With the capture of Verandi Farley and several high-ranking Trossach members, the British wizarding world has finally caught a break. The rate of rogue werewolf attacks have started dropping at a steady rate and, hopefully, things will stay that way. The Ministry is starting to loosen some restrictions, like not arresting werewolves standing on the street for loitering, however there’s still an obvious power imbalance between wizardfolk and werewolves.
The Cotswolds pack are continuing to advocate for the rights of werewolves and petitioning to change the legislation that has been set in motion by the current Minister for Magic, whilst the remaining Trossachs members are trying to stay out of the spotlight and keep a low profile… for now.
Whilst the British wizarding world seems to have calmed down, the same cannot be said for over in Northern Europe where a rebellion of magical creatures has risen. The state of things has gotten so bad that the European Ministry has enacted protocols to protect those under eighteen whilst their adult witches and wizards fight to keep control of their countries.
Students from Durmstrang have been sent to Hogwarts to keep them safe and those not old enough to attend school have been sent to live with relatives or designated British Ministry officials outside of Europe for the time being.
Will the low rates of werewolf attacks in Britain continue? How long will Durmstrang students stay at Hogwarts? Will the creatures usurp the wizardfolk in Northern Europe? Only time will tell.
SEPTEMBER 2019 It's been a very long, eventful summer in the wizarding world. A baby was stolen, several high ranking Trossach members were imprisoned, and werewolf attacks have drastically dropped as a result. What will happen now school has returned?
MAY 2019 An attempt to capture the beta of the Trossachs has been launched. Were the Aurors successful in their mission? Go read more here!
The attack at Hogwarts had become big news and of course Kiernan wanted to know if everyone was okay. Casey was okay, so was his brother and he even checked on Finn who seemed unharmed which was good. This werewolf bullshit was getting ridiculous and all the ministry does is making it worse. Who says this is gonna end with a few hospitalized kids? Hurt and damaged kids who's siblings became enemy number one?
Kiernan flipped a knife in his hands, it was not much of a weapon he was wielding as it was just simply something he could do with his hands while walking. Kiernan was taking a shortcut through Knockturn to get to London without people recognizing him and wanting attention. Being famous was all good fun but he needed a break from people.
His brow arched slightly when he spotted a female not far from him and he slipped the knife into pocket before moving further. He didn't want to seem like a guy about to stab a woman. Kiernan being the cocky asshat that he is just smirked and waved.
"Hey! Know a good place to get a drink in here?" he asked with his usual thick Irish accent.
Post by TERESA NOTTINGHAM on Sept 10, 2019 12:39:41 GMT
Her knuckles were bleeding, dripping blood in fact, because she'd lost her temper again and she'd slammed her fist into the nearest wall. Better than the nearest person, right? She couldn't get arrested for something non-sentient, though she wouldn't put it past the Ministry if they decided to put her behind bars for damaging 'public property' even though her right hand hadn't even made a dint in the bricks she'd tried to punch up with.
Turned out, keeping a tight reign on her anger over minor things like some prick ex-customer grabbing her arse was proving difficult these days, especially since she'd discovered her absolute dimwit of a brother had attacked Hogwarts on her behalf. On her behalf. Like she'd asked him to when she had definitely not done so. She hated Hogwarts, loathed it with every fibre of her being, but she was a smart girl who knew that doing something like he had was only going to make things worse and it had.
Theo was locked up in St. Mungos and she couldn't even see him. If she had, she'd be swept up by the Aurors, probably for some bullshit reason like being a co-conspirator to his actions, or for loitering or... any number of reasons, pick one from the Ministry's long book of law and they could probably make every single one stick with their clever way with words.
Turning the corner, wishing she actually had the goddamn magic to heal her hand, she barely registered the man near her until he spoke. "What?" she gritted out, glancing up before frowning. Why did he look so familiar? Then his actual question registered and the opportunity to try and swindle a drink out of him shone bright in front of her like a beacon. "Yeah, tons of places. Buy me a drink, I'll show you the best one?" Her words weren't flirtatious, she wasn't in the mood, but maybe he was in the mood for rough company.
Typical, of course Kiernan ran into the psychotic ones whenever he set foot in the world. Still he didn't mind company whether the lady was crazy or not. He needed to get his mind off of a lot of things and this was a perfect way to do so. With a frown he watched her, she seemed a bit... wild? Like she lived on the streets or at least tried not to. Something was off about her and as he moved closer he noticed the blood.
He wasn't even in the mood to flirt with the girl, she clearly needed medical attention or a good drink. Whenever Kiernan got into fights he ended up wanting a drink rather than a doctor as well. Kindred spirits perhaps? He didn't know but he was keen to find out. With a frown he slipped his hands into his pockets, his eyes on the woman.
"Take the lead." he said and motioned for her to do so. He wasn't going to argue, he might be a man but he wasn't stupid. He would leave that stupidity to his brother. "Your hand looks quite roughed up, do I want to know who's face looks worse?" he asked in a joking manner, hoping to lighten the mood though she surely didn't seem like she would enjoy it.
Post by TERESA NOTTINGHAM on Oct 5, 2019 11:24:47 GMT
Drinks are on me. That was the only words that Teresa needed to hear to get her moving in motion, her bloody fist twitching. She'd never learned how to heal her hand properly, the Ministry didn't grant her the luxury of staying in school long enough, and she wasn't about to risk severing her injured hand by attempting a spell she had only read about in a book. Not quite caring about the man's reaction, Teresa wiped her knuckles on the denim of her jeans with a wince. "There's a lot of faces I'd love to punch, but that brick wall around the corner copped my fist instead. Pros: walls don't hit back. Cons: hurts like a bitch," she said with a shrug.
Moving towards a pub nearby, Teresa eyed the man because she knew him. Where did she know his face from? "You - what's your name?" she asked abruptly, studying his face before turning her attention back to in front of herself. "You buy random girls drinks often, or just the ones you want to sleep with?" Again, her words came off as blunt, distrustful even but in this day and age, generosity and the kindness of strangers rarely came for free. Teresa had found that they always expected something in return.
Kiernan was just glad the woman was looking less like she was about to tear his head off, he had a different body part in mind but we'll leave that up to the imagination, and just walked with her to the bar. Her hand was looking pretty bad and he wondered if she would even let him heal it enough for her not to suffer through much pain or blood loss. "Do you need some help healing it? Or at least a bandage?" he asked and though he didn't take out his wand his offer was at least there.
"Yeah punching walls often don't really go well with your hand." Kiernan couldn't help but smile a bit about that and just looked ahead of him again. "What did the wall do to you?" he asked, trying to make conversation here. "My name?" he asked and looked at her again. "Kiernan, the name's Kiernan." he said, studying her expression. She seemed like she was trying to figure something out but he couldn't remember her for the life of him.
"How about yours?" he asked but then she asked about him buying girls drinks and he laughed. "I just figured you're a girl who could use a drink. I swear I am not trying to get into your pants." he honestly didn't feel like it, he just tried to be a nice guy for once. He knew it was a rare occurance but hey, she should be glad he didn't see her as a walking vagina right?
Post by TERESA NOTTINGHAM on Oct 15, 2019 10:06:13 GMT
In all of Teresa's silent raging about her hand, how she hadn't learned the proper healing charms to fix it, she hadn't bet on him offering to help her. It was... rare. Not many people would offer help to a stranger these days, and she wouldn't dare to ask. Too many people too advantage when they saw a vulnerable spot. "You in the habit of carrying around bandages?" she said before thrusting her hand in his general direction. "Do you worst. I have enough scars, what's one more?"
"The wall was in my way," Teresa said with a tight smile. She couldn't tell him the reason behind her punching it - after all, she knew how the general public felt about werewolves, how somebody would react when they found out her brother attacked a whole bunch of students on her behalf. It wasn't going to go down well. "Kiernan. You from around here, Kiernan?" It was a less upfront way of asking if he'd gone to Hogwarts too.
"T," she said, as always avoiding giving out her full, given name. She didn't trust anyone she didn't know well with it, in case they somehow managed to link her to that event, reported her to the authorities on the basis of being a werewolf. It was a way to protect herself. When he replied that he wasn't trying to get into her pants, her brows raised and her voice edged on teasing as she replied, "Why, something wrong with them?"
Don't get him wrong, this woman was hot. He would've asked her out if she wasn't hurt or having the attitude of someone who was ready to fight the moment he made the wrong move. She seemed so on edge he didn't want to just throw his charms in there like it would've worked in the first place. The guy had a lot of muscles, sure, but he wasn't stupid. Kiernan knew when to back off and he was not going to do anything that he might regret.
"If you knew my family, you'd need anything near you to help with any type of injuries." His brothers and sister always got hurt one way or another. The guy couldn't let his mother deal with it all by her own either. "Besides I know how punching a wall could relieve some anger." he said and eyed his own hands. There were scars on them from the days he was so frustrated he would punch right through a mirror.
"In my case it was a mirror." he explained and used a simple cleaning charm to clean her hand off the blood. "There was a lot of blood." he added and mumbled a spell on his own shirt before easily tearing some off it off and reached out with it to bandage her wound.
"Not really, I'm from Ireland but whenever I feel bored I end up out here." he said and smiled a bit. "Nice to meet you T." he wasn't going to ask if she didn't want to tell him her full name. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with them but you seem like you need a drinking buddy more than a guy flirting with you right now? Am I wrong?"
Post by TERESA NOTTINGHAM on Oct 23, 2019 9:27:50 GMT
If you knew my family... if only he knew hers, the "crimes" that her family had committed. To say they were social pariahs... would be an understatement. Teresa was viewed as an abomination, a creature who posed danger to everyone around her. Theo was seen as a loose canon with no control over his mental facilities, someone who needed to be hospitalised as a result. Her parents? Teresa loathed them with every fibre of her being but that pureblood society they loved so damn much? They would be outcasts now with two unruly, disowned children. "What's wrong with your family for them to be hurt so much?"
Teresa followed the man's gaze to his hands. They looked battered, covered with thin white scars that screamed 'I have a temper' - and she could relate. He shared a split second later that he had an affinity for punching mirrors. "What did the mirror do to you?" she asked, echoing his words from earlier. Her eyes moved from his hands to her own as he got to work, letting out a hiss between clenched teeth as he cleaned her wound then wrapped it. Shit, that hurt.
"Kiernan from Ireland. I should have put the two together," she said, before continuing to meander down the street. He brought up the point that she looked like she needed a drink more than someone flirting with her and he wasn't wrong. "Some arsehole I slept with grabbed my arse today. As long as you don't try that without my permission, we're good. Otherwise you'll wind up with a wand jabbed in your adam's apple and one knee slammed up against your goods. Trust me, I'm a good shot too, lots of practice, and I won't miss." With that, she walked up the steps of a familiar establishment and pushed open the door, leading them to a rickety old table. "It's a shithole in here but booze is alright and everyone keeps to themselves. So... Kiernan. What do you do with yourself?"
Whoever this woman was, Kiernan actually enjoyed her company. She was kind of wild but he liked it. Some women were quite plain but T was interesting instead. He wasn't going to ask about her anger, about her desire to punch walls because in a way he could relate to the anger. Kiernan chuckled and rolled his shoulders into a shrug as she asked what was wrong with his family because what wasn't?
"My brother is an auror, my other brother is a quidditch player and a reckless one at that.." he started and smirked. "My sister tends to get into trouble as well so I guess we are just a bunch of troublemakers." he said, a bit proud at that. When she asked about the mirror, Kiernan shrugged once more.
"I heard bad news about my sister, sucked that I couldn't get to Hogwarts and do something about it." he said and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket once he was done with her hand. "So I am more familiar now then?" he said with a smirk and walked with her to the bar. "Well he deserved everything that was coming to him didn't he? Even I know that's something you don't do." Respecting women seemed hard these days to some people.
"Trust me, this won't happen. I like my goods." he assured her, he surely didn't want to test her on this. "Booze sounds great, people not bugging others sound even better." he really didn't need to watch T beat some people up. "What do I do with myself? Well.. I play Quidditch and lately I have just wanted to do more with my life than just play quidditch and come home to a work in progress apartment." he said and took a seat at a table.
Post by TERESA NOTTINGHAM on Nov 3, 2019 11:17:24 GMT
The mention of an Auror and a Quidditch player in Kiernan's family was enough to have Teresa's blood boiling - she knew it was her fault for asking the goddamn question in the first place, but hearing about other people's success? It stung when you literally had all chances of success, fame and fortune snatched away from you in the blink of an eye. "At least you guys have money though. That's more than most people can say," she told him, teeth gritting at the note of pride that crept into his voice as he mentioned troublemaking. Lucky him. He got to choose to make trouble but because she was a werewolf, she was instantly labelled as a troublemaker who was at risk for being arrested over the smallest of things.
"Bad news, hey?" she said, brows raising. If he wanted to talk about it, he would but she wasn't about to pry and demand to know what was wrong. At the question of whether he was becoming more familiar, Teresa let out a hum and a shrug. "Depends, maybe you should tell me more about yourself other than your name. How old are you, Kiernan from Ireland?
As a server she recognised walked by their table, Teresa flagged them down before leaning forward, giving them an award winning smile. "Hey Zeke, two firewhiskeys," she said, proceeding to cut Zeke off as soon as he started complaining she still owned him for last time, "my friend's paying for this round. Promise. I won't blue ball you this time." She cast a glance at Kiernan, jerking her head in Zeke's as if to say, hurry up and cough up some galleons before he kicks us out. As Zeke soon left the table, Teresa focused on what Kiernan told her next. "What do you want to do other than Quidditch then?"
Something he said landed wrong with the other woman, he could tell from her posture. She seemed tense at the mention of his brothers and though she asked he figured she'd want his life to be more miserable. Some people didn't think their own lives could get better and always hoped to hear others had it worse so they felt like shit about their own. Kiernan didn't say anything about it but the mention of money just made him want to toss her some coins so she had a meal to eat. "Are you hungry? I'm starving. Let's eat." he said and ordered fries. "Do you like fries? I love fries." Kiernan admitted.
"I'm twenty-two, T." he said with a smile and cocked his head. "Last name is Stevens by the way, but just call me Kiernan." he told her. "Yeah she gets bullied a lot.." Kiernan eyed the Zeke fellow and grabbed a small pouch with gold. "Keep it coming mate.." he said and tossed Zeke some gold, enough for a couple of rounds and lots of food. Kiernan left the pouch on the table, hoping slightly that T would nick it. He was starting to like her and something told him that she was having a rough time and needed the money more than he did.
"Would it sound lame if I said helping people?" he asked and chuckled. "With Quidditch I don't do anything for others around me, working in the ministry even though I respect my brother, sounds like a fucking drag, so what is there for me to do?" he asked her and shrugged. "I just want to be there for my siblings and people who need me which probably are few.." he didn't even know how to help them.
Post by TERESA NOTTINGHAM on Dec 13, 2019 8:27:40 GMT
Fries. As soon as the food was mentioned, Teresa's stomach grumbled loudly. Sure, she ate with the Trossachs every day, but food like fries? Food that wasn't hunted and scavenged from the forest? It was a rarity. "They're... okay," she said, eyes darting to the server that Kiernan was ordering from. If he was paying, then she was going to be smart enough to seize the opportunity. "Can we get some onion rings too? Thanks." As the server moved away, Teresa leaned forward with her elbows on the table, a grin sliding onto her lips. "Hope you don't mind. I can always give you something in return, if you're feeling taken advantage of." The hint of suggestion that crept into her tone confirmed that no, the something in return was not of the PG-13 kind.
"Kiernan Stevens. Are you in the habit of giving out your full name to strangers?" Teresa asked, before her eyes darted down to the gold Kiernan had tossed into Zeke's hands. Back when she had money, before the whole... werewolf thing, she was never that showy with it. It was a good way of getting robbed, and she wondered as Kiernan left his pouch of gold in plain sight if that was his intention. If he wanted her to steal it. Immediately, her defenses went back up. "Is this some twisted ruse of yours? Trying to tempt me into stealing so the Ministry can lock me up? Because I've got to tell you, it's a fucking stupid plan if that's the case. Come up with something more creative."
It did sound lame that he wanted to help other people. "Are you some sort of martyr? You don't get anywhere in this world by putting others first," she told him outright. Maybe that was an overly negative viewpoint to have, but... she'd learned that the hard way that oftentimes if you prioritised other peoples needs, you got left in the dark. Taking a drink of the firewhiskey that appeared in front of her, Teresa considered Kiernan for a moment. "Maybe you should become a healer or something if you care so much about other people. Tend to the injured, that sort of thing. Back when I was in St. Mungos, there was this healer that -" Teresa cut herself off abruptly. She'd said too much already.
Here was the thing, Kiernan wasn't always such a nice guy and yes he would definitely not mind if this went into a less than pg-13 direction but truthfully he wanted to hang out with someone who wasn't fawning over him, wasn't his brother or a teammate trying to get him drunk and sleep with some random woman. No he wanted to relax with someone even if it was a stranger and get to know people, no matter their fortune. T was being quite fun to hang with and when she ordered onion rings, Kiernan just smiled.
"I wouldn't be opposed to that." he returned with a smirk and a sip of his own drink. He was having a good time already but yet the pouch seemed to make T quite uncomfortable after all and Kiernan's brow arched ever so slowly. She was quite paranoid and he really wondered who hurt her so bad that it made her like that. "Relax, the only ministry lap dog in the family is my brother and trust me, he doesn't even know I'm here. We haven't spoken since the Christmas ordeal at home." he assured her and eyed the pouch.
"Besides its just a pouch on a table. It'd be bad skill to steal it when it's right there." he was quite amused by it. "I'm stealing an onion ring, you can do with that what you will." he teased as the food was brought to their table. Kiernan happily ate from the fries. "What is wrong with giving you my full name, you did ask for it?" he asked her and hummed. "Are you going to fangirl now too?" he really hoped not. Shen then dished on him wanting to do something and he frowned. "No though I did try to become a healer I just wasn't good enough.." he admitted, failing the classes and his internship. "I tried.." he remembered the accident.
"But I have been doing volunteer work." he recovered though he sensed the subject was sore for her too. He took some fries and ate from them not sure what to say. "The fries are really good here.." he said and offered some.
Post by TERESA NOTTINGHAM on Dec 16, 2019 10:03:26 GMT
I wouldn't be opposed to that, Kiernan's words followed up by that smirk had Teresa leaning forward across the table, her eyebrows raising daringly. "Are you sure you could handle it though?" she said, voice sliding into a more flirtatious tone. But then just like that, she was leaning back with her own drink in hand, taking a calm sip as she awaited his response. Some men cowered in the face of a challenge, other men thrived. What type of man was he when presented with one?
"Good, because if I find out you're one of them -" One of those Ministry officials she loathed oh-so-much, due to the whole wanting to persecute her for being a werewolf thing, "- then I'll be pissed. I'm still not taking your pouch though." She shot a pointed look at the thing, before her fingers rested on top of it and she pushed it back into his direction. "What's the Christmas ordeal? Do you always talk in mysteries?"
"You're stealing the onion rings you and your small Quidditch fortune paid for?" Teresa said, lips twitching in amusement as she moved forward, swiping a few fries. But before she could put them into her mouth, she waved them at him with a shake of my head. "Uh, no. I said tell me more about yourself - I never asked for your full name. All those balls to your head must be effecting your memory." As soon as Kiernan mentioned the prospect of her fangirling, Teresa's eyes rolled so far back in her head that she could probably see her own brain. "Do you always expect people to fangirl over you? I don't give a shit about how famous you are. I don't have time to go and watch Quidditch. I have better things to do.
By the time they'd moved onto the subject of Kiernan doing a healer traineeship, Teresa had eaten a few fries by then and her eyebrows raised. How did someone who wanted to become a healer fall into the career of a Quidditch star instead? They were such different career paths. "What do you mean not good enough? You couldn't do the magic, or...?" Teresa asked outright, before her lips drew into a tight line. "I used to want to work in the Ministry, believe it or not. Department of International Magical Co-Operation because... well, it doesn't matter. Never got my OWLs." A bitter note crept into Teresa's voice and her nostrils flared with the sheer anger she felt every single time she remembered that in the eyes of the Ministry, she wasn't worthy of an education.
This mystery girl was such a relief from the girls he met. It was actually nice to have someone who challenged him, someone who didn't give a single shit about his career. That's the problem with fame, golddiggers before real people. Sure her flirting really felt like a surprise but he was digging it, he rather jump a girl who was real than a girl after his money. Kiernan sadly dated enough of those people and they all just made him want to yeet himself out of the nearest window, no questions asked.
"Oh I am a tough guy, the question is can you handle all of this?" he asked with a cheeky grin on his face as he slowly reached for a fry and took a bite out of it. Teresa then sort of threatened him and he was into it, he really wouldn't report her because fuck them all. "Want me to pinky swear?" he asked with a chuckle. "I don't give a single fuck about the ministry." he said and cocked his head a bit before taking a sip of his drink. He watched her shove the pouch back and he happily slipped it into his pocket.
"Oh yes well since you asked.." he said swiping the onion ring. "My parents divorced after my father was quite the douchebag about my sister. He wanted all sons you see." he said and shrugged. "So he came to crash Christmas and I almost shoved a fist into his gut for being an ass." he hated what his father did to his mother, to his sister. "I have two older brothers, Ciar is in the same team as me." Kiernan ate from the onion ring, he loved these. "My younger brother Finn, he just graduated like a year ago, he is the nicest of us all." he said and ordered another drink as he downed his glass, tossing the coins on the table for the waiter.
"The problem with being famous is no one is real to me, you know?" he said and frowned. "It's refreshing to be around someone who simply doesn't care." he admitted. Some people were made for fame, Ciar sure was. Kiernan just wasn't and it showed in everything he did, everything he said and he was glad T was being herself. In her own secretive way. "But hey I am not the only mystery here, I don't even know your name." he gave her a wink and ate another fry.
"I failed my internship.. I was supposed to help this victim in the poison ward and I thought I did everything right but.. one night she was gone and found dead several days later." he hated himself for it and it's why he pursued quidditch even more. "I was always good at quidditch so I went for something I knew I was good at." Kiernan turned to the drink that was delivered.
"Well maybe one day you will. Once they got their sticks out of their arses about the werewolves." Kiernan thought this whole thing was nuts. "They're ruining lives of good people. My brother is trying to do good but one man can only do so much." Kiernan knew werewolves were a sore subject and he didn't know her opinion on them. "Sorry I don't know your opinion on this and I will not force my own on you." he didn't want her to call him out for not hating werewolves when so many do. "I just can't hate people for being themselves.." he mumbled and took another sip. "Want another drink?"
Her knuckles were bleeding, dripping blood in fact, because she'd lost her temper again and she'd slammed her fist into the nearest wall. Better than the nearest person, right? She couldn't get arrested for something non-sentient, though she wouldn't put it past the Ministry if they decided to put her behind bars for damaging 'public property' even though her right hand hadn't even made a dint in the bricks she'd tried to punch up with.
