Fin Passant the Time PV Dee

"Oh, beheading, yes! That's great. We'll just put her in a guillotine in the middle of summer camp... nobody will question that," George said with a frustrated sigh. Why did everything always have to be so complex when it came to the magical threats at the school? He had expected that monsters would at least have the courtesy to introduce themselves so he could fight them. Defense Against the Dark Arts was hardly helpful when the foul wizards you encountered were students, activists, or politicians. In this case, Marion seemed to sit neatly on the border between all three, all while being a hag. "They're beings, right? Would that be murder, technically? Hm... well,curses... can be broken, at least. Not by us... but in theory..."

Wrestling with the idea of simply avoiding the hag threat, George shook his head and tutted thoughtfully. Cowardice wouldn't do - even if he weren't a lion, his pride demanded he keep up the appearance that he could have been one. He pushed a pawn forward just to pass his turn, earning an unimpressed 'oi!' from the sacrificial piece.

"There'll have to be something done, I suppose. Should we tell some of the older students? Or not tell, but... you know... get them to notice." Meenauh and Xailah would be able to do more than him. They were better studied, and seemed to have a knack for noticing evil works going on around them. Thinking back, Meenauh's cookie-summoning exercise in the tent might have been a sign she knew something was up. "I think Meenauh might have an inkling already. She was acting suspicious about Marion's cookies."

Bringing poor, clueless Alan into the equation would have to be a last resort. He was a clever boy and a great duelist, but George doubted he had the stones for monster-murder. The boy wouldn't even hurt a mosp, he was so gentle... "I didn't mean to imply you were an idiot! Only that- well... you know, people make mistakes. But you're better off, then. An 'encounter', is that right? What'd she do?"

The muggle-worthy explanation of Professor Mulrain's condition earned a thoughtful hum from George. He supposed that nobody in the muggle world had reason to suspect he was an actual part-giant rather than simply a very large man. "How could he not know? I guess he'd be outside the normal size and age range for her dietary constraints," George mumbled, wanting to believe the best of the squib who had seemed so cordial in his letters. "I hope she didn't hurt any squib kids. They've got it hard enough already."

Still stewing on the possibilities of avoiding, executing, or counteracting the local hag, George was happy to let the conversation lapse into more pleasant territory. The rights of the so-called half-breed students were something of a passion for George, owing in part to his early friendship to Quinn and his crush on Hugh. It made him sick to think that someone capable of magic would ever be denied the right to practice it.

"I don't know Cody," George admitted. He missed being on the Headliner - it seemed like you could know everything that went on just by sitting in their office for a few hours. Even just a glimpse at the cutting room floor was enough to get you a good idea of the who's-who. "With Howard? He's not still on that sort of... anti-Headliner crusade he was on a long time ago? That's good... I'll go, yeah. I don't really know anyone that I could invite who's not like, um... full... regular wizard, though. Is Hugh going to be there?"

Then he leaned back, glancing away and trying not to look too interested. With his curiosities about Marion temporarily sated, he drew his gaze back to Dealla, trying to act like he had something on his mind other than how weird he must have sounded just then. "Well, if you need any help with anything, I'm around. I don't suppose havering on about what might work will be any use, so I'll have to consult the library when we're back at Hogwarts." There was a momentary pause, before he added an earnest request. "Just don't break up with Jack or it'll make our alliance really awkward..."

Despite the dire subject, Dee grinned at George's response. "I see you're starting to realise the difficulty here. Although I would love to see the reaction if we tried to publicly behead her. Should be an interesting show?" Still, beheading seemed like the only somewhat certain way to kill a hag she could think of. Really, it was rather inconvenient. For most creatures they learned about in class, they also got an instruction on how to defend themselves against them. Hags though? Despite their obvious relevance, she didn't think that had been part of the curriculum.

The next concern was one which she, once again, hadn't considered before. "I... suppose it would be?" she returned, just as questioning. "Although if they're Beings they're supposed to understand and follow wizard laws. If they're not doing that..." That didn't give a bunch of children the right to execute their own justice against them, but Dee wasn't really a legal pro, nor did she care too much. "Most curses can be broken," she agreed. "They did cure the spider-bite students. The question is how, though."

Telling older students was an interesting suggestion. Dee's mind had jumped straight from her friends to professors, like there was no step in between, someone with more experience than them who wasn't an adult yet. "Meenauh does?" she asked, frowning. "What cookies? I hope you didn't eat any." Couldn't be too careful.

She sighed, slumping a little in her seat, her indignation gone fast as it had come. It wasn't like George's concern was entirely misplaced, but no, she hadn't made any deals with Marion, and she just hoped that the others knew what they were doing. "I don't know the details," she admitted. "But he's... not doing well. She, uh, stole his eye, replaced it with a different one, why, I don't know. And he's just... struggling. Can't focus, he's fraying." Flash had been one of the most put together people Dee had known, then in December, he'd been falling apart. She wasn't too sure about the effects of other curses Marion had placed.

How could he not know, indeed. Dee quirked an eyebrow at George. "You didn't know until like five minutes ago, did you? And you've been staying in the same tent, eating cookies together. She's pretty good at fooling people." Which was a hope, not a confirmation, but truth was, she didn't want to believe that Mulrain would knowingly be involved with a hag. It just couldn't be true. She could only agree on the Squib kids, though.

"Cody had some goblin blood," she explained, then made a face. "He was... loud. But had good intentions, I think. The club seemed like a nice idea, but maybe just didn't get to the right people." She had every confidence that Howard and her would make more of an impact. There was a lot you could get done with enough stubbornness and motivation. "Oh, yeah, Howard's cool," she replied, shrugging. "You gotta admit that that article about him wasn't very nice. I interviewed him about the SCARAB stuff a while ago and we got to talking... He's really rather chill when you don't slander him in the newspaper."

Talking about their upcoming event brightened her up, her words turning upbeat, enthusiastic. "That's fine! That's not the point. Just come and hang out and have fun." She'd spent months tracking down special students at the school, it wasn't a you need to invite a friend kind of deal. More allies were good, people among the fully human students who could show the others the right way. "We really just want to encourage mixed race students and fully human ones to hang out and interact more. Especially those mixed race students that are willing to talk about their ancestry, you know? Show they're not that different. I found a few who are willing to come forward, I think it will be really good. They can talk to each other and to other students. It'll be better to stick together than to have all of them feel isolated on their own." She nodded vigorously at his questions, not wondering at his shifty glances, too caught up in the brilliance of what she envisioned for the event. "Hugh is coming, yeah! So is Quinn." Those two had been the obvious ones, they could hardly hide what they were, but she'd been pleased they'd seemed interested in participating all the same.

Looking down at the long-ignored chessboard, Dee frowned. She was pretty sure her pieces hadn't been standing like that last time she'd paid attention to it. Had they been switching places? Why was her King out front? Man, those chess pieces were terrible at their own game, weren't they?

"Will do," she agreed, giving George a nod and a grin. "Let me know if you find anything." She'd tried, but perhaps she hadn't dug deep enough. His further request elicited a pause. If she had said something like that, it would most likely have been in a joking manner, but George seemed oddly sincere. Or was he? "Wasn't planning on breaking up with him," she replied slowly, then gave a small, helpless shrug. "I really like him, so."

Another pause, a change in topic seemed appropriate. "I think my chess pieces are cheating, by the way. Let's just call it a draw?"

"Very medieval, should be fun," said George, summing up their public execution proposal. As Dealla considered the legality of the whole thing, George simply shrugged. It wasn't like they were going to be able to assemble a proper case and have her for-real executed. In fact, he doubted they would be able to kill the thing at all. Banishment would have to do. As long as it left him alone long enough for him and his friends to finish school, it might as well no longer exist. "We'll leave the fine details for later."

Another shrug at the question about cookies. "Just regular cookies, I think. I didn't eat any. I'm trying not to eat so many sweets this year..." he murmured. While he was certain that a magical dentist would be able to fix his teeth up if he damaged them, it was still an uncomfortable prospect to have to go to the nurse with such a juvenile issue. Plus, he didn't want to get fat.

A funny feeling washed over George's eyes as Dealla mentioned the cruel fate that had befallen Flash. "Stole his eye? Like, out his face?" George said, blinking. He couldn't shake the idea that Marion was going to lean over him in his sleep and scoop out his beautiful brown peepers that his mum loved so much. It was one thing to hide a bite scar, but if he came home with his face rearranged, they'd pull him out of school for sure. "Right. I'd be struggling too. I'm fraying just hearing about it..."

George hummed and shrugged again. Sure, he didn't realize it... but he also had never met her until this summer, and made no effort to get to know her. She did have a sort of fake feeling about her. Then again, most people who were both pretty and nice felt a little bit fake...

"No, it was a rubbish article. I didn't like it. I just figured it would be like... a blood feud forever," he said, straightening up as he realized his unintentional pun. He sputtered for a moment as he clarified. "Oh- uh- I mean, like, he'd hold a grudge. Not- um... you know what I mean. I wouldn't forgive such a nasty article so easily."

The talk of the upcoming event was enough to ease George's tensions, and he looked particularly pleased to be hearing that Hugh would be present. A glowing smile lit up his features, remaining as Quinn's name was mentioned, too. "Quinn's so sweet," George hummed with obvious affection. He looked up at the clouds, daydreaming for a moment through Dee's assurances. He snickered a bit as she admitted to really liking Jack. "Good. He likes you, too."

Glancing down at the box, George's smile dropped, and he let out a frustrated grunt at the insubordinate pieces below them. "Back in the box, you worthless little..." he muttered, the whole lot of them shouting as he swept them off the top of the board and shoved them all back into the padded confines of the chess set. Until next revolution. "Draw will do. I should probably go practice my flying. Thanks for the chat!"