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!
Post by RAOUF NASHAAT on Sept 24, 2019 13:10:55 GMT
Raouf had never been a particularly punctual person, but he'd left the Slytherin common room early to request some more familiar food for dinner. He wasn't feeling too well, and very homesick, so he thought he'd comfort himself with quality food. The house-elves had been more than happy to receive the request, and they'd swept him out of the door with more sweets than he'd had initially. Then, he took a treck up the stairs which, thankfully, cooperated with him for the first time. He thought it might be that the ancient building had finally accepted his presence ther...or he'd become better at predicting them. Either way, he'd arrived on the fourth floor in a timely manner. It was just a matter of finding the unused classroom now. Raouf peaked into the library, biting on the side of his cheek as he considered the time. Surely there would be enough for him to browse and borrow out a book or two? He needed a few sources for his Arithmancy essay.
He stepped inside, heading towards the place he'd been instructed was the right section. He squinted at the dusty book titles, letting small sighs out at almost every book that wasn't relevant. Raouf knew he'd have to get going soon or he would be late, so he pulled one out of the leaning bookshelf and brought it up to the librarian to be borrowed. He made stunted small talk with her as he observed the time on the clock above her head. He took the frail book as she handed it to him, wishing her a good day. Many tasks had been accomplished on his way to this study session, so he hoped it would be as productive as the rest of his afternoon had been. He stepped into the cluttered former classroom, relieved that he was the first one there.
He didn't know the Gryffindor he'd been partnered with, but he'd seen him around. Raouf thought the other boy seemed kind enough, but judgement had yet to be passed. Raouf picked up a chair, placing opposite to the chair was beside a desk. He set down his book on another table and then cast his eyes around for a mirror of sorts. It would be helpful if they were to do Human Transfiguration like Professor Samuals had suggested. Raouf thought that he was quite proficient in Transfiguration, finding it to be less work than History of Magic or Arithmancy. Those classes...he was struggling as much as he had expected. He uncovered a large half-wall mirror and shook his head. They'd have to conjure up one. He glanced up as he heard someone else approach, giving a warm smile to the Gryffindor who entered.
Oh shit, oh shit, I'm late, his thoughts ran as fast as Rodrik himself was, I hope he isn't upset, I don't need that right now-- Ah, here!
He tumbled into the fourth floor corridor, the bottoms of his old pair of sneakers squeaking against the stone pavement as his long legs carried the Gryffindor towards one of the unused classrooms.
Transfiguration had just became so much more complicated -- and here Rodrik was thinking that it couldn't get worse than having to change his hair color, which had turned out to be exceedingly difficult for him. Maybe because he liked his warm brown hair, thank you very much.
But now they were studying Human transfiguration even more in-depth, and the professor expected them to be able to turn each other into little white ferrets of at least something of the sort. Rodrik didn't think it was a wise idea -- what if someone botched their spell and their poor classmate would get stuck in animal form for the rest of eternity? It was equal parts alarming and humorous, and he chuckled as he imagined his dear friend Zoe as a particularly feisty guinea pig.
He turned another corner and made his way to the classroom he and the Slytherin had agreed to meet in. As he opened the door, he saw the other guy already in front of him, with their work space tidied up and ready to go. Rodrik tugged on the sleeves of his black sweater and greeted his classmate, voice full of enthusiasm.
"Hi! Sorry I'm late, Ancient Runes homework and all," he offered his hand for a shake, "Do you know where we should start?"
Raouf stood up, wiping the dust from his hands before he approached and shook Rodrik's extended hand. "That is no problem at all. I stopped by the library to grab an Arithmancy book anyway." He told the other boy as he gestured towards the book. He stepped back to allow the Gryffindor into the room and then headed towards a chair. He was not nervous as he'd expected hinself to be, just grateful that things were going according to plan.
He hadn't pulled out his Transfiguration notebook or textbook out, so he begun to that while he considered Rodrik's question. "Did you want to practice some more basic spells before we attempt to change each other into ferrets?" Of course, Raouf wasn't too concerned about messing up, he thought he was the least likely to screw up in this situation. However, there was a niggling of doubt that his abilities were rusty and out of use. They'd been covering some topics he'd already covered at Uagadou. He hadn't complained, merely kept his mouth shut and did his work diligently. People paid attention to show offs, and that was something Raouf was not. Professor Samuals had given him some extra reading to do in class if he'd wanted but Raouf never practiced any of the spells or knowledge within class. He thought it was a little too arrogant for his taste. He'd asked his questions outside of class time, in the privacy of the Professor's office.
He cleared his throat, pulling out his wand and wanting to reassure Rodrik that he wouldn't mess up badly, but held his tongue. The Gryffindor didn't seem too concerned anyway. "Do you want to try the colour changing spell on me? My body, face or hand or something. Not my robes of course." Words: 298 Tags: RODRIK BELANGER
After a short, yet firm handshake, Rodrik looked around for a chair he could occupy. Lucky for him, the entire old classroom was full of chairs, and, what do ya know, there was one right by the teacher's desk. He grabbed the back of the chair to steady himself and regain his breathing.
"Arithmancy, huh?" he said, trying to make some small talk. "Those tables were always way over my head. Do you find it tough?"
The Slytherin didn't falter and immediately approached the subject matter, offering to either warm up or get right to the nitty gritty. Rodrik pondered for a second, brows furrowing and lips pressing together.
Transfiguration is always best practiced when you're focused, so a warm up wouldn't be too bad. Then again, I still have that essay to do, and he seems busy... And I'm not that bad at this...
"Alright, we can start at the color changing. I'm going to attempt to turn your," he looked over his study partner. He had a nice tuft of dark brown hair that pointed upwards.
"Your hair! Ever wondered how you'd look as a blond?" he smiled, pointing his wand at the Slytherin's hair and pronouncing the incantation. After a few seconds it turned platinum blonde, clashing terribly with almost everything else.
"Hm, that looked better in my mind, but I've never been the visual arts type. Your turn!"
"Arithmancy is easier than History of Magic for me. It is full of numbers- numbers are almost universal. History is not. It's complicated and one-sided." He tried to explain, not feeling the need to tell the other boy exactly how hard he found Arithmancy. It wasn't an easy subject, that was for sure but there was something in the methodicalness of the whole thing that made it quite tolerable. He sat down on his prepared chair and nodded as Rodrik chose to warm up. "Sounds good to me." His wand was already in his hand, although it hung loose. He calmly watched was the Gryffindor raised his wand, exclaiming that he'd make Raouf's hair blond. He kept still, eyes up as he attempted to see his hair change colour, despite knowing he'd be unable to see it. He tugged a curl out straight, giving a huffed laugh.
The Slytherin squinted as he looked at the student, mulling ideas in his head. He gave a smirk as the idea of a bright blue hair and beard until a more ambitious idea sprung on him. "Trust me on this one, I think it will be a good look." He raised his wand and said the incantation which aimed to turn Rodrik's skin a mid-tone blue. There was a little warmth from the tip of his wand and Rodrik's skin, which quickly passed from pink to purple and finally blue. It was a little stronger of a colour than he'd imagined, but it was a close enough shade that he was happy with his work. Although...it did look quite ridiculous. He maintained a straight face for a good three seconds before he had to smother a laugh with the back his hand.
Rodrik looked like an alien imitating humans and failing miserably. "Oh no no, that won't do." He shook his head. "Let me change it back, you look like a blueberry." He flicked his wand for the untransfiguration spell and Rodrik's skin reverted back to normal. Words: 335 Tags: RODRIK BELANGER
"I guess for each their own," Rodrik shrugged, "I wasn't too fond of History either, all those essays...Though I can't escape them in other subjects, either. And Hogwarts seems to have tough luck with teachers. " he spoke as he prepared to cast a spell.
"I've heard some unnerving things about O'Keeffe, and I'm kind of glad I decided not to continue History," he mentioned a moment later, raising up his wand and changing the subject to Transfiguration.
A smile appeared on his face when he saw that Raouf was amused by Rodrik's choice of color change. He stood there, waiting for the Slytherin to cast a spell. There was a fiendish smirk on his partner's face, and Rodrik furrowed his eyebrows for a second. What was he planning?
He could feel his entire body tingle. For a few seconds, he couldn't tell what had changed, but then he looked at his hands.
"What the hell!" he exclaimed, looking at his limbs and pulling his shirt up, "I need to see this, oh God, where is the mirror?"
He ran over to the large half mirror on the wall and looked at himself. His skin, head to toes, was blue. So blue, that the blood that rushed to his face as he laughed, bending over backwards, wasn't even visible.
It took Rodrik a few minutes to calm down even after Raouf had reversed the spell. Rubbing the tears out of his eyes, he huffed and turned back to the Slytherin.
