17 Feb 2021, 14:15
loud howling in the early morning
@Haley Rose @Eliza Corrids @Simon Kincaid @Gia Adelard
Maverick stood in shock as he watched the letter fly out of Haley's hands and started shouting the message through out the hall. He had imagined the Howler experience to be a bad one but this was far worse then he could have ever imagined. Maverick looked back at Haley and could tell she was having an awful time. Of course, that was probably the understatement of the century. He had tried to tone out most of the letter but it was a bit hard as it was literally shouting out for everyone to here.
He wasn't entirely sure what the letter what talking about but, of course, it wasn't meant for him so why would he. All he knew was that this shouldn't have been shared with the entire dining hall. Anger was building up inside him, even if he didn't know the exact context behind the letter he knew it was causing Haley pain and embarrassment and he couldn't forgive it. Eventually, the Howler stopped but it's effects lingered on. He looked back at his friend, who was now being comforted by Simon. He wasn't exactly sure what he could say to make the situation better, comforting people had never exactly been his strong suit. Nonetheless, he wanted to help his friend and he would do his best.
"It's going to be ok Haley," he started, trying his best to soften his tone, "we'll help you through this, it will be ok." He patted her shoulder slightly, taking his hand away so it seemed less awkward then it was. He looked down at the table where the now shredded pieces of Howler laid, staring daggers at it. He despised it with his whole being even it was now gone. He just hoped they would be enough to make the Gryffindor girl feel at least a little better.
Maverick stood in shock as he watched the letter fly out of Haley's hands and started shouting the message through out the hall. He had imagined the Howler experience to be a bad one but this was far worse then he could have ever imagined. Maverick looked back at Haley and could tell she was having an awful time. Of course, that was probably the understatement of the century. He had tried to tone out most of the letter but it was a bit hard as it was literally shouting out for everyone to here.
He wasn't entirely sure what the letter what talking about but, of course, it wasn't meant for him so why would he. All he knew was that this shouldn't have been shared with the entire dining hall. Anger was building up inside him, even if he didn't know the exact context behind the letter he knew it was causing Haley pain and embarrassment and he couldn't forgive it. Eventually, the Howler stopped but it's effects lingered on. He looked back at his friend, who was now being comforted by Simon. He wasn't exactly sure what he could say to make the situation better, comforting people had never exactly been his strong suit. Nonetheless, he wanted to help his friend and he would do his best.
"It's going to be ok Haley," he started, trying his best to soften his tone, "we'll help you through this, it will be ok." He patted her shoulder slightly, taking his hand away so it seemed less awkward then it was. He looked down at the table where the now shredded pieces of Howler laid, staring daggers at it. He despised it with his whole being even it was now gone. He just hoped they would be enough to make the Gryffindor girl feel at least a little better.
Wisdom begins in wonder.
17 Feb 2021, 18:24
loud howling in the early morning
@Haley Rose, @Simon Kincaid, @Eliza Corrids, @Maverick Anwyll Finally, finally, Haley said that she would open it. Glad that she'd finally convinced her friend to do it, Gia relaxed ever so slightly. Sure, she knew that something bad was going to come soon - why had Haley's mother sent her a Howler? - but at least it wouldn't be as bad as it could've been. Giving her friend an encouraging smile, the first year waited on the edge of her seat to see what would happen next. Before anything could happen, however, another person arrived. They now had quite a crowd surrounding them, and everyone there seemed to know Haley. Ugh. Well, at least the boy that'd just arrived seemed to understand how important it was to open the letter, right?
After another hesitant pause, Haley said once more that she was going to open it. She seemed a bit more annoyed with the rest of them now, since they had been bugging her over and over to open it, but Gia didn't pay too much attention to that fact. In fact, every thought she'd had in her head before the letter exploded was immediately pushed out of her mind the instant she heard a woman's booming voice echo throughout the hall shouting her friend's name. Biting her lip, the young Gryffindor shot a quick glance in Haley's direction to see what her reaction was, even though she had a pretty good guess that it wouldn't be something good. Indeed, Haley had sunk as low in her chair as she could, and her whole body seemed to be shaking as the bright red envelope shaped itself into a sort of face and continued yelling.
"Haley - " Gia tried to offer some sort of comfort to the poor girl, but had been cut off almost right away by Haley's mother's voice screaming as loud as she could. Realizing now that it was going to be almost impossible for her to get another word in while the Howler was still going, the eleven year old reached out to squeeze her friend's hand comfortingly instead. The hand other than the one Simon was holding, of course. She didn't really want to listen to the letter that was sure to be something private for only Haley, but it was very hard to do so when it's contents were being shouted out to the world - or so it seemed, at least. Still, Gia tried her hardest not to focus on the individual words themselves and let everything blur together as background noise. This strategy seemed to work, until -
"Haley, a PARSEL!! And then not tell us. I still can't believe it." the girl's eyes widened. She'd heard that word before. . . and while she couldn't remember exactly who had said it or what it meant, Gia could tell that most people did not think of it as a good thing. The first year didn't bring this up yet though, and instead turned to look straight at Haley. Simon was already speaking to her in low tones, trying to convince her that her mother was wrong and Gia quickly tried to join in but found that she couldn't think of what to say. When Haley had comforted her a few days ago she hadn't used words so much as actions, so the young Gryffindor decided to do this too. In her experience, actions really did speak louder than words.
Reaching over, Gia gave Haley a hug. Gia had never been all that much of a hugger, so it might've come as a slight surprise to the other girl. When she let go, the first year still didn't say anything. Instead she kept a firm but comforting grip on Haley's hand and gave the other Gryffindor student a warm smile. Her eyes communicated the same words that the others were saying, but also showed her sympathy for the girl. Getting a Howler from her mother - who clearly seemed to blame her for something she couldn't help - must be hard, Gia thought.649 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers
⋆ You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it⋆
Sta 8 ⋆ Eva 6 ⋆ Str 3 ⋆ Wis 7 ⋆ Arc 5 ⋆ Acc 6
Sta 8 ⋆ Eva 6 ⋆ Str 3 ⋆ Wis 7 ⋆ Arc 5 ⋆ Acc 6
18 Feb 2021, 09:41
loud howling in the early morning
Haley was in shock. She didn't know whether to cry, scream or be quiet. She wanted to do everything at once. She had barely noticed that Simon was holding her hand and Gia was holding her other hand. Her friends were here for her, but she hadn't noticed, the world around her had faded out and she could only silently hear the voices that were now speaking. She slowly came back from her trance and the first thing she did was look to her left. There was Simon and she looked shocked and sad in his face. She didn't know what to say and her eyes fell on their hands.
Suddenly she felt a warm embrace. It was Gia who was now hugging her and Haley returned it. She felt safe in their embrace for a moment, but as soon as they released it, everything rattled back at Haley. She still hadn't said anything but she squeezed Gia's hand lightly and looked at her face for a moment. She tried to give her a smile, but failed. But she was grateful for Gia. She knew only too well that sometimes you just needed peace and quiet and no words were needed.
Her gaze now wandered slightly upwards and now she looked at Mav, who was still standing at the table and speaking to her comfortingly. All her friends were still here and none had turned their backs on her, which made the situation a lot better, yet Haley couldn't feel anything positive. She was incredibly grateful for everyone who was now here with her, but what she felt was sadness and anger. And that was a dangerous mixture. She wanted to cry and scream and most of all she never wanted to see her mother again. Her eyes now landed on the letter from Ian. She loved her cousin, he was like her big brother and they had a closer relationship than he had with his own brothers but at that moment she was just angry with him. She didn't have to read his letter but knew that he was partly to blame for her mother finding out.
She took his letter, "Screw you." She said softly and tore it in half without reading it and threw it on the table. Later she would regret it if she didn't read the letter, but she wasn't aware of that at that moment. At that moment she was incredibly angry with Ian and his brothers as well. And for the first time, Haley now looked across the Great Hall. There were only a few more students than when Haley had entered the hall, but most eyes were fixed on the Gryffindor table, on herself. Some looked away in shame as Haley looked at them, others started whispering and others looked at her fearfully.
That was the moment the protective shield broke in over Haley. Now it felt like all the emotions were hitting her in their full force. Haley tried to withstand it, but she could not. It was too much for her and now tears began to spill from the corners of her eyes. Slowly at first, but quickly, a waterfall of tears formed and Haley gulped. She held her hands in front of her face. No.No.No. You mustn't cry now, not here. Haley screamed at herself inside. This only made the situation worse and more embarrassing for her. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand, but quickly there were new ones. She now looked at the faces of her friends. First Gia, then Eliza, then Mav and then Simon.
Here her gaze lingered longer than on the others. But she couldn't make it. She couldn't stay in this place. "I- I am s-sorry." She gulped softly to herself and disengaged her hands from Gia and Simon. She stood up quickly tripping over her own feet before running out of the great hall. She didn't know where to go. She just wanted to run until she couldn't anymore. But that was not possible. She stopped at the entrance to the great hall and looked briefly to the right and to the left. She didn't know where she was going.
Students who passed her looked at her in confusion, but she ignored their glances. She would like to go outside, but she was not dressed for it. She couldn't stay here either, so she decided to run to the left. She ran down the corridor. Left, right, left. Until she reached a quiet place. She sat down on the floor, leaned her back against the wall and clutched her legs. Here it was quiet and secluded. No one would disturb her here. She did not know what to do. She rested her head on her legs and cried softly.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
21 Feb 2021, 17:21
loud howling in the early morning
Giving @Haley Rose support
This was making him upset and Simon didn't normally get upset. To know something like howlers existed in the wizarding world was hard enough to wrap his mind around. They were something that only existed to embarrass the recipient. What perplexed him even more was that Haley's own mother would do something like this to her. She had already been worried about what people would think of her parselmouth ability due to the stigma around it and now the whole entire school would know. Sure, only a few were at breakfast that morning but he already heard the whispers. So had she.
While he didn't know much about mothers, he knew they were supposed to be there for protection, for guidance, for understanding, and love - not humiliation. This was too much. Simon didn't even know the woman and now she was upset. Not at Ian. No, Haley didn't even read his letter. Perhaps his was even a warning or an apology. The guilt here laid within her mother and now he needed to try and undo the damage that she had inflicted on her child.
He hurried out of the Great Hall after her, looking one direction, and then the other, trying to get a feel for where he thought Haley might go. The last time they needed a moment alone it was in an abandoned corridor so that was going to be his first attempt. He went one way and followed it around until it led to a dead end so he went back to where he started and tried the other way, going left, down the corridor, and twisted around until he saw her resting her head and crying.
He felt absolutely awful.
"Haley," he whispered, wanting her to know he was there and not be startled. Simon then knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here for you. Your other friends support you as well. You're strong. You'll get through this." She wasn't alone. That was the main message he hoped to send to her.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
27 Feb 2021, 19:29
loud howling in the early morning
Keeping herself alive while @Haley Rose figures her life out
Eliza sat at the bench. She had forgotten what she was doing, after all the other students were running around and talking wildly. What was the point of all this? Yes- her friend Haley had gotten a howler. Ouch- Eliza looked up at her friend. She felt bad for her. But what could she do?
"Are you alright Haley?" She looked at the girl, but seeing a small misshapen blob. She felt bad for her, and for herself. She couldn't make out 100% what was happening. As the boy standing next to Haley supported her, Eliza looked around for her glasses.
Are they in my dorm?... maybe in my trunk.... the girls bathroom? Eliza thought, her mind racing. What was happening? What was she talking about? Why was she here? She had forgotten. COMPLETELY. She sighed, giving up the search of her glasses. She looked at Haley again.
She didn't want to seem rude- was she being rude? She wasn't sure.... Eliza was NEVER sure. She looked at the other girl there, then back at Haley, and the boy next to Haley- and the boy next to her?! She sighed, sitting up straight. She thought it was a boy- might've been a blob.
2 Mar 2021, 14:09
loud howling in the early morning
Haley didn't know what to do and especially didn't know what to feel. One moment she was dead sad that she was considered bad by her own family for being a parsel and the next moment she felt nothing but incredible rage against her mother. How could she do this to her? And then she was just incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassed by it all. Why did this have to happen to her of all people? While she sat there on the floor, wavering between crying and clenching her fists, she completely forgot the time and suddenly she heard a voice.
She didn't have to look up to see that it was Simon kneeling beside her. Of course it was Simon. He was the one who was always there for her. He was the one who had already been through so much drama with Haley and at this moment it only made her more uncomfortable. She didn't want to be a crybaby or someone who needed constant attention. She heard his comforting words, but they didn't get through to her. Because her mind was still buzzing with thoughts about all the students and her friends. Would they turn away from her now? What would the other students say about her?
But she didn't want to be weak, she didn't want to show herself weak in front of Simon again and so she wiped the tears from her face and turned her sadness into anger. Anger towards her own mother. She looked at Simon now, her eyes thick and red but her gaze showing her anger. "Can you believe what she did?" Haley shook her head in disbelief. She still couldn't believe it herself. "She had no right to do that!" she said loudly now and slammed her fist into the wall to her right. She had underestimated the force and immediately she felt a sharp pain in her hand, but she suppressed the feeling. She didn't want to embarrass herself any further in front of Simon and so she just grimaced briefly and continued speaking.
"And that's proof enough now, isn't it? It's bad and it should have been a secret. I'm bad." And at those words, the sadness that she couldn't suppress this time came back. She looked at him now in the eyes for the first time since Simon was there. She looked into his eyes and tears gathered again, making it difficult for her to see.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets