10 Jan 2023, 22:39
Nightly Panics
The castle appeared as powerful as it seemed peaceful during the night. Bathed in moonlight that shone through the windows, sprinkling silver light onto the stone walls and ground, silent apart from the wind whispering through some cracked windows that had been forgotten and the occasional creaking that was just normal in a place as old as the castle.
Well- not entirely silent. Soon the rhythmic tapping of a running person's feet on the ground and loud, hasty breaths would echo through the empty corridors that had still been so crowded a few hours before.
Once Opeila had left the odd scene unfolding in the Slytherin Boys' dormitories and stepped into the corridors, she had broken into a sprint. She had not said a word but truthfully, she was terrified to the core. Professor Lear's and Jensen's talk had conjured memories, images of scared children, a shadow towering above her and being destroyed by a bright beam of light, a split-second before the same dagger-like limb that had cut right through one of her classmates before could enter her too...
Had she done this? Marion? Had Opeila's desire to save her friend given Marion the tools she needed to unleash horrors on the school again? The young Slytherin caught herself on the wall, allowed herself to pause for three seconds, before she went on, half stumbling, half running. Her condition wasn't terrible at all, thanks to the daily jogs with Flash, but the fear, the prickling sensation at the back of her neck chased her through the castle as quickly as she could, the air entering and leaving her lungs with a sound like a whistle.
Every shadow seemed to move, ever suit of armor contain life. When Opeila finally reached the Astronomy Tower, the young prefect was shivering and covered in cold sweat, the fear still clear and plain on her face. Holding herself on the door frame, she would slam her palm against the door, over and over, her legs trembling from the sprint up several staircases. "Professor Horne! Professor Horne!" Her calls were barely more than breathless, high gasps that she prayed would be heard on the other side. Tears stood in her eyes that she tried to fight back with all her might.
Something soft brushed past her legs making her jump with a gasp. Then she recognized the little creature. "Loras..." Of course, she had left the door open. Between everything, she had failed to realise that this meant letting her cat out as well.
11 Jan 2023, 17:45
Nightly Panics
─── ꟻH ───
Interacting | @Opeila Winters & @Finley Greer
Hex Color | #A13330
🌑︎ 🌒︎ 🌓︎ 🌔︎ 🌕︎ 🌖︎ 🌗︎ 🌘︎Coded by Rafael D'Spacito
Finley and Farron had gotten in the routine of stargazing together once a week. Sometimes Farron grades homework while Finley keeps her company and stares at the stars. This time they were both gazing together, a blanket laid over their laps to keep away the chill of the night from the top of the tower being open. "This is the perfect time of year for Mars. Jupiter is ehh, you can see it mostly. I'm constantly amazed at how clear the sky is. No light pollution like muggle London." The two of them would probably turn in soon. While it wasn't super late for the Astronomer, she liked to try and keep schedule with the rest of the students. Besides, staying up super late once a week wasn't going to kill her.
Ever since summer, Finley and Farron had been spending a lot of time together. It was nice. Having a friend, a support in this giant boarding school had been a boon she didn't realize she was missing before. They gossiped about students and their drama, Farron talked about her dad a lot and would share the letters he wrote her. She hadn't had a good friend like this in awhile. At the realization she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She finally felt settled, calm. The beginning of this job brought a lot of uncertainty about her skills and worry about leaving her dad alone for the first time since her mom died. But, everything was alright.
That was until bangs on the door nearly had Farron jump out of her skin. She took a second to look at Finley with concern before throwing off the blanket and racing to the door. She quickly unlocked it, her mind was already racing. Why was a student up so late and also at her door? "Opeila, my goodness, are you alright?" Surely she wasn't. The poor girl looked like she had seen a murder, a ghost, though those were pretty common here anyway. Farron ushered her in with a gentle hand on her shoulder, looking out into the hallway as she did so to make sure that Opeila wasn't being followed by anyone or anything that was trying to harm her. There was a cat, but it seemed friendly so it was allowed in.
"Finley, I have some clean water at my desk that I use to refill Stinkbug's, can you grab it for Opeila?" She would lead the girl to a seat if she was allowed. If Opeila refused to move, she would stand with her. "Take a second dear, catch your breath. What's going on?" Opeila was a prefect, so she wouldn't be here for no reason. Even if she wasn't, the panic in her voice, the strain that showed she had sprinted from wherever in the castle she had come from was real. If this was to turn into a prank, it would be the most elaborate one Farron had ever seen put on.
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12 Jan 2023, 03:40
Nightly Panics
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Stargazing was an easy way to make your problems feel smaller. It was a good habit for Finley, to reflect on the beauty of space and put her life into perspective. And doing it with a friend made it that much more enjoyable. Volunteering to staff the summer camp had been worth it for meeting Farron alone, the Astronomy professor had been a great help as Finley settled into her new life.
Farron was right, the stars were impressively bright away from any sort of city, or even village. "It's crazy how we can see things so far away with just our eyes... Mars doesn't even emit light, and yet there it is." Finley took a breath, about to ask her friend a question when-
BANG BANG BANG!
"Professor Horne! Professor Horne!"
The hell? Finley stood up as Farron ran to the door, draping the blanket over one of the cushions dotting the floor. The door opened, and the professor led a very panicked student into the classroom.
Fin's mind raced, her rationale taking over as she briefly assessed the pyjama-clad student. Trembling, breathless, no obvious injuries, distressed.
Without so much as a nod, Finley walked over to the desk in the center of the room, grabbing the jar of water off of it and delivering it to the girl, "Opeila". "Here," she held the water out for Opeila to take. Whether she accepted the water or not, Finley would stay back from the pair a bit as to not overwhelm the poor girl. Besides, Farron clearly knew her better than Fin did. Too many cooks in the kitchen always spoils the broth, anyways.
12 Jan 2023, 12:57
Nightly Panics
@Farron Horne @Finley Greer
Opeila had not been raised to be religious and nothing about her elementary school RE class had convinced her to believe in a god, but if there was one, Opeila sent him a million thanks when the door opened. The sight of her Astronomy Professor relieved the young girl so much, she would have hugged the woman had she felt that there was time for it.
With the relief setting in and putting an end to her adrenaline rush, Opeila began to feel a little dizzy and allowed Professor Horne to guide her to a seat.
Loras, who was surely sensing his mistress' distress would lie down on her shoes, a source of warmth for her ice cold feet.
The young Slytherin would only notice that there was another adult in the room, when Ms Greer handed her a glass of water. Not forgetting her manners even now, Opeila would whisper thanks to the caretaker and send her a short smile, before taking a small sip.
Then she would turn to Prof Horne again. "I was sent by Professor Lear to get you.", she started, a little calmer now, "There has been... an incident in Slytherin. A first year girl named Thorn Cullen has apparently brought a knife collection to Hogwarts and armed some other first years with them. One of those first years went to the boy's dorms tonight to kill one of the other first years." Saying it felt almost more unreal than seeing it. What would even drive a child of 11 to do such a thing?
The young girl would run one hand over her head, flatten the hairs that had been pulled out of her braid during her sprint and remove those that stuck to her heated face. "Professor Lear wants you to search all Slytherin dormitories. I assume most are awake by now, both the armed girl and the boy she was going to kill screamed loud enough to wake a deaf person." Opeila set down the glass to not spill any water as her hands began to shake harder with her next words. "It seems that... Professor Lear thinks that hags may be behind it. He said to find Professor Lécuyer if you find anything... dark.", she finished, sniffing quietly.
The fourth year would reach down to pick up her cat, give her hands something to do, not daring to look up at the two women. Opeila had never made a secret out of the terrible things that had happened in the castle, had used them to give any first years that found it an appropriate thing to do to sneak out at night a good scare to get them to stay in the safety of their dorms at night, but truly she had thought that the worst of the danger was gone. That the darkness was gone.
The sudden uncertainty troubled the prefect deeply.
The up and down of emotions in the past half hour, fear, relief, anger, terror, exhaustion, mixed with the adrenaline rush of her sprint through the castle, all of it molded together into something that Opeila couldn't name if she wanted to, but finally made the tears spill over. Again the young girl would sniff, wipe her nose with her sleeve, and continue cuddling her cat, a much needed source of comfort and warmth.
12 Jan 2023, 18:41
Nightly Panics
─── ꟻH ───
Interacting | @Opeila Winters & @Finley Greer
Hex Color | #A13330
🌑︎ 🌒︎ 🌓︎ 🌔︎ 🌕︎ 🌖︎ 🌗︎ 🌘︎Coded by Rafael D'Spacito
When Opeila was calm enough to explain the situation, Farron wouldn't have been able to guess it even if she had a hundred guesses. Farron looked back at Finley who was a couple steps away to avoid overwhelming Opeila, she was an incredibly smart woman. Her eyebrows were knit together and without words she tried to communicate: 'Can you believe this shit?' Attempted murder of an eleven year old. What was up with these children? Who needed a knife collection at a boarding school? There were too many questions, ones that she was sure Opeila was asking in her own head.
"I thought the hags were... gone. No matter, do you want to stay here? I'm sure Miss Greer wouldn't mind staying with you." Using a formality for Finley felt a bit weird, but she tried to use formalities in front of students to command respects for the adults that taught and took care of them. "I know that you're supposed to be back but, I'm sure what you witnessed was quite a shock." She couldn't help but give a small smile at the cat providing comfort to his parent. Stinkbug was not that emotionally reliable.
"I mean- if you're required to go back down with me, that's also alright. Finley, I don't know if you'd want to join us for as far as you can go." She stepped away from the girl to get her belongings. She grabbed a couple of tissues from her desk as well for the sniffling prefect. "Never a dull day at Hogwarts." Which was muttered mostly to herself.
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16 Jan 2023, 05:29
Nightly Panics
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Finley's jaw quite literally fell agape as Opeila began to speak. Attempted murder?! The caretaker shook her head; nothing even close to this happened when she was in school. Sure, it wasn't always safe, but where is true safety, anyways.
She caught Farron's eye, returning a similar What the actual hell is happening right now' look. This was... unprecedented, as far as Finley was aware. The mention of hags was surprising, but seemed plausible. A shiver went down Fin's back as she considered the repercussions of hags running through Hogwarts. "Miss Greer" felt strange, especially coming from Farron. The caretaker never had any issue with lack of honorifics from students, since she wasn't a professor and "Miss" just sounded odd to her. No matter, this wasn't the time to think about titles and the like.
Fin have a soft smile to Opeila at the suggestion of the girl staying for a moment and composing herself. "If this was the state you came up in, I'm sure the Headmaster would understand if you were a bit delayed in returning." She gave a small nod, "Take your time here, I'm not going anywhere."
Farron took tissues and gathered her belongings, seemingly unfazed by the abrupt call for duty. It was admirable. "You go ahead F- Professor," she corrected herself quickly, "I'll lock up if we leave before you return."
19 Jan 2023, 23:30
Nightly Panics
@Farron Horne @Finley Greer
Opeila didn't miss the silent conversation between the two women, that couldn't have been louder had they used words. Looks that Opeila would have surely exchanged with Cash as well, hadn't the fourth year been so shook by what had transpired down in the basement. She really thanked heaven that both Lear and Professor Jensen had been around to take care of the issue, that it didn't fall to probably Cash and her as the oldest prefects to decide how to respond to a case of attempted murder and at the same time handle the mass of eavesdropping first and second years behind the door.
Then Professor Horne turned to her again, asked if Opeila wanted to stay in the Astronomy Tower with Miss Greer. Staying up here, safely with another adult? Not having to return to the basement, to an almost crime scene right away? Hell, she wouldn't think twice about that. "I... I would like to stay, if that is really okay." Opeila looked at Finley, when she confirmed that she would stay with her, shyly smiling at the still rather unfamiliar woman. The fourth year hadn't felt much desire to bond with the new caretaker, not because she had done anything wrong, but because she had replaced the former caretaker Mr. Paine. Him Opeila did miss occasionally, he was a good address for a fun conversation.
Her shaky fingers moved through her cat's fur, never stopping for a second. When the Professor was getting ready to leave, Opeila tensed. Opeila didn't have much to do with Professor Horne either, but she had always found her to be a kind and caring woman. What if she was actually going to find something in the girls' dormitory? What if there was something dark lurking, only waiting to attack? Would the Professor return fine and alive?
Opeila's head was empty as she watched, there was nothing she could think of that she could say.