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!
Another day of teaching and usually, Jack was relaxed before he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts especially with the older years but today? No. He was feeling a bit on edge, unsure of how his students would behave or react because today was his first lesson with the sixth and seventh years since the incident. The incident which had brought in ministry officials who Jack had to sit and chat with, explaining why the situation of a surprise vampire student nearly attacking another student occurred in the first place.
To cool off from the last lesson and decidedly give non-verbal spell work a break, Jack had decided to centre this lesson around theory work instead. He had a distinct feeling that he'd end up regretting this particular topic to focus on, but like the content in all of his classes... it was important.
Perched on the edge of his desk, Jack waited for his students to start filing in, giving them all a nod and a tense smile as they each walked into the room. He hoped none of them were feeling too anxious or worried about the class. He definitely did not plan on a repeat of the situation as he'd reassured the ministry official and Headmistress McGonagall who had understood that what happened was a pure accident.
As soon as the chairs filled up and all of the class appeared to be present, Jack cleared his throat. "To help alleviate some of the worries some of you may be feeling... we will not be doing a practical lesson today. Instead, we will be focusing on a topic that has become particularly relevant since our last class..."
With a wave of his hand and not a word leaving his mouth, the word 'vampires' wrote itself out on the chalkboard, the letters white and crisp. "I understand this has been a topic we have covered in previous years, however it is important for us to revisit it," he told them all firmly. "If you need a breather after we start talking, raise your hand and ask to be excused. I will send someone out with you, then after a few minutes you can return." He wanted to make this point crystal clear as apparently his fourth and fifth year students had trouble understanding this. "Now, who can tell me objectively what they know about vampires?"
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
Maximus was honestly not quite sure what expected him during his second visit to Hogwarts. The interview following the incident had gone rather well, considering the circumstances. This was only part two of the whole assignment to make sure that the students were safe and the class was according to ministry standards, but Maximus had to take care not to feel too much like he was on holiday. He had stayed in Hogsmeade for the night, a stay paid by the ministry, and would now partake in a lesson. There weren't a lot of assignments he could imagine where he had to do less effort. He would just have to pay attention to evaluate the class and its teacher.
Equipped with his notebook he entered the still familiar classroom right after the professor and conjured himself a chair to sit at the back of the class in something other than the back breaking wooden chairs they had for students. He nodded cordially towards O'Connor, then sat down, his notebook ready. Watching the students enter the class room, he waited for class to beginn, curious about the actual teaching methods used these days.
Post by ALANA VALENTINO on Jul 6, 2019 17:31:52 GMT
Alana's life had fallen apart since the last DADA class so to say that she dreaded returning was an understatement. Within 48 hours, Alana had suffered the ultimate humiliation. In the Daily Prophet, her parents had written an obituary for their dearly departed daughter, Alana Valentino, aged 16 years. They had such nice things to say and the closed casket funeral would be held when their son could return home from Hogwarts. December 30, 2018.
Like the living dead that she was, Alana was almost dragged into the classroom by her surviving twin. Her dark eyes caught the other adult in the room with the Professor - whose eyes, for the first time, Alana did not meet - and a deep anger began to boil through her blood starting in her belly. She took her seat and got her materials ready but the moment that Professor wrote vampires on the blackboard... Alana's quill broke in half under the pressure of her grasp. As if she hadn't been humiliated enough, now the professor was going to have the entire class study her. She felt naked where she sat - was there a spot light all of a sudden cast upon her? It took every inch of her brother's firm grasp on her leg under the table to keep her grounded to the spot.
Fifty-five more minutes. Maybe after this lesson, she'll find herself a guillotine so that the casket would not be interred without a body before the end of this horrible year. Alana's dark eyes finally fixed on Jack with a stare that read the curse she repeated in her mind again and again; Avada kedavra.
Cooper sat in the back of the classroom with his hands crossed listening to Professor O'Connor talk about how they would be discussing a topic they haven't visited in a couple years. The Slytherin wasn't sure what he would be expecting in regards to this. But he knew the world had been going crazy.
The Slytherin looked and when he heard Professor O'Connor mention the word vampires. Which he had some idea about and when he asked what people knew about the topic, he spoke up. "A vampire is a nocturnal creature who are known for their blood-sucking tenancies, but due to certain things. They tend to prefer sticking to blood-sucking lollipops." he said with a sigh.
And then he added, "They also are very humanoid, and are known as the Living Dead." the Slytherin said with a shrug. Hoping to get his house some points, and wanting to speak up in class.
Post by KAYLIE ROUSSEAU on Jul 7, 2019 12:04:48 GMT
And while you are sitting indoors waiting for the storm to pass I will be outside dancing in the rain
❧
For some reason it was always Kaylie who got in trouble but she would never, ever, apologize for defending her girlfriend. Alana meant too much to her for her to just let whatever happened happen without her even trying a little bit. The girl was seated behind her girlfriend and while the lesson was happening all she wanted was to tear the professor a new one.
Truth be told maybe Ryker was right, if Alana could go to school the wolves should too but Kaylie wasn't going to bring it up. She just watched how tense Alana was getting, Aiden being her support like usual.
Kaylie let out a sigh and wrote her a note;
I'm right here with you.
It might have been a small gesture but it worked. She just charmed the note to fly like a pegasus on Alana's desk and closed her eyes. Screw this class.
Elijah had chosen to sit near the back of the classroom, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed as he listened to the Professor speak of what the lesson of the day was. Vampires. Fantastic. He had a lot to say about the subject, and he didn't care if he got on the Valentino's hit list or whatever. To him, she didn't belong there and he was going to point that out. If Kaylie wanted to punch him like she did to his twin, he was not going to complain cause he would have it coming too.
His eyes trained on the vampire in question, knowing damn well this lesson was because of her. "Vampires are pure evil. And I honestly don't feel safe being in the same room as...them. Especially with what happened last lesson. Honestly, they shouldn't even be here in the first place. Like werewolves, they should be locked up somewhere so they can't hurt others." he said, his eyes still on the blonde in question.
As soon as Melinda saw the topic for today's class her first instinct was to ask to be excused point blank. Instead she just stayed put in her seat in case that might look suspicious. Since Alana almost attacked Nadya last class, what was to stop everyone from possibly figuring out there's a second vampire in the 6-7 group after this lesson? She would never hurt another student but she still was nervous about what might happen.
As these thoughts went through her head Melinda suddenly noticed there seemed to be another adult here to observe the class. Maybe she should've skipped class instead but this was her final year, and Melinda needed to stay focused so she'd do well on her NEWTS.
Now they would be discussing vampires in class, a topic which she was familiar with since she was one. Melinda wasn't sure if she should continue to stay quiet or offer a fact about vampires. It would feel strange to offer up what she knew about herself. It would be kind of like revealing her true nature in front of the entire class, and Melinda wasn't sure if she was ready to do that, especially not after a student was almost attacked by one of her own kind.
When the discussion began Melinda listened as another student from her house said vampires were pure evil. She knew that they were here because of what Alana had done but that didn't make the lesson any less uncomfortable for Melinda, given they were discussing vampires. She didn't want to be locked up away from others. She wanted to continue living her life like a normal person, even if she wasn't normal at all.
Leo wasn't going to lie. After the disaster of the last lesson, he was a bit nervous about the next class. They were bound to talk about what had happened and he could imagine how uncomfortable that must be for quite a few students. He himself had been standing on the side lines, not much involved in anything, but it had been a scary sight. But Leo wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing. He had faith that it would turn out alright. Sitting down next to Elijah, he took out his book, but stopped unpacking when Professor O'Connor announced that they'd indeed use the lesson to speak about what had happened. That was no doubt the reason for the visitor they had in the class, too. It seemed as if it was a bit more serious than Leo had thought.
His head turned to Eli when he spoke up to answer the professor's question and his brow furrowed. Well, that wasn't exactly objective... but Leo wasn't sure if he'd expected anything else from Eli. He could have some strong opinions at times, and he would agree that last lesson could've ended much worse than it did.
And while you are sitting indoors waiting for the storm to pass I will be outside dancing in the rain
❧
Ryker did not look forward to this class with the bloodsuckers coming from left and right. She even refused to speak to the blondie she shared a dorm with, using wards around her bloody bed because no she didn't feel safe and she did see vampires being the sneaky little night demons and try to eat her in her sleep like the weak shits they are.
But for once she tried not to let her temper get the best of her and when the professor asked for an objective answer of course her other half said what she was thinking.
"What my brother is trying to say in not such kind words are that vampire lore calls them demons of the night. It's very wide in range of what is true or not but from what I know they are people who got turned and died and need blood to survive." she said and frowned.
"They also say they lack control of their.. thirst.. when they're newer vampires in comparison to older ones. They're also sensitive to sunlight and can die from it from prolonged exposure." Ryker said and ran a hand through her hair.
You're a fucking humanoid, Aiden thought of Cooper as his jaw clenched and he paid very close attention to the breaths that he took in and let out. The days from Hell had taken their toll on the Ravenclaw Prefect; his parents had done the unthinkable - although, if Aiden was truthful to himself and our readers, not unexpected - and disowned the vampire. This month he would be attending his twin's funeral that had been advertised in the Daily Prophet. What a farce. When Alana broke her quill, the ink spilled over her delicate hands, staining them black and Aiden watched as the ink soaked into the parchment, starting in a big black circle that slowly ebbed out from the centre. With his wand in his left hand, Aiden cast first the repairing charm and then the scougify wordlessly. He didn't feel like opening his mouth in this lesson because things would go very wrong if he did.
As the little pegasus note flittered to Alana, Aiden turned to glance at Kaylie behind them and then Dick-Face McGee put his two cents worth in - from the sounds of their home situation, though, that might be all he could afford to give. Perhaps the class should be glad he could form more than one coherent sentence as he babbled about how scared he was of a tiny vampire. Aiden's eyes grew darker as they fell on Elijah, and his anger had quickly disappated. How sad it truly was that you'd be so fearful - any wizard worth with a pair of brain cells to rub together could defend themselves. They should be locked up like the werewolves? How did he even get to seventh grade? "There are guidelines that the Ministry must obey that specifically forbid forcing incarceration of vampires. Perhaps the same guideline keeps the Ministry from chaining your own sister up," like the dog she is Aiden pointed out, though he kept the more snide ending deep within his throat.
Of course, Ryker felt the need to add onto the conversation. Demons of the night, Aiden rolled his eyes away from the conversation before the anger boiled over inside him. Clearly they all saw first hand that vampires were indeed not as chained to the night as all that. Here, beside him, sat a vampire and oh look, the sun shone through the windows. Demon of the night. Aiden decided that Ryker had just as many brain cells as her brother. Maybe between the pair of them, they had those two brain cells he'd thought of earlier. RIP public education.
Aiden gave Alana's hand a squeeze; she was doing so well despite the fact she was trying to kill their teacher with her mind. Yes, Aiden was not a legillimens but he knew her almost as well as himself. There was no way he did not know the look she levelled on Professor O'Connor.
Post by ADRIAN ANDERSON on Jul 9, 2019 12:26:19 GMT
The first thing that Adrian noticed as he walked through the door, was the stranger sitting right near his usual spot. The usual frown on his face deepened and he paused for a few seconds too long. He did not want to sit next to a...what he assumed was a Ministry professor so he scoured the rest of the class. Aiden was nearby, so he nearly slid into the seat next to him but thought better of it. Obviously it would have been a bit of an interesting choice, seeing as the last lesson had ended the way it did. He didn't particularly want to seat himself beside Ryker or Morgan either, seeing as they'd made fools of themselves. He'd watched the little spat they'd had and thought it was ridiculous while one of their classmates was injured and the other frozen in blood lust. He couldn't pretend that it didn't make him uncomfortable, this revelation. Adrian had never been an avid supporter of humanoid creatures but he could also admit that Alana hadn't seemed all that different from the years before.
He stood beside Grace's desk for a moment before stepping past her and into the seat beside her. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement and began to pull out his things. He swallowed back a groan as he realised this would be an active engagement lesson. Adrain rarely had enough time to gather his thoughts and contribute in this kind of class. His thoughts often couldn't translate into the words on his tongue, the got mixed up and jumbled in-class conversations like this. It wasn't that he lacked the confidence...although speaking in front of so many people and a learned teacher was a little distressing at times. He turned his body towards the first speaker, and then the next, letting their opinions and information absorb into his brain. He only wrote down little dot points, knowing that Professor O'Connor would extrapolate. He couldn't help but wince at the opinionated tone and nasty words that were shot around the room. Sure, vampires weren't humans or wizards but there was one in the room. Did they want to endanger themselves?
Sam wouldn't say he was happy to still be attending DADA after what happened. He was surprised the Ministry hadn't cancelled the class altogether at least until after the Christmas holidays. Still, Sam's curiosity threatened to burn a hole in his heels if he didn't go to the next lesson. He'd arrived earlier than usual, and taken a seat behind Grace. He tried to keep his eyes forward, but couldn't help the occasional glance at the second stranger he'd seen that day. Must be some sort of guard. Sam had never been afraid of the Valentino twins. They were nasty and pompous, but he doubted they were killers. The incident changed his view on Alana, but she looked so tense today, like a cat held down by many hands. He felt the class were chickens, compared to the cat and the stupidest, or the bravest, was the ducks next to her; Aiden and Kaylie, forever faithful to her. Could Sam blame them? Alana had given them no reason to fear her.
Sam watched Adrian take a seat next to Grace, letting his gaze linger on him to avoid staring at the Valentinos or the stranger in the corner any longer. When the conversations started, he decided it was best to look down at his desk. What good would it do to create more anger? Cats had claws, but ducks had those weird teeth-like tomia. Sam knew all too well that speaking your mind could be dangerous when the listener is less-than-stable. The slightest thing can set them off. Scratching at the wood on his desk, he kept his eyes down.
Maximus Desford was sitting at the back of his classroom and Merlin, Jack prayed that his students were going to be on their behaviour. He didn't tolerate much nonsense as it was, but if there were any fist fights or attacks in this class then so help all his students. They'd be going straight to detention. Clearing his throat, Jack gestured towards the man at the back of the room. "Everyone, this is Mr. Desford. He is an auror with the Ministry of Magic, and he will be observing our lesson today in wake of what happened during our last lesson. Is there anything you'd like to add, Mr. Desford?"
With that, Jack's lesson kept moving and Cooper Narro was the first one to speak up. "That's right, Mr. Narro, although a lot of vampires despite being nocturnal are still awake and function throughout the day. A lot of people who have been bitten used to have day jobs and used to attend school as humans. For a lot of vampires, this is something they need to carry on doing in order to survive," Jack acknowledged with a nod. "Not all vampires prefer blood-sucking lollipops, however. Human blood is often craved, and a lot of vampires out there prefer that to lollipops. Five points to Slytherin."
When Elijah Young spoke next, Jack leveled his gaze on him. It was very clearly a biased view, and with the way the Gryffindor's eyes were staring at Alana, it was a strike against her too. "That is a very prejudiced viewpoint, Mr. Young, and I'll ask you to find some compassion within you because many in this room have vampire and werewolf relatives. That's ten points from Gryffindor. Please speak up again when you can be objective," he said curtly. "If you do not feel safe, feel free to sit on the other side of the room. but Miss Valentino is not going anywhere."
Unsurprisingly, a moment after Elijah had shared his view, Aiden Valentino decided to speak up. "That's correct, Mr. Valentino. Five points to Ravenclaw, however please remember that we are trying to remain objective. Nobody should be dragging family members into this discussion," Jack chided. He wanted to de-escalate this exchange as soon as possible.
Then, addressing the room, Jack said to the rest of his students, "Vampires were human once. A lot of them try to curb or control their cravings and are making a valiant effort to fit in with the rest of the wizarding community. Most of them are not pure evil, nor are werewolves. Now, since Mr. Young and Mr. Valentino brought it up, let me pose this question to the rest of you: will locking up a sector of our community help? Why do you think the Ministry has put in guidelines forbidding the imprisonment of vampires?"
When Ryker Young spoke up next, Jack nodded at her curtly. "Remember you are only speaking for yourself, Miss Young. I appreciate your objectivity however, and you have gained ten points for Gryffindor for your knowledge. Now, you are partly correct. Vampires do not die in the sun, however they do need blood to survive. As Mr. Narro mentioned, blood lollilops are one source of ingesting blood. Blood bags, as mentioned, are another way," Jack said. "Whilst a lot struggle at the beginning controlling their blood lust, if help is provided then control can be had."
Addressing the rest of the room, Jack waited for some of the other students to pipe up with their own knowledge of vampires. "Now, there's still more to be said about vampires, so please do not be shy to speak up," he said.
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
and i'm calling for my mother/as i pull the pillars down
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Post by NADEZHDA KAREVA on Jul 16, 2019 2:29:11 GMT
Let it be known that Nadezhda Kareva did not hate Alana Valentino.
This did not mean that she had enjoyed the imminent threat of being pierced by sharp vampire fangs, or that she had any love in her for Alana's elitist attitudes. Nor did she blame herself for what had happened in the previous class: if the other girl had wanted not to hurt her, she could have. But Nadya could not help but fear what would happen now that they had a vampire in the school. She couldn't remember if there ever had been one while she was there--she didn't think so. Would the school treat them like they did werewolves, turning the students who needed the most help out on the streets? She had been turning the thought over and over in her head, worrying for a girl she neither liked nor cared for.
Although this also did not mean she felt like sitting near Alana in class. Nor near her cruel girlfriend, who got none of Nadya's pity. She took her usual spot near the back of the classroom, glancing with suspicious eyes toward the nearby guest. As her classmates started speaking, Nadya felt the worry that had been in the back of her mind begin to compound. Some of them were treating vampires worse than werewolves, right in front of one. What was stopping them from saying the same things about Nadya and her sisters next? That their mere presence was too dangerous?
She needed to say something. She was sure it was unexpected that her hand went up, as she was rarely a volunteer to speak in most classes, and with what had happened last time... But she needed to provide a voice of reason. "Professor O'Connor is right. Have a bit of compassion. We're all witches and wizards here, we could all be dangerous if we wanted to."
Post by KAYLIE ROUSSEAU on Jul 16, 2019 15:25:05 GMT
Kaylie was beyond done with humanity and this class. All people did was complain, bitch and complain more because oh god vampires were so dangerous! Gag. Kaylie looked at Aiden who was holding Alana back and grinned a bit when he bit back to the comment of Elijah Young. Kaylie used to have sympathy for the siblings who had werewolves, for the kids who lost their family members but when they act like stupid morons she had no sympathy left.
Kaylie was about to give an answer to the dude's question before her attention went to the blonde idiot that ended up bleeding in a duel. Kaylie rolled her eyes and let her head fall back in annoyance when the girl spoke of witches and wizards being dangerous. Did she ever get hit by a glass bottle? Thrown into a doorframe? No. People were dangerous whether they were magical or not.
"Professor." she said with her hand raised. "Where does the superhuman strength perk come from? I mean many books say vampires have it.. why do you think they say that?." she knew all about Alana's strength in bed but it wasn't the same as superhuman strength for sure.