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 ELIZABETH BEAUCAGE on Nov 8, 2019 10:36:45 GMT
Sometimes it was hard to let go of something you hold dear. That something being either a person or a memory.. in this case both. Lizzy had to let go of a person she loved, a woman she would do anything for if she let her but with her wolf gene now... things were too complicated. Maggie had let her go and Lizzy.. Lizzy didn't know how to let go. Of course she still loved her, of course she lied and said she was okay with being her friend in these tough times.
She lied because Maggie didn't deserve to worry about what Lizzy would do with her life now they weren't together. She didn't need to worry about the late night drinks and the hangovers in the morning. Lizzy wasn't completely in the destruction mode but she was worried, she was hurt and she needed to know if Maggie was okay so she contacted Jack. The brunette was seated outside drinking coffee as she waited for Jack.
Lizzy didn't have to do this. She didn't have to contact Jack, she could just move on and pretend but she wasn't a pretender. Lizzy was a fighter, a spirit of life and adventure and deep down desperate to be loved. With a smile she spotted Jack from the crowd. The brunette rose her cup in a greeting and smiled.
"Hello Jack, you look well!" she said and motioned for him to take a seat.
Post by JACK O'CONNOR on Nov 15, 2019 22:57:01 GMT
When Jack had received the owl from Lizzy, he had... in all honesty... debated declining the invitation to show up. He didn't want to put Maggie in an awkward position or talk about how she was doing behind her back. Mainly because he was her brother and he wasn't sure if she was being 100% genuine in her owls to him. It was hard to tell because whilst he liked to think he could read her face like a book, writing wasn't always so easy to interpret.
But he felt bad saying no, and so he had accepted the invitation on the basis that they wouldn't go too much into Maggie and how she was doing. Basics were fine, Jack had told himself, but no specifics. As far as he knew, Lizzy and Maggie had decided to remain friends and so they could talk more personally when hanging out together. It simply wasn't his place to talk for Maggie.
Moving towards the cafe where Lizzy had suggested they meet up, Jack had to admit that the bonus of saying yes to meeting up was coffee, something he had grown quite fond of over the last few years. It gave him the much needed kick in his system to get him up and going and focused.
As he entered the cafe with the bell up above giving a tiny 'ding,' Jack heard the calling of his name immediately. A kind smile gracing his face, Jack headed over. "Lizzy, same to you. How are you? How's things with work?" he asked her. She was a player for the Holyhead Harpies, if he recalled correctly, and Jack quite enjoyed watching Quidditch. The Harpies always played one hell of a game too, no doubt fueled by the desire to prove that an all women Quidditch team could play with the big boys and kick arse.
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
Post by ELIZABETH BEAUCAGE on Nov 16, 2019 9:13:55 GMT
Being the ex of someone's sister is not something everyone was comfortable with. Lizzy would've felt quite awkward for sure if she had siblings and their exes asked to hang out. Though she didn't fear or disliked Jack, she could imagine that he might feel the way most others would. Sure that wasn't something she thought off when she wrote the letter but then again, when does she think of anything before doing something? It wasn't her strong suit. The coffee they served here though made up for a lot of things nicely.
Lizzy looked at Jack with a small smile and took a sip of her coffee before answering. "Mmm I've been well. Work has been rough, we've been looking for new talent but so far no luck." she said with a shrug. "Hopefully the scouts will find some raw talent at Hogwarts. I am sure Alicia works them in good shape." she chuckled. God she missed that woman. "How's your work? Is it still a madhouse at Hogwarts?" she wouldn't lie when she said she missed being a student at times. Life was easier.. more fun back then.
It felt weird seeing Jack as anyone other than her old professor. The man who taught her as much as he could before she left the school. Lizzy remembered the amounts of detention, the times where she had to beg to let her play eventhough she got herself into trouble. She couldn't help it.. trouble always seemed to find her.
Seeing Lizzy drink from her coffee reminded Jack that yes, that was the reason he was here, and he quickly flagged down a waiter, reciting his coffee order before giving them a friendly smile. The shop itself didn't look too busy, so hopefully the waiter would stick to his word and it wouldn't take 'too long.' Turning his attention back to Lizzy, Jack nodded. "Oh, for the reserve team? I thought people would be chomping at the bit to join the Harpies," Jack mused. "I know there's a lot of students who are looking to play next year... Alicia's working them as hard as she can. But I really can't say I'm surprised." The thought made Jack grin actually because they'd hired Alicia for her tenacity and coaching abilities, and she certainly had proven that she was up for the challenge.
At the question of his work, Jack gave a little shrug. "It's busy, always is. That will never change. But at least it keeps you on his toes," he said, offering up at slight smile. If given the chance, he could talk about work for hours but he didn't want to send poor Lizzy to sleep with his rambling. "So... you and Maggie, are you still talking?" Currently. He wasn't sure if things had changed since he'd last spoken to his sister or not. "She seemed happy with you, it's a shame things had to end, Lizzy."
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
Post by ELIZABETH BEAUCAGE on Nov 21, 2019 10:13:23 GMT
Back in school Jack was one of the best teachers Lizzy could've asked for. She wasn't the worst when it came to defense against the dark arts, she was actually pretty good and of course herself fighting a beast over the summer with nothing but her bare hands and her cousin stabbing the thing once.. it made for great tales in class back then. Lizzy still had the scar of the horn piercing her side.
"Oh they are, but there is a very strict scouting these days, it's getting tougher to get into teams." she admitted and hummed. "Glad I am very skilled at what I do.. remember that bludger I hit at the old potions professor on accident.. god what a riot.." she laughed and sat back. She missed going to school and cause havoc. Being a hufflepuff and a trouble maker was a rare combination.
"Oh I am sure she will work them into the right shape. I learned a lot from her." she said with a smile and nodded. "Sometimes I miss her." mostly because she was hot and fierce as hell. As he talked about work you could really see that Jack seemed to enjoy what he was doing, it made Lizzy sort of jealous because even when she loved quidditch, it wasn't her biggest world passion. There was a big difference between passion for something or loving something.
"I try to write her as much as I can but I haven't heard from her in a while since.." she said and frowned for a moment. "Is she okay?" she asked and bit her lip. Of course she still cared about Maggie, that would never change. "I still care deeply about her but she thought being friends was.. better." she didn't believe a single word of it but there was nothing Lizzy could do to change that was there? Maggie thought friendship was the better choice here, Lizzy didn't.
"Personally I wish it didn't end at all... you know.. since Gabrielle.." she cleared her throat and sipped from her coffee.
"That was definitely impressive, although poor old Mathilde didn't think so... I can see why she didn't last much longer after that," Jack said, an amused lilt to his voice. When he said poor old Mathilde, he didn't wholly mean it. The woman had been a bitter old lady, one who had made some very... sly comments about him when he and Derek had been together, hinting at the fact that his mother must have been disappointed that she'd never have grandchildren. She hadn't been impressed when Jack had pointed out very logically that just because neither he nor Derek would be physically birthing a child, that didn't mean they wouldn't be able to have one. "Perhaps that's why the Harpies recruited you - your ability to take out people universally disliked."
"I'm sure that a letter to Alicia wouldn't go amiss. I'm quite sure that she misses coaching you lot as well," Jack said with a fairly confident nod. He knew that if he were to ever leave teaching... well, he'd definitely appreciate letters from his old coworkers and his former students to know that they missed him as much as he missed them.
"I... as well as she can be, I suppose. It's not - with everything that's been happening, she has a lot on her plate. I'm sure that she hasn't written back because she's been busy," Jack said, although he didn't know if that was why Maggie hadn't been writing back. It could have been for other reasons, like perhaps she just found it too difficult to maintain a friendship after a break-up? But Jack wasn't her, so he couldn't speak on her behalf. "What happened to Gabrielle was tragic, Lizzy, and I'm sure it's hard with what's happened with Maggie but... there's a lot of other women out there you can date. You know that saying - plenty of fish in the sea."
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
Post by ELIZABETH BEAUCAGE on Dec 9, 2019 18:54:20 GMT
God what a troublemaker she had become over the years. The school didn't know what they got themselves into after she transferred there. It was nice to see Jack was impressed by her damage on the old potions professor, god it was so long ago and yet it didn't feel like that at all. "I'm sure she is happily in a nursing home." she teased though she had no clue what happened to the old crone. Lizzy laughed at Jack's next comment and shook her head. "I always believed it was a talent but I'm glad you noticed it too." she returned with a grin.
"I sure hopes she missed me, I firmly believe she is the reason I became a good beater. Then again I always have been good." she said and took a sip of her own drink with a smile on her face. "I'm glad she's doing well, I worry sometimes because she is such a good person. Guess that runs in the family huh?" she said and then Jack mentioned Gabrielle and her heart sank down in her stomach.
"There is something I never told anyone about that., The reason I don't date and why I am actually quite at peace about the breakup.." she said and frowned. "Gabrielle's death wasn't an accident... It only seemed like it but my parents.." she frowned and eyed her coffee. "They don't like my choices in.. life when it comes to women rather than men."
"That said, I couldn't readily admit I found it impressive back then and if one of my students did it to my current co-workers now... they'd be in a lot of deep trouble," Jack mused aloud. In fact, if there was proof that a bludger was purposefully aimed at a Professor then that beater would end up with a very long suspension, if not expulsion.
"So very modest," Jack teased lightly at Lizzy's words. They weren't a lie, but they were bordering on bragging - something Jack liked to think he didn't do so himself. He was confident, yes, and he wouldn't deny being skilled at certain things however he always tried his best to remain humble. It was just the way he had been raised. "Maggie's a very good soul, yes. There's not denying that she's got a heart of gold. She always has, and she always will."
Jack fell quiet as Lizzy all of a sudden confessed that there had been more devious elements involved in the death of Gabrielle and he reached out, placing a gentle hand over the top of Lizzy's. "If you are correct... and you have proof, then you need to go to the Ministry," he said with a sure nod. "I certainly hope your parents aren't in your life anymore, Lizzy, because if they think you choose to like women rather than men, that's toxic. Not to mention... actively trying to destroy your relationships because of that reason? It's disgusting, and manipulative, and quite frankly, they don't deserve to have you in their lives."
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
