What is Wrong with You?! Private Closed

The plot twist came in when Jake said the strangest phrase — she couldn't imagine anyone saying it considering the context. The artefact was evil. It was clear like the sun in the sky. But... help? Help exactly how?

She couldn't understand anything. Why was the person 'he' trying to help? And who was the other one — the one who put it on Jake? Those were the thoughts that actually led to her misfortunate attempt to remove the face of evil. She realised she was hurting Jake, but not right away.

When she heard the voice of Professor Browne, she jumped up and sort of shrieked. How could it even be possible: she just said it out loud and he appeared out of thin air. Was there a ward somewhere to trigger when his name was spoken? But then, he couldn't have apparated as it's not allowed on the ground of...

Professor asked the question. Then another. She opened her mouth, but couldn't produce anything but 'Ah-'. And closed it again. The pure shock was still burning through the tips of her fingers, effectively paralysing her cognitive and verbal abilities. She was just looking at him, and then sobbing Jake, trying to say at least one proper word. The professor waited.

She walked around Jake and tenderly took his by the sides of his head and raised it up a little. So that the ugly mask could face Professor Browne. She assumed the adults knew. That they did their own research, or they simply knew everything that was going on back then, and probably what was going on at that moment as well.

"Here... here is what," she finally said, almost in a whisper, all strength suddenly leaving her muscles, and she dropped Jake's head back into the embrace of sobbing, "And Jake was just going to say who did it to him."

Caradoc's eyes widened as they locked onto Jake's head. The panic that cut through the hallway was unusual, uncalled-for by any standard. That meant that this was no ordinary encounter. His head cocked itself as it stared down hard upon the mask that sat on top of the young Hufflepuff's face. "What have you done, Jake?" The words hissed from behind Caradoc's gritted teeth. The boy would find his Head of House staring in anger. A rare emotion to witness in public.

The large badger shifted to the side and pointed Meenauh to the next exit. "Thank you, miss Silmataurea." Remembering her name very accurately in a moment of need. "I believe this is all we will require from you this evening. Perhaps I can find you tomorrow for a few extra questions." A stiff smile was plastered to his face, and his eyes only briefly addressed the girl's presence before finally snapping back towards his own student. Meenauh would slowly find her way back to her common room as asked (Permission to godmod given by Meenauh).

For Jake, however, things had only just begun between him and Doc. Never before would he have seen his own Head of Hufflepuff look so stern. Almost devoid of any emotion boiling within. "I need you. To sit still. Mr Morris." He placed his words carefully, as if he were calculating his every move within the parameters of this situation. There was little to question about the mask. There was only one that had gathered the media's attention in the past few years. In bringing forth the mystery of how Jake got it, it also answered many things about the boy's own endangered life. Now Caradoc's assumptions began to unravel threads he had been pondering on for months on end.

His hands slowly began to clench themselves around the mask, sweaty fingers stroking against Jake's cheeks before they dug into the mask's edges. Jake would see Doc's face fold into a grimace of gritted teeth before he shouted the revulsion jinx and threw his arms backwards, trying to take the mask from Jake by force. Within the blink of an eye, Caradoc would lose his own balance and feel Jake's weight pull against him. But the old badger's own strength was more than capable of carrying the body of a very small student.

Poor Jake would find himself lifted off his feet and feel his back slam into the wall next to both him and Caradoc. The spell had shown no effect at all. Useless. The mask wouldn't surrender itself to the Head of Hufflepuff's magic. Caradoc yelled an unintelligible growl at the boy, frustrated by his own act. Without any hesitation, the man's right hand would take hold of Jake's collar and hold him against the wall. His other hand latched itself face-frontal onto the boy's head (DC -5, was reduced by spell). Both man and boy would feel the mask shift slightly, as if it were trying to find a better position to hold.

And then it started. With as much strength as Caradoc Browne could muster, the mask slowly tugged on Jake's cheeks, nose and forehead. Like pulling two magnets off one another, the mask itself resisted its shift of possession. Slowly, and surely, Jake would feel his skin release the mask as Caradoc's arm trembled in the effort of taking it from him. Until, with a last hard tug, the Head of House tore it off and almost threw it across the hallway. Jake, had been released from the mask's hold (Roll of 26 = Success).

Caradoc himself, would go and sit on the stone floor. His heavy breathing echoed through the hallway, which was surprisingly still undisturbed aside from both their presences. "I am sorry, Jake." He whispered between breaths as he offered a careful smile to the boy. "But that. Needed to be done." He carefully laid the mask to the side before he crawled closer to his student. Both his hands would cradle Jake's burning head. Red marks covering the small boy's head, at least the tears might sooth the stinging sensation a little. "We'll need to take care of that." He sighed. "But I do think the worst is behind us now." One hand rested on Jake's shoulders and held it firmly, shaking him just enough to grab his attention. Kindness had returned to Caradoc's gaze. "You're safe, Jake. Safe." There were questions he wanted to ask him, but Doc refrained from asking them at this point. He'd get them later.

@Caradoc Browne
(Cara I love you and Im sorry that I am the slowest RP partner in the history of the world)

'What have you done, Mr. Morris?'

The question came, as tears dripped down from Jake's cheeks to the floor. He couldn't answer. He couldn't speak.

So many things...

Jake had never been one to keep a secret. If he knocked something over, spilled something, he was the first to solemnly tell what he had done...to confess, to parents or teachers alike. He'd never been punished very much at home. It hadn't been necessary. The boy's guilt would often punish himself.

Never before had Jake felt what he felt now...the weight of months of secrets, all formed together into a crushing mountain of lies that weighed him down, one invisible to the eye just as much as the thing that rested upon his face. Weighed down on him for so long until now...when Professor Browne seemed to see beneath them. His calm voice cut through everything...right to Jake's soul...a man that Jake couldn't bear to disappoint. There was nowhere to hide now. The secrets were over.

Jake couldn't speak, still crying, as Meenaugh held his drooping head up to face his Head of House. Through glassy eyes, Jake would see Professor Browne's face change. And then Jake heard Professor Browne speak in a tone he had never heard before, not to him or anybody else.

'What have you done, Jake?'

The words had been hissed, and the man's kind eyes had hardened into something much colder. The shock in that had stalled the boy's crying. Professor Browne's eyes had a fire inside of them that Jake had only seen when the man was protecting the other badgers, never before at a child.

Jake could not have moved if he wanted. Professor Browne voice carried authority as if he was Jake's own father. In truth, Jake had always seen him that way when at school. He loved the man. Trusted him. But when Professor Browne looked upon him in anger, the man would see another look in Jake's eyes that he had seen many times before, but never directed at him - a wide-eyed look of fear.

Professor Browne's words had such effect that Jake did not move as the man's hands reached for him, much stronger than Meenaugh's. Did not move until the hands began to pull.

Then the pain came back, worse than before. A pain he couldn't escape.

Jake found himself lifted off the ground, his back slamming into the wall, pain radiating down his body. Professor Browne's hand was attached firmly to his face and it was pulling. The man's face was gritted with intensity. Ripping, throbbing, pulling...Jake tried to pull away, the order to stand still forgotten. Professor Browne was hurting him. He couldn't see anymore, it just hurt...everything hurt, his back, his face, his skin was tearing, and he cried and screamed in terror and pain and squirmed wildly under the man who threatened to rip his skin off.

It was an eternity. Hot pain. Pulling, pulling, pulling, Jake's skin was going to come off of his face. It was going to come off of his face and turn him to a skeleton. He had never felt so much pain. The boy's mind was a panic. His legs kicked uselessly in air...it wouldn't stop. He felt a wave of cool. The tearing was happening. His skin was coming away!!! The boy's piercing yell rang through the hallway.

And then it was over.

The tearing searing pain gave way to an aching throb. Cold...everything was cold. For the first time in a year, Jake could feel breeze on pale skin that had not felt the true touch of sun in some time. And then Jake felt the ground.

The small boy lay on the floor of the castle, his cheek against impossibly cold stone. Everything hurt...he cried, a weak choked sound. Whatever had attached itself to him was gone now. His face was throbbing. He was a broken form upon the ground. There was no more fight inside of him.

He would hear the voice of Professor Browne....different again. It had gone back to the kindly fatherly voice that he knew. The one that had made Hufflepuff the warm place it always was. He would feel the man's arms take his shoulders. The boy's sobs were weak now.

The blurry sight came into focus, and when it did, Jake saw the eyes he remembered. It was like something had taken control of Professor Browne too, just like it had Jake, and had now left, leaving him the way Jake had always known him. He said he was safe. Safe....

Jake pressed his face to Professor Browne's chest. Professor Browne would feel the boy clutch at him with trembling arms, clinging with all the small strength he had inside him. Away from the fear, the pain....Professor Browne said he was safe....but Jake hadn't felt safe in a long time.

"I'm sorry...." the boy managed weakly. Another sob racked his chest. He squeezed his damp eyes shut. "I'm sorry...."