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 like Roxanne couldn't go anywhere without encountering at least one cousin--and usually more, considering the fact that so many of them were in Gryffindor. Even when she went to sleep, one of them was in her dormitory! There was no escape. It wasn't that she hated her cousins, really. She didn't. Some of them, she could even consider her dear friends--although a few were definitely on the list of "incredibly annoying". Cousins were okay on the whole, she guessed. It was just that they were everywhere. There had never been a chance to build a reputation for herself when it seemed like half her year had known her since she was a baby.
Needing to get out of the dormitory for a bit, she grabbed her wand, a book, and a couple of Chocolate Frogs, gathering them all into her hands and pushing the door open with her shoulder. She descended into the common room, grimacing a little when she realized that there were additional cousins there as well, and not even the ones that were her friends. Taking an open spot on one of the armchairs, she watched the room, picking up one of her chocolates and opening it absentmindedly.
It was then, as she wasn't paying attention, that the frog leaped out of its newly opened package and started hopping its way across the room. Not wanting to give up her precious sweets, Roxanne had to leap after it, sending her on a chase around the common room that she really hadn't planned for on a relaxing evening.
There were so many things James would rather be doing at the moment, so many pranks that he needed to plan. Unfortunately, those would have to wait. At the moment, he was stuck working on homework that he'd put off for too long. He couldn't do that anymore as they were due the next day. He wasn't doing his best work, taking shortcuts whenever he could. That didn't really matter, though. Bad grades weren't going to mean too much, especially because they weren't for the important classes. Any Transfiguration and Astronomy homework he'd had were finished already. He never put those off for too long.
He was one of those students that rarely spent anytime in the library. He'd found that it just wasn't any good when it came to working. It was far too quiet, no distractions at all. Two things James really didn't like. Sometimes, distractions were good, like when there was homework to be done. He didn't work well anyway, but he tended to work a lot better when the environment was loud. The common room was the best place to do that. Generally, there were quite a few people in there, lots of talking and noise.
James managed to write two paragraphs for the essay before leaning back in his seat, looking up just in time to see his cousin lose a chocolate frog and go chasing after it. Something like this was always entertaining to watch. “Hey, Rox, it's over there,” he said, pointing to the far corner of the room. He hadn't actually seen the frog; he was just trying to keep this going for as long as he possibly could.
She probably should have given up on the frog after it had hopped out of sight, but Roxanne was never the kind of person to give up easily--even when it came to chocolate. Socks padding along the floor of the common room, she was so focused on the treat that she didn't realize how close she was to James until she heard him speak to her. "Ah, thanks," she said, already running toward the corner he'd pointed at. It was only when she didn't see any sign of the frog that her brow furrowed, and she turned around to narrow her eyes at him, debating whether he'd meant to mislead her or not.
James was a prankster, the kind of kid that her parents probably should've had, the kind of kid who would have liked to grow up in the joke shop far more than she had. If they looked more alike, she thought maybe they should have been switched at birth. As it was, though, they were easy enough to tell apart. But maybe that was for the better. With the amount of time Roxanne spent trying to ignore this particular cousin and his antics, it was nice not to look like him at a glance.
The frog was not entirely forgotten, though Roxanne really seemed to have lost it this time. She glared at James as she stalked back to the other side of the room, keeping watch for the chocolate creature. "Did you really, though?" she muttered as she walked by him, slightly frustrated.
He wasn't the only one watching. There were plenty of other people in the common room, who'd stopped what they were doing to watch as well. He was expecting one of them to tell her the truth, though he'd hoped they wouldn't. It would certainly be more fun to send her on wild goose chases, see if this could be kept going longer than it would've normally. James was glad when no one said anything and laughed as he watched his cousin go to where he indicated. Eventually, she'd realize he lied to her, but that didn't matter to him. This would be fun while it lasted.
There was one thing he was never able to do. He could never look innocent. As a child, he'd attempt to trick family all the time after he did something, but could never get away with it. James still tries it sometimes, though it became rarer since he knew it would never work. He honestly didn't mind being in trouble these days, though. No punishments really bothered him. They were all pretty boring that they usually gave him time to think of even more rules to break. When Roxanne glared at him, he tried that innocent but probably just looking guilty look. He was definitely grinning.
“Of course I did,” he replied, trying to sound as innocent as he could. “If I didn't know any better, Roxy, I'd say you didn't trust me.” James was silent a moment. “What exactly have I done to make you think I would ever lie to you?”
Ugh. Roxanne's run around the common room, as well as her little argument with James, had made most everyone start to stare, trying to figure out what was going on. This was miserable. Being the center of attention to a whole room full of people was never her favorite thing, because she had the distinct feeling that everyone was waiting around to laugh at her. And she knew she couldn't really blame James--she was the one who wanted the chocolate enough to run after it--but she wanted to, because his smug smile was staring right up at her.
"Because I know you, James, I have for fourteen whole years," she said, crossing her arms. They were barely more than a month apart in age, part of a whole collection of cousins who had been born that year. Roxanne was just glad she hadn't ended up as a twin--what if she'd had to live with him all the time? As far as she could tell, the only thing they had in common was frustrations with their parents. But war stories had nothing to do with Chocolate Frogs, and there were more interesting family members for Roxanne to talk to if she wanted. "So tell me, is there really any use in looking for the frog anymore? I have things to do. I know you do, too, though I'm sure you don't care that much."
“Are you trying to say that for fourteen whole years I've been lying to you?” James asked, as innocently as he could. It was possible that for most of those fourteen years, he'd been lying to her just to mess with her, but what else was he supposed to do? It was fun and what was the point in having all these cousins if he couldn't have a little fun with them? Some of his cousins really needed to learn how to have fun and not allow his antics to bother them. After all, it wasn't like James was being mean. He was just trying to have some fun.
He hadn't seen the frog since it scampered away from her, which meant that it was probably long gone. Even if it was still around, he doubted it would actually let her catch it. He could be a good cousin, tell the truth and go on with the work he had to finish, but where was the fun in that? Besides, even if he did tell the truth, was she actually going to believe it? James had his doubts whether Roxanne had ever taken him seriously, even on those ultra rare occasions when he was. “Of course there is,” he answered. “You never know, it could still be around.” Technically, he wasn't lying. It could still be around, even though he had his doubts. “I actually don't have anything to do. Just homework.”
"Well, you've been doing something for fourteen whole years, and it isn't being a perfect angel to me, so--yes," Roxanne said, finally giving up on that particular Chocolate Frog and plopping down on one of the nearby chairs. She knew he was enjoying watching her run around all clumsily, but she wasn't liking it one bit, and that was the whole problem with everything, wasn't it? His words about his homework just confirmed it. Sure, Roxanne knew very well--knew personally, in fact--that it was possible to build your whole career out of ignoring school and spending all your time annoying others instead. You didn't need exams if you could find ways to sell pranking devices to an entire school full of obnoxious teenagers who would love the chance to torture their friends... or enemies.
There was nothing wrong with that, technically. The problem came when you then had a daughter who just wanted to be left alone. But that would never happen, not at home, and apparently, not at school, either.
"If it's still around, it's covered in dust at this point. I don't want it anymore," Roxanne said, frowning. "And it was a Potter card, anyway. I've got about a million of those, and there's probably not anyone I can trade it to." She put her chin onto her hand. "I suppose I should let you do your homework now. I'm sure you'll never get it done if you've got me around."
“Being a perfect angel is overrated,” he replied. “Who wants to spend their life being boring?” James would never want to be an angel. They didn't pull pranks on people, didn't give professors a hard time. They did their work, were good and helpful and would probably eventually get a job at the Ministry. It was too much work to put in just to end up in a desk job instead of doing something interesting, like studying the stars. That was what he wanted to do, anyway. Out in a field somewhere, looking at planets and stars. James could actually contribute something there and hopefully, people would start seeing him instead of just his dad.
“They tend to put too many Potter cards in those,” he replied. “I could've amassed a huge collection of them, if I kept mine.” He never saw a point in keeping his dad's cards. He gave them away to those who didn't have one or just threw them away. He lived with Harry Potter, after all, he didn't need a card telling him about his accomplishments. What he wanted were the rare cards, but he was never lucky enough to find one. It seemed like a lot of people weren't, though. “Who says I wanna get back? I've already done the important classes, don't need the rest of these. I'll be so happy when I'm done with OWLs and could drop many of them.” He still had another year yet, unfortunately. Time was going to pass really slowly, too, he was sure of it.
"People probably want them," Roxanne said, shrugging. She didn't share that opinion, having heard far too many tales about the war in her life. To be fair, most of them were about her dead uncle, rather than any of the living ones (too many, just like too many cousins,) but stories about Harry were common enough as well. "I guess they think he's more interesting than some old weirdo who's only mentioned on Frog cards now." She, on the other hand, would much rather have cards from the weirdos. They were the exciting ones, the ones with things to discover. Because where would the world be without all the inventions and discoveries everyone had made throughout the years? Plus the ones that were simply unusual, like the woman who transfigured herself into a fish. Roxanne was never going to actually do that kind of thing, but she liked to know about it.
Although she could probably do without the Alberic Grunnion cards. Dungbombs had never been Roxanne's favorite invention.
She glanced back at James's abandoned homework, which did look pretty boring, but if it were her, she would need a better reason than that to completely ignore it. "But don't you have to do this to get those O.W.L.s? After that, they let you do whatever you want, but we've still got more than a year before that."
James was sure a lot of people wanted Potter cards. He was a well-known wizard, everyone in the world knew about him and what he'd done and he was sure that, if he hadn't been his father, he'd probably be excited to get one of his cards, as well. He was just tired of seeing them. “With how often I see them, most people probably have one already. Dad's just not that interesting. I'd rather have a Falco Aesalon or Celestina Warbeck card.” He'd been collecting Chocolate Frog cards for the longest time and those were two cards that just kept eluding him. Both of them were far more interesting than his father as well.
James rolled his eyes. “Doesn't mean they're important. I could fail this class, get a terrible mark on my OWLs, still move up a grade and get a good job when I graduate. See, pointless and I don't need it.” Many people would disagree with him on that, but then, many people would also disagree with him that Astronomy and Transfiguration were probably the most important subjects this school offered. James groaned at the mention of how much longer he had to endure all these classes before dropping them. “Ugh, don't remind me.” Worst part of it was that the years would go really slowly as well and he was sure every year would just get slower.
"Warbeck? I definitely don't have an Aesalon card, but I could swear we have more than one Warbeck at home." The words came out before Roxanne could remember that she was talking to her most annoying cousin. She didn't normally go to him to trade cards, because what was the point of getting some sort of prank pulled on her while she was at it? But the boy looked even more put out than Roxanne herself at the mention of Potter cards, and the conversation seemed to have turned to at least one thing they both had in common. Even if building a card collection was common to more than half their classmates.
If she found him one of his missing cards, would that do anything for his attitude toward her? Probably not, she thought. They had been like this for their entire lives, how was that supposed to change over a Chocolate Frog card? But it was always worth a shot. "I can ask Fred if he has it with him, if you have anything to trade for it." Sure, James could ask her brother himself, but then it wouldn't have been her that did something nice.
But she had to roll her eyes at his next words. "Yeah, if you want to get a job at the joke shop, you probably can," she said, snorting. "I sure could if I wanted to, but I'm getting out of there as soon as I can."
