evening and the sun was slowly setting behind the Scottish hills. She had to admit, her homeland was gorgeous. It was early summer, and so the evening was still warm. Though wind was always a factor and so she paired a nice teal shawl with her lengthy beige skirt and white, billow sleeved, blouse. She stopped short, for a moment, when she saw head of Gryffindor House, Sebastian Cazarez, wearing such formal attire. Granted, it looked very nice and in turn so did he. But when she saw her peer, Quillius, dressed as plainly as her, she sighed in relief. Perhaps Cazarez was simply dressing formally because of the formal nature of the meeting. She hoped he wouldn't mind her causal look.

She waltzed over to Sebastian's side and listened intently. Deputy Headmaster, at her hiring had , of course, informed her of the situation at hand. However, she had refrained from asking questions at the time since she was a new hire and did not want to impose. She was thankful Cazarez thought this meeting was important, as the situation was unclear and Adelaide had many questions. She smiled at the History of Magic Professor, and nodded at the Flying Instructor. She had met both before as she met all other staffers when she was hired and arrived to live at Hogwarts.

The Runes Professor nodded seriously at the mention of the eavesdropping charm. That was smart. No need to panic the students, of course. She held off her questions for now. She was sure Cazarez would answer some before she had to ask. Though, she did agree with Falke... What were they calling this? She wondered how serious the school was taking the matter. The Ministry knew that the magical objects were gone, but how sure were they that the objects were not at the school? Or that Hogwarts was even a target? She wondered why it would be. There was no one of interest attending, like during the Second Wizarding War with Harry Potter. Was there something hidden in the castle that a thief may want? Or did they simply want to cause havoc? Though, she wondered why they did not do such a thing somewhere easier to breech - like a muggle town - if that was the goal, havoc.

The pair had arrived as expected, and Sebastián was glad to see them. Both of them had seemed like kind people who he could get along with well enough. Sour feelings all around made it hard to smile some days, so he took good news wherever he could. Both seemed to get the quick and dirty version of the events, but no one had taken time to really sit with them about it, from what he could tell. The Spaniard laughed a little at the question Professor Falke had on what to even call these happenings. It was a valid question he had not really thought to answer previously. What did he call it?

"It would be... a concern." Sebastián stated cautiously, thinking of what to call it. "We have recent developments that make me a little more than concerned, but that's all we have for now; concern."

He looked to Adelaide who had been quiet since joining them, giving her a smile of familiarity before addressing Quillius some more. It seemed the flying Professor would have a lot of questions for him, which he was both excited to answer and nervous to hear. There was a lot of unknown even among the heads of Hogwarts. The Headmaster was away trying to solve the issues, and the rest of them were here hoping to stop an issue before it started. It may be too late, but it wasn't certain yet.

"You have many questions, Professor Falke?" He baited the flying professor to ask what he wanted. "How about yourself, miss Ayers?"

Sebas had not really meant to be less formal with the Rune professor, but he simply knew her better. Once he knew someone, he hated to be formal if it could be helped. Hopefully no one took offense to this recent one. His mind then wandered to the Masked Figure people had begun whispering about lately. Did that mean the mask was here, or were these just weird rumors? It couldn't be total coincidence. No one told the students about the mask, as far as he knew. If someone slipped, then the rumors could be paranoia. The truth was hard to determine from rumor.

Hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks, Quillius meandered next to his peers as they spoke, the setting providing a sense of calm to lessen the stresses of their work and the...concern. Hogwarts had survived the worst and brought forth years without events until now. And while there was nothing as alarming as a basilisk within the walls or the return of an evil mass murderer, what he had been overhearing and what had been mentioned in the briefing of his hire brought back memories. It was an unsavory experience his first few years at Hogwarts, and he would like to prevent such an experience from the students currently in attendance.

Holdin out a hand towards the newly hired Professor of Ancient Runes, he offered her a small smile despite the heavy subject. “This would be our first meeting, I believe,” he said to her. “Quillius Falke.”

Looking between the two, he continued. ”I do have a lot of questions for sure,” he said.“Firstly, if I remember correctly, the portkey stolen from the Ministry was one that ports here, yes? Based on the little things here and there I’m hearing, it seems possible the security of the school has been compromised. How are we assuring the safety of the students and what is being done to investigate these rumors?”

Recent developments? Wait, was this actually something to worry about? Yes, she had thought the occurrence was strange, but she didn't actually think there was something going on. Her face went slack... Were the students really in danger? Adelaide considered herself a fantastic witch, but she hadn't really faced a true dark danger. True, she had the occasional scuffle and she enjoyed dueling, but someone who actually wanted to harm or even, god forbid, kill children?

She listened, well tried, to Falke's questions as she shook the man's hand and told him her name. As he continued though she stopped. Oh. Oh no. She realized she had not been properly listening to Ackerley when she was hired. She knew about the mask and the glove and of course the portkey, but she had missed the very important detail, the portkey was to Hogwarts. She almost felt ill. how could she had missed such a detail. Why wasn't she paying more attention. How had she been so irresponsible? Her face was frozen and she was glad the group had stopped walking because she was sure her feet could not move.

She suddenly took in a deep, haggard breath. "Is there no way to bar portkeys in to Hogwarts until this... situation is figured out?" Surely there was something they could do. "And this mask, wouldn't it be simple to pick someone out who is wearing a mask? I feel as if that would be obvious."

It seemed the two had only partial information. This is part of why Sebas felt he needed to speak to them. His tease of more information had them worried and they wanted more. It was only fair for them to know what was truly going on here in the school, at least as much as he himself knew. Between rumor and fact he would do his best to give them answers. The Ministry had been vague even to the professors who were present. His own studies were barely helpful either.

"Well, the portkey is a Hogwarts portkey. It is a snow globe with Hogwarts inside. No one knows its exact exit point." Sebas noted that they had little info, knowing it would do little to soothe them. "We cannot do much about it, sadly. Especially without knowing where it exits. By the time the Ministry told us of the theft, it was likely too late anyways."

That last bit was ominous, but true. Rumors had been popping up all around the school of some masked figure appearing. Sebas was still unsure if a teacher had leaked the info and students were going off that paranoia, or if this was real already. Some claimed to be attacked while others said they saw it. The Spaniard was starting to believe it more and more, but he wanted to be skeptical if he could. That was coming to an end though.

"We've had a few reports of someone seeing a masked being, likely a student." He admitted to them, hoping it would not scare them away. "As for spotting someone with a mask, yes, we have hoped it would be that easy but it seems that no one has actually spotted it for more than a brief moment, if it's even true."

Studying texts and what he heard from others revealed something else that was scary. The mask was rumored to have been able to turn invisible when worn. If that were true, why did people see a masked figure, not just a regular student? Or was it something the glove controlled? He didn't know and likely no one truly knew that answer.

"We think the mask might be able to be hidden at will," he said slowly, motioning to his face. "They could look like a regular person. The glove controls it and we honestly know little beyond that. It is similar to an imperious curse in how it controls someone. Whoever wears the mask is likely innocent and should be handled as such."

He gave her hand a quick shake while keeping up with the conversation at hand. Masks were never a good sign in his book, and having the rumored sightings confirmed only unsettled Quillius further. He cast a glance over his shoulder to look back at the castle’s silhouette if only just for a brief moment of thought. The last time a masked menace was inside Hogwarts people died. Was this concern just as concerning?

”So no one is exactly certain the masked person is real,” Quillius said more thoughtfully than questioningly. “It is odd there are multiple reports of it, especially given the students haven’t been made aware just yet. And you’re sure the glove controls the mask? I mean, if I am doing the math correctly, a portkey to Hogwarts has been stolen from the ministry along with a glove that controls a mask. We’re hearing sightings of someone with a mask without students’ imaginations being prompted. So by all accounts we could very well have anyone on campus being controlled by whoever stole the objects in the first place. We don’t know the severity of the threat, obviously, so perhaps we should consider what someone would want to achieve here.”

A sudden thought hit him, and he eyed Sebastián with a furrowed brow. “Wait, shouldn’t the Ministry be here investigating this?” he asked. “We’re not equipped for investigations. I’m just a flying instructor, you know?”

Falke was right. This was not the days of the most powerful wizard in the world being headmaster, or of the Chosen One being in the schools attandance, and the target. Although she was sure each Professor at Hogwarts was skilled, and she knew she herself was, but to what degree? They had no idea the threator the target. The school was blind when it came to this situation. Even more so if the mask could be hidden at will.

She felt sick to her stomach thinking about whatever student, or Professor, was deemed with the horrible task of playing victim to this mask. Although they could not be certain the threat had even begun, she still hoped it was not one of her students. Although, if students around the castle were already sighting this mask, inpromted as Falke mentioned, then perhaps the situation had already begun.

There was also another problem. "How are we supposed to fight this threat, if the perpatrator is a student being controlled?" Because of course it would be a student. The attacker would not risk a Professor, would they? A professor may be stronger, but would certainly have more will to fight the control.

A lot of questions and doubt came from the pair of newer professors. This was expected, but Sebas wished he had broached some of the topics a bit slower. The Flying Professor had a fair comment on being just an instructor, not an investigator of any kind. Adelaide brought up the point of how they would try to fight a student wearing a mask. All of this was valid and he had considered much of it himself already. The Spaniard would have to word his response the way that helped even himself understand it best.

"The ministry is still trying to figure out how and who broke into their home. Our Headmaster is assisting them for the safety of the school." His eyes turned to the castle once more, letting out a quiet sigh before he continued. "We are left to make sure nothing big goes on here. So far, we have no solid proof anything has begun. Nothing is missing, no one has been hurt or had a solid claim to what we're seeking. Paranoia runs deep at Hogwarts due to its history."

History was something he understood well, as would Adelaide most likely. He still was not convinced they were dealing with anything yet. It was likely whoever was out there had bigger plans than a school with little to offer in wealth or power. A curse-breaker might find interest in studying the school, but as far as he knew all the curses were gone by this point.

"We can disable a student wearing a mask without hurting them and remove a mask. That seems... simple enough... if it even happens," he made sure to emphasize the last bit. "If things get bad we can call for the ministry and our headmaster, but so far we have less to go on than they do so it would be a wasted effort."