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 ALEXANDER GREENAWAY on May 2, 2019 12:58:22 GMT
Shit, was the word that kept running through Alex's mind as he trampled down from the Ravenclaw tower, through the corridors, and down the myriad of Hogwarts staircases. He'd stupidly slept through the afternoon and most of the evening again, and at this rate he was gonna miss dinner yet again. For the third night this week. Shit.
Too focused on where he was going, Alex was barely paying the other students any attention... as per usual. He usually kept to himself at all times. Except this time, as he jogged down the huge marble staircase and ran into a solid block of a human being, he regretted it. Especially as he glanced up to find himself staring into Liam Jordan's face, a cute - no, shit, not cute. That wasn't... Alex wasn't...Liam was a loud boy. Definitely just... loud. Nothing else.
Juggling three pygmy puffs idly (yes, they all squeaked each time they hit the palm of his hand and went back up in the hand), Liam was making his way down from some sort of classroom towards the dining room. His tummy growled because it knew that it was tea time and it almost made Liam lose his concentration, though he caught each of the puffs before they flopped to the ground.
"Merlin!" Liam exclaimed when someone crashed into him then, making his three pygmy puffs fall from his hands and roll across the floor with a series of miniature squeals. "Y'right bruv?" Liam asked as he put a hand out to steady himself, his hand reaching somewhere in Alex's general direction. "Accio pygmy puffs," the boy cast his spell before his puffs got into too much trouble; he caught them with ease and stuffed them in his pocket before he turned to Alex with a cheeky grin.
"My mother always said I need to pay more attention where I'm walkin'," he said apologetically, then held his fist out to Alex as his normal way of greeting, "fancy bumpin' int'you though! must think I'm a right clutz, 'ey?"
Post by ALEXANDER GREENAWAY on May 19, 2019 9:09:45 GMT
When there was a chorus of squeals and the exclamation of 'Merlin', at first Alex stared at Liam in utter confusion until the boy whipped out his wand. For a second, Alex thought that the Hufflepuff boy was going to hex him and he raised his hands as if to protect himself until he heard the boy summon pygmy puffs instead. "Oh," he said dumbly, before dropping his hands once more.
At the question of 'y'right?' Alex tried his best attempt at a smile. "I, uh... yeah, sorry. Should've looked where I was going. I just was in a rush. Like, er... like Luke Skywalker when he was gonna blow up the death star." Immediately, Alex's mouth clamped shut because really? That was the comparison he was going to make to someone like Liam, who possibly didn't know a thing about Star Wars? Or if he did know about the franchise, would immediately peg him as a giant nerd? Shit.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Alex stared steadily at the ground until Liam spoke next. Raising his head, he caught sight of a smile that immediately made his stomach feel bizarre. Had he had something bad to eat for dinner? Wait, no. He hadn't had dinner yet. Er, perhaps he was just feeling ill. Definitely wasn't because of the way Liam's smile shone as bright as the sun. "My, uh... my mum used to say that too. I think," he shared, before suddenly Liam was thrusting his fist towards him. What on earth... was... oh, was that the thing that kids in the group home did? Awkwardly and painfully slow, Alex raised his own fist and very lightly bumped it against Liam's. "No, you're not... you're very co-ordinated. Like, uh... a... Quidditch player. I-if Quidditch players look like you. I dunno really. I don't watch Quidditch. Um... yeah."
Liam's grin grew as he saw Alex try to smile because gosh it really made those bright eyes shine. The next moment though the kid was talking about some kid called Luke Skywalker and blowing up a star? "... Merlin is Luke on the whacky tobaccy? Ya can't be blowin' up stars," Liam shook his head, his dark eyes wide with worry. "Like I know the Prof' says the sun'll blow up in a million years or somet' but like … we'll all be dead by then, so good on it yeah?" Liam reasoned, mostly to himself. Still, someone should probably talk to this Luke fella.
Liam's fist stayed in the air between the two boys and he eagerly watched as Alex slower-than-a-wet-weekly returned the gesture. With each passing millisecond Liam's grin grew and bit by bit, his tongue began to peek out from between his brilliantly white teeth. "'Eeeeyyyyy there ya go!" Liam cheered once their knuckles connected and he clicked his tongue with a wink. "Ya mean if Quidditch playas looked as devilishly 'andsome as ya?" Liam laughed as Alex stumbled over his words, "nah bruv, I've the gift of the gab 'n' that's about all. Ya comin' down to dinner?" he motioned in the general direction. "Me sibs all got the Quidditch talent - wait 'ow can ya not watch Quidditch? that's like.. super un-wizardly of ya. Don't worry, I'll take ya to the next match 'ey? teach ya what's goin' on out there. Need to get ya away from this Skywalker kid who reckons ya can blow up stars!"
Post by ALEXANDER GREENAWAY on Jun 23, 2019 11:58:45 GMT
The whacky tobaccy nearly made Alex choke because who... who... said that? Was that a... was that something people actually said? Well, obviously, since it just left Liam's mouth but shit, was it a new thing cool people said? "Er, no. Most people I've seen smoking, uh, whacky tobaccy - " Merlin, didn't that sound foreign coming from his mouth? - "don't decide to blow up stars afterwards... Luke Skywalker's not real though. He's from a muggle franchise. So I don't reckon he'll actually blow up the stars one day."
Liam was cheering him on, like he'd just scored a goal, and all Alex could do was stare at him with eyes as wide as saucers. "Uh, thanks?" he said, very uncertainly. Then Liam was saying 'if Quidditch players looked as devilishly handsome' and Alex heart jumped into his throat because that's not what he'd meant. Is that how Liam had thought he'd meant it? "I'm... no. I'm not gay. I don't... I don't - I mean, I do like girls. Chicks. Women. Just... I didn't mean it liked that." 'Liar,' his brain was shouting him, but he refused to listen. He couldn't be. He'd be screwed. Bashed in a second.
"Yeah, I am," Alex mumbled as Liam asked if he was going to dinner, and then after a moment's hesitation he started walking towards the great hall, wondering if Liam would follow. But he stopped in his track as Liam offered to take him to a match. Well... that was unexpected. "I... I don't want to bother you when you're with your friends, if you've got cool - uh, people you're closer to that you wanna hang with." Despite himself, though, Alex cracked a tiny, amused smile at Liam saying he needed to get him away from Skywalker.
Liam’s mind was melting as he tried to wrap it around the idea that this Luke fella was some muggle... like shit man shouldn’t someone be keepin’ a closer eye on these star blowing up muggles? That can’t be healthy for the universe and shizz like... butterflies. wings. tornadoes... ”Bruv, I think we need to tell someone ‘bout these muggle franchise plans to blow up stars. D’you reckon Luke’s a sudiname? Code name? Thing? If we can reach ‘im we can save the universe, yeah?” he was full serious too - the usual cheeky smile was replaced by very thoughtful caressing of his baby beard that was slowly coming in.
When young Alex was wide eyed and unsure of Liam’s easy praise, the boy clicked his tongue and chuckled, ”yo very welcome, bruv”. Then he’d made a joke about how good looking he was and it seemed to send Alex into a tail spin, which had Liam holding holding one hand up in surrender and the other reaching out to pat the poor boy on the shoulder. ”Ey, It’s cool. Be cool. I understand ya don’t think I’m devastatingly ‘andsome - e’eryone’s got their own flava. I ain’t gotta be gay t’say yo good lookin’ Alex. Like look at those bright blues - brighter than the skies those are. If ya ain’t careful Luke’ll start walkin’ on ‘em,” he said with a big grin. ”Bet those chicks be blushin’ fo’ days when ya turn on the charm, yeah?”
Once his new buddy said that he was headed for dinner, Liam started making his way in that general direction too, fiddling with the Pygmy puffs in his pockets. Only a few steps in though, Alex stopped which made Liam skid to a halt too. His sneakers squeaked on the floor and it made the boy cringe to hear. ”Nah bruv, me n my buddies always ‘ave room for more! Best watch out for Viola though, she’ll cover you in kisses like you got the Pox if you let her. ‘N’ come up with some weird name for the colour o’ yo eyes,” Liam said with an easy laugh and shrug like it was totally normal. The moment that Alex cracked a smile, Liam’s grin almost took up his entire face.
”Wonder what’s fo’ dinner. Mushy peas ooooooorrrrr mash n gravy?”
Post by ALEXANDER GREENAWAY on Jun 24, 2019 14:12:29 GMT
Alex was staring again, but he couldn't help it. Liam was treating this like it was FBI business, like they were Mulder and Scully, about to bust open a case and tell the police that the 'truth was out there.' Like they were about to be heroes or something. "Luke's the good guy. He's blowing up the death star for the greater good. So it isn't used to destroy the other planets," Alex tried to explain, for some reason growing just as serious as Liam was. "So we can't arrest - they can't arrest Luke, or else the other planets are doomed." But then Liam said 'sudiname' and Alex blinked at him slowly, confused. "No, his... his name is Luke. Not Sudi."
Alex's tailspin had only intensified as Liam clicked his tongue, laughing, because Merlin, was that an offended laugh? Had... was Liam gay? Had Alex just made it seem like he wasn't okay with others being gay? Because he was fine with guys that liked guys. But he didn't. "People don't have flavours," Alex said, confused yet again, until he zeroed in on Liam saying 'yo good lookin'' before going on the talk about his eyes... and Luke... walking on them? "I don't think Luke's the type of guy to do that. Walk on... my eyes. Or any part of me. That'd be weird." But then Liam was talking about girls and blushing for days and his charm and Alex coughed for a moment before making the worst possible decision ever. Liam was cool, right? He didn't want to seem like a total loser in front of him. "Er, yeah... I... a couple of ex-girlfriends of mine -" Non-existent ex-girlfriends... "- totally... uh, were charmed. By... by me."
The mention of Viola was enough to make Alex squirm uncomfortably because Merlin, she had good intentions but she just... never stopped talking. Plus, she was on top of half of the boys in his year and above all the time. In some ways, it made him jealous - uh, jealous that... she... didn't... sit on him. Yeah, that's why. Not because he wanted to be sitting on - not at all. "Does... does she have the pox? Maybe she should go to St. Mungos if she's got the pox," Alex said, grimacing. "Viola tells me every morning at breakfast that my eyes look like bluebells. I dunno... I don't think I've ever really seen bluebells. I don't go... outside much." Merlin, it made him sound like a recluse... and truthfully, he kind of was.
Liam's question of what's for dinner made Alex's tummy rumble, obnoxiously loud. Immediately, his cheeks turned as red as beetroots, embarrassed. He shouldn't have been so hungry, Hogwarts fed him well. "Where I... where I live, we have mushy peas all the time," he muttered. Well, some of the time. Usually, they got stolen and flicked at him or some of the other 'easy targets' in the group home. "I like mash n' gravy more."
Liam's dark brows folded into themselves, very concerned about the fate of the planet resting on this Luke dude. "... I'll keep an eye out for the explosion in astronomy the next few nights. Do you think the Prof knows that someone's gon' blow up a star? I feel like it should be a big deal like... an event in astronomy class y'know?"
When Alex said that people didn't have flavours, Liam shook his head emphatically because " 'eck yes they do bruv, I'm chocolatey goodness with caramel swirly centre 'n' you... you're a vanilla sexy pie wit' a toucha blueberries cuz them eyes, y'know," Liam explained with a grin, his stomach growling loudly as he began talking about food. "Ah no, now I've made meself even 'ungrier," he rubbed his belly through his robes and glanced up as Alex said that Luke wouldn't walk on his eyes. "Too busy blowing up stars, 'ey?" Liam could understand that didn't leave much time to go oogley over some boy's pretty blue eyes. "Jeez a couple of girls huh? You're a regular 'eart breaker, Alex! I ain't even 'ad one," he rubbed his own nose for a second to hide the fact that he was more than a little disappointed at his own lack of love.
"Nah … nah she doesn't 'ave the Pox. Just leaves me lookin' like I've got the Pox covered in that red lippy of 'ers," Liam explained as he walked towards the Great Hall. "Yep! I imagine they do look like bluebells - I've never seen one either though... maybe if we ask Proff Skars, she can tell us where to find them? To double check?" he paused to look over at Alex expectantly, ready for confirmation that they'd spend a day outdoors looking for these flowers.
"Ya super 'ungry, there, Alex?" Liam said as he went to poke Alex in the grumbly belly. "Where ya live? Like wit' your ma 'n' pa, yeah?" he asked because the turn of phrase was... really weird? "My ma makes the best mash in the world. She says 'er extra ingredient is 'love' but I'm not 4 anymore," Liam said with a warm chuckle. "Instead of butter she uses bacon fat 'n' Alex... Merlin it's ta die for."
Post by ALEXANDER GREENAWAY on Jul 26, 2019 1:19:40 GMT
"Can... can you even see the night sky from the Hufflepuff common room?" Alex asked, gobsmacked by how, uh... passionate Liam was getting about this very make believe situation. Next thing he knew, Liam would be making plans to go commission the Ravager to go up to space and stop Luke Skywalker.
Then Liam mentioned going to tell a Professor, so they could study it in astronomy, and Alex floundered before saying "Uh, Prof...essor Savage would know more about the death star than anyone else!" He could try and explain what was going on to her as well, right? That this was just a huge misunderstanding, that it was muggle stuff interpreted incorrectly by a wizard. But first, he needed to convince Liam to talk to her. "Uh, Australians... they know about Star Wars better than anyone, um... cause... cause they live far away and, um... they speak differently. Like how in Star Wars, they speak Galactic Basic... Australians, they speak, um... er..." What the hell was an Australian term? Alex wracked his brain before blurting out, "Bogan Basic. Uh, they speak Bogan Basic. Fluently."
Alex nearly choked on his damn tongue as Liam called him a 'vanilla sexy pie with a touch of blueberries' because that, uh... that definitely wasn't what two straight guys said to each other, right? That was something weird, something he expected to come from Viola's mouth. "Uh... uh, well. I don't want anyone to eat me - uh, my eyes. I don't want anyone to eat my eyes," Alex said adamantly, hands reaching up to rub the nape of his neck. It was growing warmer by the minute. "Why? Do you want people to, um... to eat you? I bet... uh, lots of people like to taste 'chocolatey goodness.'" Merlin, what was he even saying?
Alex just nodded in reply to Liam saying he was a regular heart breaker cause, uh... technically, he wasn't lying if he didn't dispute what the other boy was saying, right? "Oh, uh... yeah. Red lipstick is - it's... well, maybe, uh... maybe Vi would let you have her. Er, I mean... in a, uh... well, people aren't property. Apparently. I mean, not apparently, they aren't, but maybe Vi would be your girlfriend," he suggested. He hadn't missed the disappointment on the other boy's face when he mentioned he'd never had a girlfriend before. "Uh... yeah, maybe. I hope they're inside though. I don't... I don't really like people outside. I get itchy."
Liam's finger connected with his stomach and Alex let out a yelp because honestly? He wasn't used to people touching him playfully, let alone on his stomach. Then... then Liam asked where he lived and immediately, his shoulders slumped, stomach sinking. He'd brought it up, he should've expected this question. "They, uh... I live in a group home with other... other kids who... my mum and dad died when I was five. There was a... a house fire," Alex explained, looking down at the floor. He could remember it vividly, the way the smoke curled up into his nostrils, the way he stood huddled with his neighbours, crying as he watched his childhood home go up in flames. Before he could get too sad over it, he offered Liam a meager smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Your mum, she... she sounds really great. I bet her food's delicious."