Backdated: July 15th, 2020

While Flash had been happy to spend most of his free time reading in the shade of his quiet tent, there was an ever present niggling feeling when his thoughts had too much time to drift. He should be doing something. Hadn’t he rested enough, weren’t people counting on him? Wasn’t he becoming complacent in his inaction? Well, given that there were specific things he had meant to follow up on, he was running out of time before even the students who attended the summer camp were unreachable until the next year started. Well, they would be reachable by owl, but that was impersonal. Easy to ignore. Flash didn’t like correspondence where he couldn’t watch someone’s face when he talked. How was he supposed to know what to say next if he didn’t know what they thought of what he’d said before?

Regardless, he had specifically told Evelynn that he would try to talk to Selim Faust and Erin Ryan and see what kind of information they might have that would shed more light on the overall confusion the two of them were trying to sort through. Selim, of course, was nowhere to be found. Even though he had been a roommate of Flash’s for almost an entire year, he wasn’t sure he could pick him out of a crowd anyway. If he would ever be in a crowd. More likely, he was hidden under a rock somewhere or not at summer camp at all. He hadn’t had high hopes to begin with.

Erin on the other hand was at summer camp, and not all that difficult to spot. She had extremely bright purple hair, a nice compliment to the ocean of yellow and beige as the seemingly endless rows of tents sat decorated with badger pride. Given the extra time he had on his hands, one would think he would gather more information, so he could figure out how to best approach her. Unfortunately, no one close to him seemed to actually know that much about her. She played Quidditch. She was rude. Flash had his own paltry experience as well: he knew she was fighting with Thomas Lestrange at the ball, and that she used to be in some kind of relationship with Burnett.

Yes, that paltry. Even after he got closer to Burnett, he had never heard him talk about her. She blew him kisses, made googly eyes at him, and went with him to the ball, but… well, actually it was really strange when he thought about it. He assumed they were dating at first, and the absence of information about it had hardly been on the forefront of his mind. What kind of relationship was it, then? Well, he didn’t have time to try to find Burnett either, he was probably under the same rock Selim was. Erin was right there, wandering around the campsite antagonizing people. Weak, strong, it was hard to decipher the patterns for who or why.

One could say approaching her to talk was a foolish errand from the start, let alone to broach the subject Flash intended to speak about. She had been face-to-face with one of the hags that the professors had been talking about-- Burnett had said as much himself, even that Erin had saved him from ‘her’. Anyone would want to hear more about that, but Burnett had gone to Madame Jensen to spill his guts rather than Flash. A responsible choice, probably for the best, but that left out Erin’s account. Certainly it was a valuable one, how could it not be? What were the chances that she was going to the professors to talk about her troubles?

Well, regardless, he wanted to know everything she had to say about it. The hurdle, of course, being getting her to talk to him at all. She had no reason to, and he wasn’t finding anything useful from anyone about what exactly it was that Erin Ryan wanted. Plenty of people knew what she hated, but given the wide spectrum of answers, it was hard to tell what was pure conjecture or conspiracy. She was someone Flash would only get to know by talking to her and learning as he went.

At least he wasn’t as stressed out, he could remain calm and objective. He would figure something out, it would be fine. It was on a cloudy day after his morning jog when he simultaneously saw the mop of voluminous hair and had prepared himself to simply approach. He would have to give up on both setting up the scene and putting on a costume, since he would still be in his jogging outfit, but there was only so much time before he would have no opportunities left. This was as good a time as any, he only hoped he didn’t reek of sweaty flowers.

”Hello, it’s good to see you Miss Erin.” Flash approached with a smile, keeping enough distance as to not offend with his presence. He hoped she at least vaguely recalled being in the same house as him, flinging pillows in the common room together as children do. ”I’m glad I found you, I was hoping I could ask you about something. Do you have time right now?”

He couldn’t say for sure, but it looked like she had been working out. He was lucky, perhaps there was enough body odor between them to cancel each other out. Since it was still early morning, there were only a few early risers out of their tents milling about. It was mostly quiet, the air still having the lingering bite of a cold earth that hadn’t yet drank its fill of the waking sunlight.

@Erin Ryan

An overcast morning, the oppressive summer heat would not be held at bay forever. Erin had taken full advantage of the cooler temperatures. Every morning, this being no exception, she could be seen running the perimeter of the campground for hours. Her purple hair, finger combed from her face and hastily put into a high ponytail bobbed back and forth as she ran. She had been up an hour before dawn and persisted for the next three hours. It was an exercise of endurance, a product of fear and necessity. How far could she run. How long could she last.

The part Veela was far from attractive, her violet tresses had in part escaped their binding. Sweat soaked her tanned face and her cotton attire. She did not look like a wizard not did she look like the attractive women one sees jogging along the side of the road in the early morning hours. She was too... sturdy? Yes, 'sturdy' was good word for it. She did not have a runner's body with long, lean muscles and a slender form. Rather she appeared bulkier than expected, her arms exposed due to the sleeveless shirt she wore displayed a physical strength that was uncommon among wizarding kind. Her clothes, a plain white ribbed tank and a pair of black shorts shown the girl's lack of imagination. The only indication of uniqueness was the shock of purple which was her hair.

”Hello, it’s good to see you Miss Erin.”

She would stop when her name was called. Nobody called her name. She would drop something on the ground with an unceremonious thud. It was heavy but it was unimportant also. It was a rock, well to her it was a rock. A 'strange' rock she had never seen before but possessed convenient arm holes for carrying. It was a cinder-block.

Huffing still she would turn to face her caller. Some boy she had never seen before, at least some boy who had failed to make a lasting impression on the teen. "What?" She made no attempt to convey some pleasantry, some false guise of friendship or even recognition.

”I’m glad I found you, I was hoping I could ask you about something. Do you have time right now?”

"Looking for me?" She reiterated in her own words the fact that he had found her. How long had he searched? Why was he searching "Who are you?" She mentally started to make a checklist. The cinderblock would make a fine weapon, it had excellent heft and she could heave it easily. There were other campers nearby, that was both good and bad. If he was a death witch, she would not be able to end his reign of terror without being stopped. However, if she was overpowered... she looked over him again. That would not be physically. Then they could intercede for her benefit. "And why?" She would continue her verbal train of thought as she shifted her stance and took several deep breaths.

Flash’s greeting was met with abrupt disapproval, both in the callous thud of heavy concrete and a strict questioning of his motives. It was only fair, he didn’t exactly expect his intrusion to be easily accepted. Ideally it would have been somewhere nicer, with Erin having been suggested into a good mood beforehand. Still, he had hoped even the faintest spark of recognition would have passed across her glaring eyes. Nay, he was really starting at square one.

He felt like Odysseus in the Cyclop’s den, he wished he could tell her his name was ‘nobody’. It hardly mattered who he was anyway, given that he couldn’t use his reputation to influence her. Without that, he’d prefer to just be invisible and stalk her for more accurate data, but that wasn’t exactly an option he had. He wasn’t stupid enough to think stalking people was a worthwhile longterm plan. Having no power in a conversation always felt like a constant uphill struggle, but it at least wouldn’t be the first time he had nothing to work with.

At least she was giving him the time of day. Perhaps it was only because she thought he might pose too much of a threat if ignored, or perhaps she had some sort of spark of earnest curiosity about why she was being sought. If so, it was something he could work with. Before that, he would have to answer her questions in a way that placated her worries without arousing any extra suspicion. The kind of thing he practiced over and over in his head the days before, hoping to come up with a way to ease into the interaction peacefully. Soft sorts of words, clarity, and detail. He knew what brought peace to most minds, at least.

”Yes. My name is Flash, we go to school together.” Flash’s eyes narrowed a bit, with the smile unfaltering despite her eyes scanning him for something. Weapons, maybe, though the wand at his side was concealed under his athletic shorts in an elastic holster. Even though he had no reason to think of using it, it preferred to be by his side at all times. A clingy thing. ”I realize it’s jarring to be approached by someone you don’t know, especially so early in the morning. I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you.”

Flash bowed his head a bit, as if it was a necessary part of his empty apology. It was worth saying sorry for being an imposition, but he didn’t want to say the part about how his curiosity had far outweighed her sense of comfort. Flash enjoyed radical honesty from time to time, but it couldn’t just be employed at random, as Ruka seemed to think was acceptable. If there was no baseline for interaction, then how was one supposed to recognize blunt honesty apart from pointed rudeness? Well… clearly it was a part of conversational etiquette that most of his peers had yet to learn.

”I was looking for you because I wanted to ask about something I heard from another student. I don’t like second-hand accounts and misinformation, so even though we aren’t acquainted, I wanted to hear about it from you personally.” Perfectly rehearsed, a calm approach with a plea to illuminate the truth on her own terms. Next, he would attempt to enhance his standing further by showing more consideration for her feelings. ”Is that alright? I don't mind if you want to refuse. I would understand why.”

Flash’s eyes stayed mostly focused on her, only glancing at the cinder block when she was clearly looking elsewhere. She had indeed been lifting it quite effortlessly. As she was now turned to face him directly, he could see beyond a doubt that she had been working out. She had massive pit stains, and her exposed arms nearly reflective with a thin film of beaded sweat and dirt. Even though her filthiness belied a great deal of exertion, she hardly seemed winded or exhausted.

Oh yeah, she could definitely beat him up. He wasn’t even particularly good at evading attacks, he usually just stood there and took them. After all, it was others running to his rescue that proved to be his greatest weapon time and again, so he would have to look appropriately hurt to deserve it. Well, preferably, he wouldn’t have to think too much about that course of events anyway. They were just going to have a nice talk.

@Erin Ryan

"Whatever they claimed was probably true," she replied. Most of the rumors were and those that were not... well, it was in her best interest that they remained true as well. She was dangerous. She was angry. Keep away!

However, such dire warnings did not deter Flash Holmwood. That was something worthy of apprehension. He was, however not visibly armed. He likely had a wand, everyone had a wand here. Apologies, nice words... Polite and quiet. Words intended to put her at ease, but why?

She took a closer look. He was not much smaller than her, entering her fourth year and standing at 5 foot 4, he was but an inch shorter. He stood erect, no twisting of his carriage. No visible scars. Eyes bright. She cocked her head to the side like a curious bird, there was little to be gained with a visual assessment. He was a boy, probably younger than her. He knew her, as many did. She was not entirely certain why, perhaps she had forgotten him or... it was something somebody had said. Yes, he had heard something from another student.

"About me?" Her arched brow rose as she moved towards Flash. "From who?" The who more important than the what. Erin had become an irrelevant in the scope of things long ago. However, she was not shy about making enemies. It was easier to count her allies, than her rivals. She had one friend,at least presumptively. The point of moving towards him was to take in his scent, not that he had the acute senses of a mongrel or a dhampir. The scent of sweat and soap, perhaps cologne. Scents tell someone more than one thinks, not about just their preferences, their health, their hygiene, their values. Where they have been. Where they might be going.

Erin had a salty scent and something reminiscent of tree sap and cut grass. Yes, she had been outside for some time, the scent of her world carried on her back. She had been running for some time as well, but not long enough to carry the odoriferous stink of body odor. She understood the basic concepts of human hygiene but she did not value floral soaps or fruity sprays, scents intended to denote something about a nature she cared nothing for.

"Just tell me what you think you know," she did not trust him and if he had revealed the name Jack Burnett she would of course have choice words to say in reference to the deviant youth that posed as her boyfriend. "So I can get stronger," she was running as if she would soon be out of time. Was she running away or running towards something? Even she was not entirely certain, she just knew that she would have to be powerful enough to endure.

At Erin’s assertion that what Burnett said was ‘probably true’, Flash’s smile pulled into a vague grimace. So, either she didn’t care about her voice being heard, or she was simply dismissing him out of hand. Her short, staccato responses didn’t give much in the way of positive information to build upon. Like her reputation, it all seemed to only show what she didn’t want, and what she didn’t like.

His tireless rehearsal of just the perfect thing to say fell flat, like the cinder block hefted to the ground. It was a shame, they were such good words. He had hoped her reaction would be something that would naturally flow, either revulsion or acceptance, but she remained mostly ambivalent, as far as he could tell. He at least didn’t seem to gain any amount of trust by jamming as many polite hedge words in as he could manage.

Well, at least she seemed to want to know what he had to say. Perhaps he would do well to shift gears, and adapt a way of speaking more like her own. Short and to the point, getting the information across. She didn’t say as much, but perhaps she had better things she could be doing than chatting with a rando. He didn’t know how people like her managed to get by on such abysmal people skills. She had seemed so excitable at the dorm battle, almost adorable around Burnett, so what was different now? Was it Flash himself, or did he accidentally catch her at a bad time?

”Jack Burnett.” Flash said the words quickly, monotone.

Burnett had talked about him and Erin at the Slytherin table, where anyone near him could hear. He couldn’t possibly be upset with that action making waves. If it was precious, secret information he could have waited to tell Madame Jensen, but he hadn’t. He hoped it wasn’t ‘a thing’. He hated wading through other people’s personal drama when he had no stake in it. Whatever weird relationship Burnett had with Erin would preferably stay between the two of them. He would only deign to wade through the landfill of relationship troubles if he absolutely had to.

But then, an actual desire. To get stronger. Flash couldn’t pretend to know how she thought his question might make her stronger, but the idea got flagged. She needed strength. It was more than nothing.

”He said you saved his life when he was attacked by a hag.” There, the hedge words were gone. Only pure information. ”He also said the hag was outside of the forest, on the grounds by the groundskeeper’s hut. That happened, right? Do you know why she was there, did she say anything to the two of you?”

There were so many more questions, but he would have to see how talkative she felt before piling them on. Hopefully she wouldn’t be ‘talking’ with this strength of hers.

@Erin Ryan

”Jack Burnett.”

Her expression of indifference devolved into a scowl with the mention of his name. With an audible sigh her glanced back down at the cinder block she was carrying. Something, anything to divert her own attention to something inert. Something she knew. Something she understood. Heft and drop, endure a burden that was consistent. "Whatever he said is probably a lie, but I don't care." The words came out in almost a growl by the end. She was a complete and utter fool. She believed him. She trusted him on something so incredibly basic, the he was who she thought he was. Not that he was a secret carnivore sitting among vegans. Not someone who was less kind than they proclaimed. Much more basic, that his name was Paracelsus, from Gryffindor. That he was the person she thought that she was dating. It made her nauseated to think of how foolish she was. How so many of them probably knew, some certainly knew. How he played along. How she believed he cared. Thomas put it best at the ball when he said-- Well, he said a truth she did not want to hear.

”He said you saved his life when he was attacked by a hag.”

"Maybe," she shrugged noncommittally. She really did not do much saving, everything happened so fast and ultimately she lacked the power to save Jack or anyone from a hag. They were simply on a different level entirely.

”He also said the hag was outside of the forest, on the grounds by the groundskeeper’s hut. That happened, right? Do you know why she was there, did she say anything to the two of you?”

"Jack likes to talk it seems," not that it should have been a surprise to her. Amazing how he was more honest and shared more information with this boy, whoever he was, than he ever had with her. All she had was a name, a year and a house. That was all she needed to destroy him. To end this feeble attempt at humanity. She pushed down the bitter gall and forced a pained smile. "Yeah, that happened..." she admitted. "I was lead... no, lured to the fringe of the Forbidden Wood by LeStrange. A promise for answers from someone I thought was a friend," she shook her head. They weren't. She really had no luck with men, in the romantic sense or otherwise. "The hag was waiting. Jack, although I knew him by another name," a story he would likely not care about so why try. "Was there on his own, for reasons I have yet to divine."

She had no reason to protect LeStrange. His attempt on her life was not something she would obfuscate. As for Jack, she never asked why he was there. The site was isolated, far from the castle. It was raining. He had no reason to be there. At the time she only saw him as the victim in the matter but looking back on it, she did not really know what part he might have had in that incident. It did not matter, because her version would include him.



"He kissed the hag," well, she tried to kiss him but semantics. "I don't know the nature of their relationship and frankly I don't want to," she admitted. A bit of exaggeration mixed with truth. "But she was dangerous, I pulled Casanova off of her and ran," she concluded. "She was there on LeStrange's summons or she lived there, I don't know which. My best recommendation is to avoid the forest and make sure you can run faster than they can."

‘Probably true’ to ‘probably a lie’ so quickly, then. He wondered if other well-chosen names might garner the same clear vitriol, or if the honor was Burnett’s alone. The revulsion hadn’t been spared on Flash, though rather than pure hatred or mopey sorrow, it almost looked more like the name made her sick to her stomach. Not exactly what Flash had been expecting, wasn’t Burnett the one who said he couldn’t abide lies?

She practically refused to confirm or deny her own rescue, the only part Flash felt secure in his knowledge of. After all, Burnett saw a hag and lived, right? Why would he say Miss Erin saved him if she didn’t have a part in it? Either way, she didn’t seem to want to claim any heroics. Either she wasn’t proud of it, or the semantics were off. Perhaps ‘saved’ was too emotional, instead of ‘helped’ or ‘escaped with’. He didn’t actually know much more about the logistics than the few short sentences Burnett had spared.

‘Jack likes to talk’ could have made Flash chuckle heartily in another situation, but given the grave implications of the subject matter, he thought it best to push that impulse down quickly. Liked to talk indeed, though it had been to Flash’s benefit this time. He hadn’t mentioned that there were quite a few other people who heard him talking as well.

All sense of humor was drained however when Erin started to actually explain the situation. She had been lured by Lestrange?

”Thomas Lestrange?” Flash didn’t know how common the surname was, but he didn’t like to work on pure assumption when hard fact was available. ”To find an answer to… what?”

She knew Burnett by another name? She was looking for answers? His face slowly changed with every word she spoke, a mixture of surprise and concern. What once was a flat line trying to contain a laugh turned a disturbed frown. She talked about it with hurt, but something else… acceptance?

He would have continued on his journey towards empathetic sorrow if not for what she said next. His eyes blinked rapidly, as though clearing his eyes would have made him hear the words differently. Burnett… kissed the hag... did he…? No way… did he? Flash was an open-minded person, perhaps a bit too open-minded. He was sternly warned away from the dangers of underestimation and assumption, so despite the ridiculousness of the statement, what were the chances she was honestly telling the truth, as she saw it? Truth was oftentimes very strange, after all.

Settling on crossing his arms uncomfortably, Flash’s eyes wandered to the far off treetops as he imagined the possibility. Adonis had said hags looked like ugly old witches from muggle stories, a stereotype Flash was well acquainted with. What if the hags had some sort of magical alluring charm, or took the form of someone else? Still… was Burnett kissing any women besides perhaps his mother?

Wait, no, there was no time for that kind of horrific diversion. He could lie awake in his bed trying to drown the image out later. The torturous price of a vivid imagination. There were more salient points that she made, he could ask Burnett about this ‘kiss’ later, though he was already dreading it. He didn’t want to end up in the middle of a he-said-she-said confrontation.

”How do you know how dangerous she is, were you hurt?” Flash looked her over briefly, his gaze returning from the dull gray horizon. He already knew she wasn’t obviously infirmed, she was perhaps the most fit child he had ever seen. ”Did you see someone get hurt? Do you know what they're capable of?”

@Erin Ryan

"Thomas LeStrange," she confirmed. There was an apathy in the use of his name, like saying the grass was particularly green on this day or the sky a cloudy overcast. She had no interest in protecting either of their reputations, Jack or Thomas. The later had some sort of sick death wish, as for the former she could not begin to fathom why. "We used to be," she shook her head. No, that was wrong. She was too hopeful, too accepting. "People have a perverse habit of telling me or leading me to believe that they are my friend," she swallowed. "Thomas disappeared for almost a year, it is from his disappearance I have garnered by mad reputation." Not that it was ever a 'good' reputation to start with. People had a habit of disappearing around her without cause for months... forever. No rhyme or reason, they were here and then they were gone. Like smoke. "I had spent months confronting Prefects, even spoke to a Professor," well Head of House but she was not one to discriminate. "Nobody seemed to notice. To care. I even accused one, they fled from me," she continued but the story was getting convoluted due to a lack of detail.

"Thomas returned in the midst of winter, freezing and soaking wet," she continued. "A strange three-pronged mark that bled etched into his arm. He seized. He was cold. He never explained what happened," she raised a brow. She wondered if this was what the boy already knew, if this was just a test to see what she knew. If this was some sort of trick. "Burnett was there," she added. "He stripped down to his unmentionables in the common room to warm him up," a story likely an idle witness could corroborate. If not, she did not really care. "I mistook Jack for my boyfriend," she let out a cough. Paracelsus Alger Myth was not really her boyfriend was he? He wanted nothing to do with her and simply avoided her until she got the message. She wondered how long he was gone, she knew that he could not have been the one in the common rooms. That had to be Jack, but her post-relationship confusion left her wondering for how long. If there were any memories that were true. It was troubling to know that she could not trust her own mind. "And Jack found it fitting to keep up the charade for months. Have a jealous rant about my perceived relationship with Tom... Thomas," their first fight. "Until I finally caught on to the deception months later." She shook her head, she was not going to let that one go. "Hilarious for everyone I am sure."

A tangent, she returned to the topic. Feeding him the bit about Jack for one distinct purpose, to tell whoever this boy was that Jack was likely intimately involved in some manner with LeStrange and perhaps even the hags. She did not know the details between them but his uncanny habit of showing up at opportune times had not been without notice. "Thomas promised me answers on that day, led me out of the castle and far into the grounds, his answer for me was an Auntie."

”How do you know how dangerous she is, were you hurt?”

She frowned at the inquiry. She was certain that they were dangerous? What proof did she have? Proof she was not willing to share. "I am not certain," she lied. "But she is a hag," good old fashioned pure-blood racism might suffice for reasoning. "I have seen her only once and I would rather not see her again," she claimed but she looked defensive with his last inquiry. She would reach back and pull the elastic from her hair and let her long, purple hair down. It was longer than most would have expected, trailing down to her waist.

”Did you see someone get hurt? Do you know what they're capable of?”

Erin was being remarkably talkative, as it turned out. In fact, she elaborated in detail without any coaxing at all. Had he done anything to deserve her openness? Well, he had a theory, but he was too rapt in attention to dwell in his own thoughts. As she went on, one of his hands would come to rest on his chin. He was exactly where he wanted to be, learning something new. Something useful. It granted him a satisfaction similar to biting into food after hours of painful hunger.

She told him about how her and Thomas were friends, and how he had disappeared. She described it ratherly clearly, illuminating the portrait of a girl that everyone called mad. If what she was saying was true-- even if it wasn’t true, but she believed it-- that wasn’t madness. A person didn’t need to be unstable to have an unwelcome perception of reality foisted upon them. Sometimes simple circumstance was enough. The doomed.

Terrible things were happening to her, and when she sought help, it wasn’t there. Time and time again. Prefects, professors, and friends. Boyfriend. Flash did take everything with a grain of salt, but his natural first instinct was to adapt his counterpart’s point of view as he learned it. Sort of like a learning computer registering new data as it came. For the purpose of learning as much as possible, it was best to take her word for everything she said until proven otherwise.

If so, it was an alarming situation. What was she supposed to do now, with everyone’s back turned to her? Just… get stronger, it seemed. Faster. It wasn’t right… instead, it was chilling. Flash felt a cold breeze, goosebumps now starting to form in lieu of the heat of exercise. The clouds were staying where they were, blocking the sun far past its journey from the edge of the earth. Being alone with no one to turn to was Flash’s worst nightmare. He didn’t know how she woke up in the morning.

How much had Burnett seen, why was he always around? Did he have some kind of weird convoluted plan to do with all this, was his involvement malicious? Flash had sensed a misguided good intention behind Burnett’s sometimes random-seeming actions, but he wasn’t so bound as to defend him blindly. He had pretended to be her boyfriend for months? I’d like to see how anyone could think that was a good idea...

Well, they were kids after all. Stupid, in the end. Flash recalled the dorm battle and the ball-- how something that seemed like a petty feud was actually quite a lot more grim. Thomas was terrorizing Erin, and no one was stopping him. At this point she had resorted to violence, paranoia. Drowning in the languishing mood, Flash’s features were no longer tightly fixed, but sagging from the unbearable weight of gravity.

It was an aimless misery, a wave of guilt for having comparitively nothing to worry about. It wasn’t as though he was going to go in for a hug and solve all her worries, she was holding a big brick of conrete for starters… he didn’t get the impression she wanted any sympathy. Even the worst things she said were delivered without any burning emotion behind them. Statements of fact.

Her words of warning were a depressing act of kindness. He still wasn’t sure what hags were capable of besides eating people, if that was even true. Of course he would have loved to forget about them, pick up the pace on his jogs, keep ahead of the threat and hope it went away. Loved it, if he could stand it. He wasn’t about to march into the forest and start looking for ‘Auntie’, but he wasn't going to suddenly start only looking out for himself.

He wasn’t about to start arguing about the ethics of sentience classification scales, as much as the topic of hags made him want to. She had unbound her hair and started to step away, emphasizing the kind of caution that Flash ought to take. She had answered his questions, after all. All of them, as they were asked. He wasn’t so lucky with most of the people he questioned, even when using his niciest nice words.

”Alright.” He didn’t know if she had any reason to care whether he heeded her warning or not, but he wouldn’t be shrugging it off. ”Thank you… for telling me. I feel better knowing.”

Flash took a few steps back as well, he knew dragging it out much longer would be a mistake. Even in pleasant conversation, there is a point where one is simply tired of talking. Both of them had the rest of their day ahead of them. What that meant for her… he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

What exactly was he supposed to say to someone who told him about being betrayed and isolated? For all he knew at the moment, she was just pulling his leg in order to have a laugh to herself later. Saying some things that would get Burnett flustered when he was confronted about them. Maybe it was the cold air in the middle of summer that made her seem so frigid. In the end, there was nothing a stranger could say that would bring any comfort.

”Missing children. I’ll be keeping my eyes out.” Of all the information that had been passed off as conspiracy by her peers, that was the most frightening. ”I’ll tell you if I find anything.”

With that, Flash would wave goodbye, as if the whole thing had been a casual chat between pals. He had enough to think about for the rest of the summer, and plenty to look into further. He could still investigate without ever encountering the hags, right? The more he knew, the easier it would be to avoid them, and help others avoid them too. Or who knew… there was this… and that….

He had started to get so caught up in his own head that he headed off opposite of Erin, not even remotely in the direction of his tent.

@Erin Ryan
OOC: Whether you want to do another post or not is up to you

"You probably won't even remember this conversation," she admitted with her back to him. They rarely did. There was no sadness in the words, more a departing cautionary statement for the stranger. There was a nagging worry that perhaps this time it was her that had forgotten. "It is my hope I won't forget you if I have not already," they did not know one another but perhaps they had and it as she who had forgotten. No, it was the lunacy talking most certainly. They did not know one another, they had perhaps only briefly met or crossed paths in the common room or in the halls. They were strangers, her reputation larger than herself.

There was a final observation that he would miss. The reason she let her hair down. The reason she had let her hair that was three years earlier a short bob grow to such lengths. To hide her back and the numerous scars she bore. Purebloods don't have scars, not like these. Numerous,angry and deep. Even she did not know how the flesh on her back restlessly shifted on its own accord. But now it was hidden beneath voluminous amethyst hair.

There were multiple covens on the Hogwarts grounds, at the very least two. What were the chances of that? They seemed slim, hags were not particularly common and the 'children' of Hogwarts were a bit old for a hag's taste. The school and its members hardly a bastion of hard work and ethic, perhaps it was different before she was there. Perhaps things had changed and she only remembered the now. It did not matter, not the how or the why, but what is.

The promise he would look. The promise that he would speak to her if he learned anything were hollow words and she knew it. She shook her head side to side, but she did not bother speaking that truth. Leave the stranger with his temporary delusion. "I am pretty sure Thomas, Marcus and Alexander were exceptions and that the rest are dead," don't go chasing after the dead. Of course the girl was wrong on two parts - Marcus was never taken, they probably never wanted him. His parents died, so his pureblood family thought it best to leave an uneducated heir as the head of a household that could not manage itself without the wisdom of the teen. Being consumed by monsters made more sense. Alexander, she knew vaguely. Same year thrice in a row, nobody seemed to notice or even care. Her erroneous belief that part-giants or perhaps full giants had consumed those that had never returned was substantiated by Quinn Healy when sarcasm turned into an accusation and a steadfast belief after he laughed and fled from her.

"Avoid the giants while you're at it," she added. She wondered if they ate all of them or if they shared in the bounty. If they worked together or if they worked separately. Theories she would never investigate. She had nothing of value to save and what she had sought to find was not worth searching for. "If you even remember," she verbally reminded herself with a sigh. He was gone and so should she. Her feet would pick up the pace, pounding against the stony path she had taken .

She ran the other way. Even with the burden of the stone she was fast, faster than she had any right to be. It was as if she was running away from something only she could see. With great teeth that would bite and gnash. That she had to be fast enough to run away, she was not yet strong enough to take on Goliath.

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