Tainted Service Top Earner's Fate

-

Aida's voice gave her pause even as she began to allowed herself to be led out the door by Canbey. At her warning, she stopped in her tracks, planting her heels into the ground as a twinge of unease tinged through her like the sound of a water droplet hitting the surface of a pond. There... something was wrong. She felt like... that state right before she went into the episode, though she hadn't done that in a long time. Wait... she'd had that thought before. She tried to pinpoint it, remember.

She couldn't. But one thing was clear: something was wrong. While she didn't know exactly how wrong that wrong was, there was something out of place, and just like when anything was out of place at this cursedly over-adventurous school, she would probably do well to keep her wits about her. "Canbey, why's Aida telling me to stay?" she asked bluntly, slurring just a bit. If there really was something wrong, the elf wouldn't give her a straight answer that made sense—she only hoped she was lucid enough to discern between the two. "What—what are you trying to help us with? What have we become?" None of Canbey's words made sense, and she couldn't tell if it was because of the tea, because he was trying to be cryptic, or a mix of both.

"Wait—how do you know their names?" Cel asked, confused, though the question was muddled—there were a billion ways they could've known them. But the tone in Aida's voice, the repeating thoughts and increasing sense of deja vu were enough to have her backing away from the door, shaking her head. Did the elves have malicious intent? That she still wasn't sure about. But she knew she wasn't ready to leave until she had a few answers.

STAMINA 5
EVASION 8
STRENGTH 2
WISDOM 11
ARCPOWER 10

ACCURACY 9
ABILITIES Prodigial DADA and Perfectionist I

ACTIONS just talking and backing away from the door to Aida and Alexander, relatively far into the room, it's clear she doesn't intend to leave yet but she doesn't seem hostile either, wand is in her hand but not raised

-

That is the problem with forgetting, it is so hard to remember what you have forgotten when you can barely remember that you forgot. Alexander would try to put some sort of logical sequence together for all of this. Why would the House Elves try to make them forget? What boon could there possibly be in it for them? What boon could be in it for their master?

- We have done something bad (perhaps under the Imperius)
- This thing might be related to Headmaster Lear. Maybe they were used by something hunting for him
- The house elves were in some way still serving Lear
- The house elves gave them a substance to make them forget
- The house elves thought they were helping them.
- We might have seen something horrible

Could it be something so specific? That they in particular were singled out, if so why? Could answering their inquiries set them right? If so, then why did the House elves provide a stalwart defense against their questioning? Why did they insist that they take the drink and forget? There were more house elves than there were children. They could overpower them, force them to take the drink. But they did not. Was it because they could not or would not?

There were more questions than there were answers. Of course if the House Elves were doing what they were out of compassion, love or mercy rather than vindictive intentions then there would be no amount of indigence on the part of their 'victim' that could be used to force the elf to divulge the truth.

Could @Alexander Varellion remember what he forgot?

What he remembered seemed so mundane. Just faces. Images. People smiling. People crying. People whose names he had forgotten, perhaps he had never bothered to ask.
Ensconced in green. Fellow snakes each of them.
There were so many faces. Some with names. Some with none, just shadows. Avatars of a person utterly and completely forgotten, their eyes might even be something that they imagined.
Where were they? Where have they been?

Sometimes there is a reason to forget.

Aida was defiant. Always one to speak her mind even if she was not certain of its burdens. Those troubles belonged to her or so she thought.

“Who are your masters?”

“What do you really want? Have you been wronged?”

“What were we doing when you saw us before? Why do we keep coming here?”

“Are you house elves happy with your situation, and if not, why? Are you forced to do something you don’t want to do?”

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood barraged the House Elves with questions. The House elves at Hogwarts were free elves and they said as much. "We are free elves," for whatever value that had. Freedom meant different things to different people. Service was an act of pride, they saw value in their diligence, and their dedication. Their status of service was viewed differently from their collective viewpoint.

But that did not mean that Aida was entirely wrong. House Elves are also autonomous creatures, capable of rational decision-making, sentiment, attachment, sympathy and a sense of justice. "We want to keep you safe, trust us,"[/b][/color] one of the elves claimed. "The less you know the better," their eyes seemed to plead -- you do not want to know this. Of course they never said it was a singular incident that they were holding them away from. In fact, that was impossible unless Alexander only just now remembered that he forgot, but he forgot that he only recently forgot. (Confused yet?)

Aida had not forgotten as much as Alexander had. But there were gaps, small spaces in time that could not be filled. They were small, this day for instance.

"Canbey, why's Aida telling me to stay?"

"Not a clue Miss Gray," Canbey answered handing his hand up to her to escort her to freedom. "Canbey thinks that they have an overactive imagination."

"What—what are you trying to help us with? What have we become?"

"Nothing Miss Gray," Canbey answered. "You came to Canbey," he reminded her. "Upset stomachs after eating in the Great Hall," a truth missing some key facts. "You come, Canbey help. You leave. You return again." He reiterated a partial truth once again. "To your quarters Miss Grey, sleep it off. Canbey is worried."

"Wait—how do you know their names?"

"The same way you know Canbey's," the house elf replied. Although that was not entirely true. @Celynne Gray knew his because he had told it to her dozens of time today alone. They were window dressings. Background servants. Not even seen if it was not necessary. Their names and their deeds less than footnotes in the history of their masters, but at least they were credited then. The meager sickles they earned was not nearly recompense. They were janitors. Faceless caregivers and servants. But that did not matter, not really. He gave her hand a squeeze, "Canbey will protect."

"You won't like what you have become. What you are. What you will be." Aida could not just let those words go, so Aida pressed them with a barrage of questions. "We are free elves," was their only reply. How typical: most of Aida’s questions went unanswered, and it just so happened this was one of her pet peeves. The house elves were like so many others, as Aida had been alienating people left and right since first coming to Hogwarts by peppering them with questions right off the bat. What had started as a childish habit, however, had just transformed into a test. How earnest and patient and helpful would some potential friend be if on the first day they lied and willfully concealed important information, let alone failed to feed Aida’s black hole of curiosity? To Aida, lies and obfuscations were a form of taking power over her. At this rate, the house elves were blowing up any possibility of having an ally in Aida, who had an automatic predisposition to help non-humans.

If the eyes of the elves were saying "you do not want to know this” then Aida’s eyes were replying with, Don’t tell me what I want. Wouldn’t that be hypocritical?

The elves seemed upset at their human “liberators,” but Aida could now see that they had themselves to blame for not answering when someone bothered to ask what they wanted. The power of a sentient, speaking creature was that they could say what they wanted, especially when an interested listener asked. Aida felt this should have made it easier to know what the elves needed. What help could Aida possibly give if the elves would not even say what they wanted? Still, Aida was patient, often to a fault… though as her patience dwindled, Aida’s strategies were prone to turning chaotic. After all, whenever Aida had been patient with life, it always seemed to reward her with chaos.

“Do you want to have a master? Let me be your master,” she said simply.

Action: Try to convince the elves to let her be their master. If this does not require a roll, then use sixth sense to discern how to get the elves to agree to having her be their master.
Character Stats:
Stamina✵ 5, Evasion✵ 5, Strength✵ 4, Wisdom✵ 8, Arcane Power✵ 9, Accuracy✵ 4 [old stats retained for consistency]
Ability: Blindvision, Sixth Sense.
Hit Points: 500/500
Color code: #351C75

Alexander leaned against one of the large tables. His face concentrated into a frown.

What had he forgotten?

He vaguely recollected the faces. Some he could even put a name to. Kyden Goodlow, Ailea Frost, Adohiro Morai. They were still students, right? He had seen them....... but when? Alexander let his fist hit the table in frustration as he hissed between his teeth. "Dammit" he had lost so much. But he did not know what, and he did not know what he could do. They could not physically force the house elves to do anything, they were far too numerous. And for some reason, they still would not tell. But why ? Why were the house-elves doing this?

Were they doing it to protect them? Was helping them forgot better.

No, no it was not. Even if the actions that had been committed were terrible. Forgetting them would not erase them. They would still have happened. Forgetting them was cowardice. Fleeing responsibility. Even if he had committed terrible things. It was better to know and try to redeem themselves. Everything better than this, this lack of anything. His memories lost and forgotten. His identity erased.

Alexander pondered what he could do.

He went through what they knew. This was not the first time they had been here. This meant that the thing the house-elves were using was not perfect. Or that they still regularly committed things that the house-elves wanted to hide. Which meant that all he had to do was not to be poisoned again by these house-elves. Yet to just leave like this, it felt weak and wrong. Leaving when there was still so much left to be done.

At least the house-elves did not seem to be forcing them to drink the tea. He supposed he could make one final plea to the house-elves. It probably wouldn't help, but he saw how Aida was making a plea herself and they had exhausted all the other options. He could only remember faces, not deeds. Perhaps they would come back in time. Perhaps he would recall what he might have done. Perhaps he might get some memories back if the house elves responded to a few questions.

Alexander looked to the house elves, letting out an exhausted, desperate and annoyed sigh. The damn things. Their problems wouldn't go away if they forgot, they would still be there.

As such Alexander turned to Canbey and the other house elves again, and spoke with sadness and exhaustion clear in his voice.

"I know that you think you are helping us. That by making us forget we will be safer. That by making us forget we will be better." Deep breath.

"But no act can be erased. History can't be changed. Crimes and atrocities will still have been committed. They are still there. Just because it is forgotten doesn't mean that it didn't happen. Forgetting does not absolve us of responsibility. "

"Hogwarts is a school. The purpose of a school is to learn. BUt what can we learn when we forget what happened. We learn from our mistakes. And even if the mistakes scar us, they are still a part of us. It will not disappear only because we forget it is there. Clearly the current tactic is not working. We keep coming back."

Another deep breath and a deep sigh.
"We will not fall into the same traps again. We won't eat the food that you have poisoned. We will find out what happened."

"Now you are faced with a question. Is it better for us three, or at least us two. " He says looking at Aida.

"To find out what has happened by ourselves, in an uncontrolled environment. Or here, where you can deal with the consequences. Think carefully and think fast. Because if you speak lies, keep obscuring the truth. THen we will walk out of here. And one day we will remember, and we will come back. And you or whatever master you have will face the consequences."

Actions: Making a final plea to the house elves to tell what they made the trio forget.
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers
Stats:
Stamina: 5
Evasion: 9
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 4
Arc Power: 6
Accuracy: 8
Total: 35

-

It was times like this that Cel cursed her lack of attention towards other people, because at this point she was quickly realizing that if she'd just paid a bit of attention to how the other two were reacting, maybe she'd be faring better off right now. But thoughts had started slipping through her grasp a while ago, and it didn't seem to be getting any better. She believed that Canbey wanted to help, she should go back to her dorm, that was probably for the best. That was what most of her mind was telling her. But her gut, that was telling her something was off, and that the feeling of memories fading was all too familiar to her. And she knew that when her mind had been compromised, it was better to listen to her instinct than listen to nothing at all.

But she still had that sliver of reason left that hadn't been convinced elves-good-resistance-is-a-dick-move, and she seized it like a man hanging from a cliff by one hand. Somewhere between wondering if the elves were hiding something and wanting to leave, it managed to push her. Nudge her. Reason through the fog of drugged tea, in a way that made sense, just as usual. Fine, maybe the elves were doing this for their own good—she certainly wanted to believe so!

But there was a sense, her own sense, of curiosity that no potion could dim, and of course there was a little push from reality, because she really had drank a lot of water that night. Just see how it goes, not like it'll hurt you, she urged herself, and then then decision was made.

"Oh," she said agreeably, tucking her wand up her sleeve, and it wasn't half a lie—Canbey's words made perfect sense to her as she nodded along dumbly. "Okay, that makes sense." But if Canbey's explanation was logical, where was that gut feeling of wrongness coming from?

She wasn’t the type to expect disaster for no reason, even if that might be wise in a place like Hogwarts—she tended to be mostly oblivious to the outside world, as much as she knew that was a bad habit. If there was nothing wrong, why were alarm bells going off in her head? She’d had this feeling before, and she did learn from her mistakes, if nothing else. This, well, she had to figure out.

"Canbey, I think I drank too much tea," she said, frowning. "Or water at dinner, I don't know. Can I use the restroom here before we go? It's a long walk from here all the way to the Common Room." And then she'd go, gladly—it was completely true. Lying wasn’t her best skill—or rather, she knew how to do it: with as much truth as possible. She just needed a moment, and then she'd go and sleep it off. She was tired, after all.

STAMINA 5
EVASION 8
STRENGTH 2
WISDOM 11
ARCPOWER 10

ACCURACY 9
ABILITIES Prodigial DADA and Perfectionist I

ACTIONS talking, moving away from the other two and towards the door this time, pretty much 100% on board with leaving later because... tea

-

There was much that they did not remember, much that they did not know. They were too young, actually no... two of them were old enough but neither was in attendance two years ago when he attacked. The gloved man had beaten Canbey within an inch of his own life, the children nearly got themselves killed. The trauma some of those children endured, cruel pranks would be all that they recalled laid out by an intruder. A partial truth in reality. The pranks were truly set by the Heads of House, with their aid but they had been changed. Far from frilly dresses and green hair, children were buried alive and threatened by illusionary beasts that had a more corporeal nature than intended.

It was in their nature to adventure, to seek and to find. To discover what was lost and forgotten. To uncover secrets and save the school. The only problem was, they were not heroes. They were not as capable as they believed they were. That man was dangerous, but moreover these children's curiosity was even more dangerous. It was easy to say -- don't go there, it is dangerous. But the children rarely listened, if anything it drew attention to this forbidden place and they would march to their deaths.

That was far from the worst of it. There was a corruption that had changed the youth. It was not the mainstreaming of werewolves and dhampirs that was the problem, although there were a number of established families that felt that they were the problem. The House Elves knew better. Birth was what gave them value in the eyes of others, but the perception of value is a far-cry from true worth. Alexander had large gaps in his memory because it was better than he forgot what he knew. The summer of 2018, he was in the Cabin of the Thestrail. He participated in summer camp activities and then...nothing until April of 2020. Nobody treated him as if he was missing because he never was, or if he was nobody seemed to notice his absence.

So what happened during all that time?

Look at the bigger picture. At the hags that have made their way from the outskirts of the school into the underbelly. About the fate of Harry Potter, the hero turned killer. The gloved man and the masked boy, the boy rescued if one were to believe that his actions were not of his free will but the puppet master was still at large. There were tensions even in his school - maddened statements about death witches by Kaegen Deathmote. About giants. He had heard the stories about the giants, those that came into the dance and tried to steal Jorah away. How they were killed. About all the people he has and has not seen in years. His former class, the third year entering soon their fourth, seemed sparce. Were there truly so few when he first came to the school?

Celynne Gray was feeling tired and foggy. Unwell, she just wanted to leave. Go home, or rather back to a place that was considered hers. She asked for the bathroom, however the restrooms were on another floor. "Canbey can take you there," the House Elf assured her. "But rest... too much for one day," he soothed. "Tomorrow will be better."

The girl was ready, ready to leave this place. Yes, she might be suspicious but she was safe. The mad claims of the other two would likely be taken as just that -- madness, the overactive imagination of youth. Alexander would monologue and threaten the elves with the eventual wrath of their fully-informed future selves. He would not realize how little a threat that actually was, there was something that the House elves feared more than potential future where this child lived, remembered and had the power and opportunity to seek vengeance. The elves shook their head, it was unavoidable. You cannot secure yourself in the place that you live.

One of the House Elves would beckon the boy to lower his head so that she might whisper in his ear. Words only he could hear could escape her lips. A nugget of truth perhaps or quite possibly a lie.



An elbow to the gut by the elf adjacent would end her brief statement.

As for Aida, when the house elves would not comply she attempted to employ another tactic. Let me be your master then. A clever ploy had the house elves been foolish. Had it not been an easy thing for any wizard to claim all the errant House Elves and make them their own. "No master yet," perhaps she caught that. "We have homes and responsibilities." Besides oneself who would a house elf answer to? To who they honor. To who they choose. Perhaps. To understand a house elf, one would have to live the life of one. Experience life the way they had or at least see things from their perspective.

But the question she would be left with them is why. Why poison some kids with forgetfulness juice? Why send them on their merry little way? Why not force them? Why not use their magic to achieve the ends they desired? Why keep it a secret when they could wipe their memory again? "There is nothing to hide today, you came and you went thrice. Wandering in and out. We have no reason to do anything to make you forget or be more compliant other than to make sure you get back to your beds." There was a sternness to that particular elf, likely a parent themselves.

It is hard to learn anything when you do not remember, however it was far from a brilliant plan. They had limitations, that much was obvious. Unwilling to hurt or harm the students, even if they would forget. How nefarious could they be? Even if they were not evil, they could be misguided. Aida is a first year student, as far as she is aware (and indeed is)and while she might have some small gaps I her memory, it is nothing like whatever Alexander suffered from. Celynne had some gaps here and there, forgotten days perhaps but again nothing like the gap the boy suffered. What made him so different?

His house? A snake among birds.

His gender? There was a disparity between the number of men and women in this school, there was more men than women by a fair margin.

His year? He should have been a third year, entering his fourth. There was not many of them.

Some answers have to be found in ones peers. Ask your fellow third/fourth years what they know. If they remember you. Where you have gone.

"Take your friend far from here so that he might not need to forget."

Interacts with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Alexander looked suspiciously at the house elves and this suspicion only increased after the one house-elf whispered something specific to him. He then looked towards the elves. They were clearly hiding something, something big and dangerous, he was sure of it. But he was not sure what. And he was not sure that they would find any evidence of it this day. Or in here.

Right now there was simply too much attention on them. Too many eyes, too many voices trying to deceive or confuse them. They were outnumbered, at a disadvantage. And the house-elves were not willing to tell them of what the possible source of the danger might be. The source of danger they themselves might very well become a target of if they continued the way they are going. He thought he was getting a vague understanding of what might be going on. BUt he had to do research, search the records and find out to the faces. Faces he had not seen for oh so long. What had happened to them ? And perhaps. Perhaps if he found out what had happened to the fellow people in his year. He might by extension find out what had happened to himself.

Alexander turned to Aida and said in a regular tone. "The elves are hiding their secret. We will eventually find out what is actually going on. What is actually behind this but that is neither today nor here."

He then took a deep breath and did a final cursory glance.

Then ((unless he saw something very unusual)) Alexander would take a deep breath and turn away from the house elves. Turning back towards the painting of the bowl of fruit. Back to the giggling pear. Turning his back to the house elves. Walking out of the kitchen. His back turned to the elves.

Actions: Looking around the kitchen. Trying to see if there is anything visually suspicious in eyesight
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers
Stats:
Stamina: 5
Evasion: 9
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 4
Arc Power: 6
Accuracy: 8
Total: 35

"The elves are hiding their secret. We will eventually find out what is actually going on. What is actually behind this but that is neither today nor here," said Alexander.

He had a point, thought Aida. The elves were vigilant now because it was very clear that the students were here trying to find answers. With Celynne's words to Canbey indicating she had suddenly forgotten everyone's names, combined with her now particularly woozy and suggestible behavior, it seemed logical that the child had been drugged when she drank the tea. If Aida's group did find out something now, there was some possibility they could forcibly have their memory wiped, even if the elves had so far seemed reluctant to force the tea upon them. Aida didn't quite understand why the elves had so far not been using force to get the children to leave. However, at this moment Aida had some advantage in knowing and remembering that the house elves were hiding something. She wanted to preserve this advantage, and it was possible the students would have their memory wiped if they were caught discovering more about this secret. Thus, Aida concluded, it might be safer to try to find out the house elves' secrets more surreptitiously.

Still, Aida had experienced enough sudden, irrevocable loss in life that she was not one to let go of an opportunity without exhausting all foreseeable options. One could even say she was loss averse. Aida would bet on how the elves had not been forceful in their actions so far, whatever the reason behind it. In a last ditch effort, Aida began to run up to various elves that were working, observing what they were actually doing. If they were cooking, what were they cooking? Was there anything unusual about it? Certainly the elves had indicated they wanted the students gone now but Aida wanted answers to what was going on now that they might have been feeling so anxious about.

Aida would under no circumstances leave Alexander alone after everything that had just happened with him, so she would make one last effort at discerning what the elves may have been hiding from them at that particular moment. If she failed to find anything significant, Aida would follow Alexander out of the room. If she did find something important, however, she would speak out to Alexander in order to bring his attention to it.

Mention: @Alexander Varellion @Celynne Gray
Action: Try to figure out what the elves are cooking and if there is anything suspicious about it. If Aida discovers nothing noteworthy, follow Alexander out. If Aida discovers something important, she will alert Alexander.
Character Stats:
Stamina✵ 5, Evasion✵ 5, Strength✵ 4, Wisdom✵ 8, Arcane Power✵ 9, Accuracy✵ 4 [old stats retained for consistency]
Ability: Blindvision, Sixth Sense.
Hit Points: 500/500
Color code: #351C75

Been almost a month. I am going to finish up this thread. I hate skipping over players but this is very relevant to stories personally for the two players involved. @Celynne Gray. There is nothing else really to get out of here anyways except some important information that you have.

Celynne was escorted out of the kitchen, hand in hand with a house elf. There was a gentleness in the way that the elf led her away from the concerned duo left behind. Was something terrible going to happen to her? No, she would find her way back to her common room. Led there by the house elf to make sure that she found her way there this time. Sleepy, she might take a nap in an arm chair for an hour or she might lounge about on a sill overlooking the grounds. It mattered not, she would remember little of this incident, only perhaps the fact that she had went there for a belly ache and returned to the common room. The space in-between muddled, a blur.

Alexander wanted nothing more than to find the truth. To fill in those gaps, that two years he had forgotten, potentially squandered. Two years that if he had disappeared nobody noticed. Nobody went looking for him. Of course why would they? When he returned he acted as if he was gone an afternoon, not months, not years...

There were many questions and the stubborn little elves were not going to give him any answers. in fact they seemed to beg him to let it go. That there were things better off forgotten.

"The elves are hiding their secret. We will eventually find out what is actually going on. What is actually behind this but that is neither today nor here."

It was one of those moments where Alexander and Aida might have realized that the house elves were not willing to hurt them but they were still intelligent creatures and they were standing in front of them. It was not an open invitation for them to stay. For them to snoop about the kitchen or to make demands.

Alexander would make one final scan of the room. Look to see if there was something hidden in plain sight. something wrong. Something that he could glean a thread of truth from.

Alexander looks around for something suspicious.
Wisdom Check: 15 + 4

He would see nothing but copper pots, dozens of them piled in a corner. The offering of tea on the table, getting cold. In the great heart a simmering pot of stew, it had a spicy-sweet scent. It seemed exotic. There was pie dough being rolled out. There was smaller pots of fruits being simmered. Everything superficially appeared to be normal less the gaps in the boy's memory. The knowledge that these elves had taken something from him. Something that they might not be able to get back.

There was a separate area, all fresh fruits and vegetables. A mise en place of root vegetables, heavy with garlic and onion. Dusted with what appeared to be flour. Some sort of prep work for a heartier stew. Less sweet, heavier on the vegetable than the meat. Meat pies perhaps?

Aida would start poking about the various cook stations. The elves had just about had enough of the curious little girl. Her purpose obvious, they were talking about their suspicions right in front of them. They were accusing them minutes earlier. "It is time to leave Miss," one of the house elves announced in a tense tone.

Aida snoops
Wisdom Check 11

What she saw was similar (the same) as what Alexander noted. The bubbling concoction in the cauldron - spicy and sweet, a meaty mixture. A hearty stew of some sort. The oven was baking something but the door was closed, it smelled like a crusty bread. There was pie dough being rolled out on a floured table with rolling pins. In a pair of smaller pots, fruits were stewing in their own juices, turning into what could be best described as a tart pair of jams. One a dark blue, almost purple. The other ruby red.

On a separate part of the kitchen, fruits and vegetables dusted in what could be easily assumed to be flour or sugar in the case of the fruit. A smaller quantity overall. Some meat and vegetables pies? A second stew? Not as palatable for children, garlic and onion heavy, loaded with black pepper.

Possible relevant. Probably useless. Alexander was not staying, Cel had already left and Aida was being shooed. While this was about knowing nothing. About forgetting, they learned much by knowing nothing.

Papertrail: Alexander has given me permission to add something in his background to later discover about himself. Where he has been, what he has been doing for the last 2 years.

After snooping around one last time, Aida hurried after Alexander towards the exit. Though she was a Ravenclaw, there was no way she would abandon him for the mysteries concealed by the house elves. That the elves wanted her gone anyway was irrelevant. Alexander had taken the white witch’s rope and pulled himself out of madness, but it was clear that he was still in rough condition. What was unclear was how that single brief moment when he grasped the rope would come to determine more than anyone could have predicted.

This incident itself would also have lingering impacts on young Aida in both the short and long term. From now on, Aida would distrust food and drink at Hogwarts after realizing that the elves had drugged Celynne and probably had stolen time from the three of them, if not by the juice then by similar means. Aida’s confidence in her memory and grasp of reality would also come out damaged. Indeed, the deleterious effects would be powerful and far-reaching, but what had Aida gained from the house elf incident? That was a much more difficult riddle which only time could solve.

Clenching her fist, a burning pain radiated from its infected mosp wound that Aida had treated alone. Aida’s loyalties had just gotten complicated.

Mentions: @Alexander Varellion @Celynne Gray
Thread left unless stopped.