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!
It was March, mere months away from NEWTs for his seventh year students, and Jack had already covered majority of the curriculum. All they were doing now was revision, and he wanted to change things up a little, cover something that was not imperative for their NEWTs but instead for real life, something which was applicable for the sixth years as well. Expecto patronum. The most recent example of this spell being important to know was at the Winter Ball - without it, they wouldn’t have been able to cast light, or send out word to the Ministry. They likely would have been trapped in the Great Hall for much, much longer.
“Good afternoon everyone. Today, we’re going to be exploring the Patronus charm. Now, I want to be very clear to everyone: I do not expect anyone to perform a corporeal patronus today.” That was very advanced magic, way beyond the level of sixth and seventh year students, and if someone were to cast a corporeal patronus then he would be very surprised. “Before we get started on practicing, I want to talk about the charm first.” A few groans sounded from the class before him, but Jack ignored them. The theoretical side of a charm, knowing it’s history and what it could and could not do, was just as important as the practical side. You couldn’t begin to master a spell without knowing a thing about it.
“Let’s start off simple, shall we? Who can tell me what the patronus charm is used for?” Jack asked, waiting for a show of hands before he called on someone. Then moving on, grabbing the mug of coffee from the desk behind him, he posed the question: “What else can you tell me about the patronus charm?” It was an open-ended question, one that had many answers, and he hoped to hear from most of his students as he sipped at his coffee. Maybe fortune would be in his favour today and he’d manage to drink to the bottom of his cup.
6'0". IRISH. BIG HEART. LOYAL. BRAVE. WORKAHOLIC. BISEXUAL. SINGLE. distinguishing features: a big scar runs across jack's left cheek credit for award goes to ollie! <3
There is a lot more he could say, but it wouldn't be fair to everyone else!
Wolfgang sat down next to Isobel, nudging her gently and giving her a quick smile before pulling his books and wand out of his satchel. The sight of her made his heart do a little leap, but class was no place for romance or the likes.
Defense Against The Dark arts was without a doubt, one of the most important, if not the most crucial subjects for Wolfgang's career of choice. While he couldn't complain about his theoretical understanding, it was the practical use of most martial spells that left him cursing at his wand in empty classrooms well after curfew.
And the Patronus charm? That was the worst offender. After many hours of research and many failed attempts the most he'd ever managed to produce was a faint white string of smoke. Sometimes he wanted to break his fickle willow wand in half and toss it to the hounds. But who was to say that the same wand wood wouldn't choose him again?
For the last few months the Ravenclaw had been rather quiet during lessons, not feeling confident enough to draw attention to himself and his torn-up visage, but this lesson was of personal interest to him. But today he wanted to answer. His hand was the first one to rise up, and once prof. O'Connor had given him the word, he began, voice clear and confident.
"The primary use of the Patronus charm is the creation of a corporal guardian - a Patronus, as the name states. This guardian can take the form of an animal which has meaning to the caster, and is most often used to deter Dementors." He cleared his throat before continuing, "Patronuses can be used to send messages, or provide light."
Post by GRACE LONGBOTTOM on Oct 7, 2019 5:53:32 GMT
Another Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, another day for Grace to worry about whether or not her magic was going to be up to scratch and as she heard about Professor O'Connor's lesson plan for the day, she was leaning towards the latter. Patronus' were notoriously hard to produce - in fact, for a lot of witches and wizards, they were impossible to achieve regardless of how long they'd been practicing. She sincerely doubted that she, a sixteen year old girl who struggled with practical magic at the best of times, was even going to be able to produce a tiny wisp of an incorporeal patronus.
Swallowing hard against the nerves building inside of her, Grace decided to answer Professor O'Connor's question, adding onto what Wolfgang - who she was still avoiding like the plague - had said, "Some people who can't produce corporeal patronuses, can cast incorporeal patronuses instead. They... that's when, um... when they don't have any particular shape. They can stop dementors and shield the casters from them, but they don't repel them."
Jonah had sitting in the back of the classroom, his eyes trained on the professor as he explained today’s lesson, and he had let out a tiny breath. Truth be told, he didn’t trust anyone using their wands these days, especially what had happened during the Winter Ball. Not after what was supposed to be fun turned into hell for everyone that was stuck in The Great Hall. Thankfully everyone was safe, and there weren’t any deaths. Instead, a lot of injuries and Jonah would have been furious if his sister was harmed - and there would have been hell to pay.
He listened to the answers that both Wolfgang and Grace had given the professor, causing the male to smile a bit. He sure hope this class was going to be peaceful this time around instead of students going at each other’s throats.
Before class, Elijah had promised his sister, and himself that he would behave himself this time around. He was going to be quiet in his corner, and will only speak if he was called upon. That was his plan all along. He didn’t want to cause the house points to go down anymore this school year. So when he had arrived into the classroom, he had dropped his bag next to the chair he had seated himself in, taking a seat next to his sister, taking one quick glance around the classroom as the professor had spoken up about the lesson.
He had nodded as a way to say got it before he heard the answers from Wolfgang and Grace.
He had sat back in his seat as he glanced over at his sister.
Well this was either going to go well or to hell. The brunette was skeptical because most of these students had become a bunch of childish toddlers over the year so she had no hope for everyone else. Ryker looked at Elijah who was seated beside her and cocked her head a bit when he said he was going to behave. She reached out for his forehead and frowned.
"You have a fever big brother.." she whispered and eyed the professor who spoke about the patronus charm. God she could cast that one in her sleep. Ryker decided to just wait till she was allowed to cast it.
Cooper had made his way to Defense Against The Dark Arts, and hoped that it wouldn't turn into a riot that would make them look bad. He was already done with the year to say the least. It was March and he knew that his home life was interesting. And he heard from someone in particular that his sister was back to seeing Toby, and he was pissed.
He sat in the back of the class, and listened as Professor O'Connor had went on about the patronus charm, and asked them for their input. Knowing it was a stupid question, he decided to ask. "Professor what if the charm could be used to protect your family from a lethal person?" he asked. As it sounded like a protection Charm to him.
Then again who knew if the patronus charm had other properties other than as a defense mechanism.
Post by KAYLIE ROUSSEAU on Oct 17, 2019 7:53:10 GMT
Kaylie had expected this class to go to hell soon enough. These days all of them went to hell faster than Kaylie could even mention it. The blonde girl was ready for the action as she leaned back into her seat, waiting for her girlfriend to arrive before she even bothered paying attention. The moment the class started she had rolled her eyes, patronus charms.
Kaylie could cast hers, she tried it a few times to scare the living shit out of people but it was tough to cast. The happy memory bit was what made it so tough and most of hers were not happy at all. Kaylie cocked her head to the side and watched people answer the professor. Then Narro had to ask a dumb fucking question that made Kaylie want to die inside. The intelligence of the Slytherin house had died to below freezing point.
Kaylie rose her hand and sighed. "You need a happy memory to cast the bloody thing in the first place. It's the reason why some people can't cast it because human nature often tends to forget about their happier moments and hold onto their horrible ones instead." she said and shook her head. "Bloody obvious.." she whispered to herself.
and i'm calling for my mother/as i pull the pillars down
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Post by NADEZHDA KAREVA on Oct 18, 2019 16:59:58 GMT
Ah, the Patronus. The charm that required a happy memory. Perhaps that meant that this time nobody would be thrown out of class, though Nadya was rather unenthused about yet another lesson in which they would likely be discussing theory for what felt like the whole hour. She let her classmates answer the professor's question, still sort of irritated by how she had felt she had been dismissed with him several months ago. Finish it out without feeling the need to run away again, and then you're free, she told herself, though she wasn't sure how long she could resist the impulse to give up on the prison-like school. Only the thought that graduating might allow her to get into St. Mungo's was her motivation.
There was one question she had, though, something she had been wondering about, and when there was a pause in her classmates speaking, Nadya raised her hand, from the back of the classroom as always. "Professor, I wanted to ask what the form of your Patronus means, and if there's a way to find out even if you can't cast the charm." As someone who cared deeply about nature, knowing what animal represented her seemed very important to her. But she'd never been able to cast the charm before, and she doubted this class would be the time it actually worked.
Post by JACK O'CONNOR on Oct 19, 2019 10:38:57 GMT
The first person to pipe up and answer his question was Wolfgang Kallenbach, someone he had noticed had grown quite quiet during his classes recently. Given the trauma the young man had gone through at the winter ball... well, it wasn't hard to guess that was what spurred the change in attitude. "Yes, you're correct, Wolfgang. That's 10 points to Ravenclaw. So the guardian itself, the Patronus... it's a positive energy source, one that serves to protect the caster," Jack said with a nod. "As Wolfgang said, the Patronus can also be used to send important messages, speaking with the voice of the caster. This can be using either a corporeal or incorporeal Patronus. Now, dementors were listed as one of the creatures a Patronus can protect you from... who can tell me what other dark creature the charm can protect you from?"
As Grace Longbottom spoke up next, Jack nodded as she went into a brief explanation on incoporeal Patronuses. "Yes, correct, Grace. 5 points to Hufflepuff. So typically, incorporeal Patronuses don't take any particular form or shape. It's like... a mist of silver. It has some power to it, but it is nowhere near as powerful as a corporeal Patronus is. Now, a question for all of you: if somebody can cast a corporeal Patronus but chooses to cast an incorporeal one... why might that be?"
When Cooper Narro raised his hand and asked a question that came out of left field, Jack paused for a moment before shaking his head, "I would highly suggest you use another charm to protect from dangerous people as a Patronus charm would not give you very much protection, Cooper. You'd find Protego Maxima, the Shield Charm to be much more effective."
Perhaps surprisingly, the next person to answer his question was Kaylie Rousseau, a Slytherin who spent majority of the time sleeping instead of actually participating in the class. Ignoring her inserts of 'bloody,' Jack nodded. "Correct. 10 points to Slytherin, Kaylie. A happy memory is the best way to conjure a Patronus, and the happier the better. However, if you don't have an extremely happy memory you can rely on, then you can try using the happiest scenario you can imagine for you."
When Nadezhda Kareva raised her hand, Jack's eyes swept over to her. It was good to see she wasn't sulking, as she suggested she would in her letters. "Two excellent questions. 5 points to Slytherin, Nadezhda. There is no way to predict what your Patronus form may be, however many have tried. Now, with what a form means... they normally take the form of an ordinary animal and said animal is usually tied to your personality in some way. It's kind of up to interpretation of why that particular creature represents you. Patronuses can also change over time... does anyone know why they may change?"
6'0". IRISH. BIG HEART. LOYAL. BRAVE. WORKAHOLIC. BISEXUAL. SINGLE. distinguishing features: a big scar runs across jack's left cheek credit for award goes to ollie! <3
The class was going well so far and Ryker was really looking forward to showing off her own patronus. She had been so proud of being able to conjure it but she was also very determined to be the strongest witch she could be. With a smile she rose her hand to answer the professor's next question, not waiting for anyone else to get a chance to answer because she actually saw someone go through that.
"It changes because of strong emotional changes to a person's life. May it be love, loss or a change of personality through time." She said and lowered her hand, her fingers reaching for the coin in her pocket. She needed to do something with her hands.
Post by MAVICAN JONES on Oct 20, 2019 10:14:23 GMT
The patronus charm was something Mavican really wanted to learn. She wasn't bad at casting spells but she knew that she wasn't going to be able to do it unless she was taught to do so. She wanted to see her animal, she wanted to see what the patronus would be like. Would she be a predator animal? Would she be a small fluffy one? Mavican rose her hand asking the question she wanted to ask from the start.
Post by KAYLIE ROUSSEAU on Oct 20, 2019 10:24:37 GMT
Kaylie knew what she was talking about, she wasn't as stupid as people considered her to be. The blonde knew her stuff when it came to these things and she knew very well that to be able to cast this her mother had to be dead. To be honest the thought of that already put a smile to her face, the sense of freedom she felt was within her reach was yet so far away it hurt.
Her eyes scanned the room and she sighed, she just wished they actually would do something and for once agreed with the annoying redhead.
Post by WILLIAM WAGTAIL on Oct 20, 2019 10:30:34 GMT
What would be Willy's happiest memory? Those that came to mind easiest were the ones that tore his heart apart; the first time he saw his cheating mother with the band mate. The time that he'd found his father passed out in the bathroom, cold and stiff but thankfully not dead. The moment that the Officials were in Headmistress McGonnagal's office as they announced, as kindly as two iron fists, that his father was no longer a part of the living world. Ugh. This was unpleasant. Willy's tumultuous feelings were reflected in the swirling colour changes in his eyes, though thankfully nothing else in his appearance changed. He had enough control for that at the very least.
"What's that story of the mouse patronus that protected an entire village against attack? It's rather a perfect example of the whole 'not the size of the boat but the motion in her ocean, saying isn't it? The other wizard, rotten to the core, tried to cast a patronus and produced maggots from his wand that devoured him. A cautionary tale - I imagine a lot of the media are incapable of casting the charm for the same reason," Willy paused and half-grinned at his desk-buddy and favourite little snake, Vinda. He leaned closer to her to whisper, "O'Keeffe as well."
Post by ARTHUR LONGBOTTOM on Oct 21, 2019 3:54:01 GMT
With all the questions being answered so quickly, Arthur felt a little bit bummed out. He wanted to answer something. Ok so patronuses protected against dementors - yep, check, Harry Potter had taught the Dumbledore's Army how to perform the charm but his father had only ever managed the non-carporeal. Still, he had chopped the head off Nagini so he was like a super wonderful wizard. Arthur was scribbling down these important pieces of information as it came from the students. He struck out defend against intruders though after O'Connor had said it wasn't the best idea.
Finally a question that he could answer though! His father had told him stories of how Remus Lupin could perform a corporeal patronus but he refused to do so for fear of his lycanthropy being exposed - Ryker hadn't quite listed that in her very knowledgable list of reasons why a patronus might change over time. "Oh! Oh! I know this one - someone might choose not to form a fully corporeal patronus because they worry it will show too much of them. Like a secret. Like... like..." he paused and looked around, deciding that he wasn't going to betray the confidence of his father's ... friend? old teacher? ... well, he'd grown up as Teddy being like an older brother so yeah, nope. He wouldn't go any further. "Does casting it drain the caster of energy? Like.. are you left feeling... spent?"
Kaylie had expected this class to go to hell soon enough. These days all of them went to hell faster than Kaylie could even mention it. The blonde girl was ready for the action as she leaned back into her seat, waiting for her girlfriend to arrive before she even bothered paying attention. The moment the class started she had rolled her eyes, patronus charms. 
The patronus charm was something Mavican really wanted to learn. She wasn't bad at casting spells but she knew that she wasn't going to be able to do it unless she was taught to do so. She wanted to see her animal, she wanted to see what the patronus would be like. Would she be a predator animal? Would she be a small fluffy one? Mavican rose her hand asking the question she wanted to ask from the start. 
