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 rare that Vinda smiled, but even rarer that she grinned which was exactly what she was doing now as she pushed open the door to the girl's dormitories because she'd just heard the juiciest piece of gossip at breakfast, thanks to that little runt of an owl that dropped a piece of parchment right on her plate.
At first, she'd been disgusted and tempted to avada kedavra the silly thing because honestly, owls carried a myriad of diseases, none of which Vinda was interested in catching. But then she'd peeled open the parchment and her tune had changed because a rumour about Ryker Young? That was something she wanted to hear. She'd even given the owl a nibble of the fat-laden toast the person sitting next to her had been eating as a reward for letting her know. After all, judging by their... figure, it wasn't something the person beside her needed anyway.
Eyes sweeping across the dormitory - gorgeously decorated, in large thanks to herself, Vinda made sure that the room was empty except for the one person she was seeking out. Isobel Linwood, the only one of her roommates that she somewhat liked and even considered to be a... friend. It wasn't like the other options were all that alluring because Kaylie was a goddamned mess at the best of times, Morgan Reid was a... redhead with a particularly ghastly shade of the colour too, and Rebecca Sheridan was a mudblood and a weak one at that. Isobel was the best of the lot by far.
Walking over to the girl's bed, she carefully inspected the sheets with her hawk-like eyes before planting herself down on the edge of it. "Guess what a little birdie told me, Isobel," she said, the grin still wide and bright on her face. "That Gryffindor cow is homeless. The one that Reid is dating, or whatever. Young - really, with all the lines on her face, she really should consider a name change. Old would be much more fitting, don't you think?"
all i really want is to be wonderful/people in this town, they can be so cruel
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Post by ISOBEL LINWOOD on Aug 18, 2019 19:12:39 GMT
Isobel was alone in the dormitory, leaning back against the pillows of her bed with sketchbook in hand. Her pencil scratched across the page, filling in details of the portrait she was making from memory. Not Wolfgang Kallenbach, as one might expect from her in recent months, but instead her youngest sister, both to give as a gift to the girl and to get her mind off the boy. It was a simple pencil drawing, so she would just hand it to Eveline the next time she saw her--no need for this to be her actual Christmas gift. With one finger, she smudged at the edge of the girl's nose, shaping it just right.
She glanced up at the sound of the door opening, setting her sketchbook aside as soon as she saw Vinda was entering and heading straight toward her. Isobel had spent five and a half years with these girls, and had always rather liked Vinda out of the set of them; in truth, she had the kind of persona Isobel always wished she had. The confidence to stride into a room like she owned the place--Isobel always wished she could manage that. She was glad that Vinda seemed to like her well enough even with all the time they'd spent in this room together--she only hoped she wouldn't do anything to screw it up.
"Tell me," Isobel said, a small smirk appearing on her face, when Vinda revealed she had some gossip to share. Her eyes widened as she listened. "You're kidding! Is it true? Is that why she dresses like--well, you know?" If there was one thing Isobel was happy to judge, it was clothing. She would happily make herself the Fashion Police of Hogwarts if one existed.
Isobel's reaction to Vinda's very juicy gossip had the blonde girl nodding because that was the right way to respond to something so scandalizing. "Straight from the horse's mouth, apparently, although I wouldn't call her a horse with the way she dresses. Something else that sounds like 'hor'? Mm, yes. Yes, I would," Vinda said, a pleased smile crossing her face as she inspected her nails carefully. She'd never liked the Gryffindor girl, and so passing judgement on her was easy. Just like Ryker was - or used to be, before she got her girlfriend. "Can you really call that dressing? She probably wears clothes from when she was a second year. That's why they're all so short."
Quickly growing bored of the subject of Ryker Young and the girl's apparent homelessness, despite having brought it up herself, Vinda twirled some of her blonde strands around her finger. "Did you hear what they said at dinner last night?" Apparently a few of the students had missed the announcement, too busy stuffing their faces with food, but not Vinda. It wasn't hard to miss announcements when you were pushing salad around your plate with a fork. "The winter dance is coming up. Are you taking anyone of interest, Isobel?" She didn't care if it was some Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor, or... Merlin forbid, mudblood. She only cared if it was someone important, of a status equal to their own.
all i really want is to be wonderful/people in this town, they can be so cruel
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Post by ISOBEL LINWOOD on Aug 26, 2019 7:19:46 GMT
Isobel was so glad Morgan was out--there was enough tension in their dormitory at all times that she preferred to gossip out of earshot. There were times when it was necessary to say things in front of their targets on purpose, but for now, she would rather laugh about her roommate's girlfriend in front of only Vinda. "You're right, dressing would imply she has actual clothes on," she said. "But are you sure she didn't dress the same way back in second year? I bet she's always been like that. Like you said, she is a--horse."
And so there it was, more things Isobel wasn't going to be able to tell Vinda about. She wanted to sigh, but that would invite more questions. So what if she enjoyed hooking up with the attractive boys of Hogwarts while she had them right there? It wasn't like she dressed like Ryker while doing it; she was always classy about it.
So she didn't speak right away when Vinda mentioned the ball, wondering how much to say. Okay, so Wolfgang hadn't actually asked her, which meant that she wasn't going with him, but she had definitely turned down a different invitation, so maybe she was wishing for it anyway... No, it was Wolfgang, who was happy to play the field, as far as Isobel knew, and she couldn't fault him for that. Their thing, or whatever it was, hadn't really been meant to be long-term anyway--she was even a little surprised how attached they had gotten to each other already.
"No, nobody," she decided to say, which wasn't really a lie--she didn't have a date, did she? "Just waiting for the right person to ask me. Already had to turn down one invitation already--did not want to go with him."
"Well, she definitely hasn't grown since second year so perhaps you're right and they were always that short. I wouldn't be surprised. After all, that family is definitely short on morals. You know why the Young's sister was kicked out, right?" Vinda said, inspecting her names. Perfect, as always. Vinda did them herself because she didn't trust anybody else to do it properly, and she most certainly wasn't going to award someone galleons for a subpar job.
When Isobel finally answered her question of if she was taking somebody of interest, Vinda's brows raised because well, that was a surprise. Out of all the girls in their year, Isobel was one of the more worthy ones to be taken out. She wasn't a traitor, her dressing skills were above average... that was at least two ticks in the pro column, right? "The right person? Who might that be?" Vinda asked, unashamed as she pried. They were friends, right? That meant that she was entitled to the answers, after all.
Vinda herself did have a date to the Winter Ball, although she didn't readily offer up that information, partly because she wasn't quite ready to face the judgement of having a Hufflepuff as her date. Isobel would find that out in due time, and she would probably question why Vinda was going to the dance with somebody who belonged to a group of people she'd denounced several times over the last few years.
all i really want is to be wonderful/people in this town, they can be so cruel
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Post by ISOBEL LINWOOD on Sept 19, 2019 17:33:32 GMT
"Of course I do. There's only one reason anyone gets kicked out these days." There were plenty of reasons people could get expelled from Hogwarts, but Isobel was most familiar with the--lupine one. There were no fewer than three in their own year gone already, one of them from their own House. It had to be the most of any year that she could think of. She felt bad for them, really, but the school was safer that way, wasn't it? The whole problem with lycanthropy was that they lost the ability to control themselves. Isobel had thought about what it would be like, and truly, she felt as if she would rather be murdered than have to live with that forever. They all must be so miserable...
She watched Vinda inspect her nails, her eyes flicking to her own to make sure nothing was wrong with them. Vinda wouldn't like if hers looked sloppy. But no, they were still just as she'd painted them a few days ago, using a polish that was meant to be as hard as possible. She always needed the tips of her fingers for drawing, and she didn't want to risk breaking her nails while doing that. "The right person would be someone who wouldn't make me cringe as soon as I touched him," she said, looking back up at her roommate. "Is it so wrong to only want to date attractive men? Life's too short for anything less."
Post by VINDA SELWYN on Sept 25, 2019 11:14:24 GMT
If Vinda was openly honest (which she very rarely was) then she would have told Isobel that those people deserved to be expelled. She understood that most of them didn't choose that life, however that was in the past. They were destined to live a life of mystery and destruction and to kill everything in it's way come a full moon. They were no longer human, that type of blood didn't course through their veins any longer. It disgusted Vinda to the very core, and that's why she whole-heartedly supported her brother's mission. He was doing the right thing, the very thing that the Ministry was afraid to do (or at least admit they were doing) because of public outcry. "Maybe that's why she's so testy. Did you hear Rousseau punched her in the face? I mean, Rousseau is an actual disgrace most days but I heard that it was over Valentino. Alana, that is. Not Adrian."
"So you're looking for someone who isn't apart of the current student population?" Vinda asked, impeccably manicured brow raising because if that was Isobel's criteria for the 'right person' then she wasn't going to find them in Hogwarts. "Attractive men are all well and good, but don't sell yourself short. Know your worth. Don't date a man who's 'just' attractive. Make sure they're up to par with your own intelligence and that they don't think they're in charge of you or your life."
Despite the advice that Vinda was so graciously bestowing on Isobel, it was all empty when applied to her. She would never get the luxury of dating anyone, or even choosing the person she was destined to one day marry. She didn't hold those cards in her family, only her grand-mère did and she wasn't going to base her granddaughter's betrothal based on looks or intelligence. No, instead it would be based on what the Selwyns could gain by marrying into another pureblood family.
all i really want is to be wonderful/people in this town, they can be so cruel
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Post by ISOBEL LINWOOD on Oct 2, 2019 3:09:09 GMT
"Ugh, she freaks me out," Isobel said, shivering a little at the mention of Kaylie. "I wish we didn't have to room with her. Who's to say that she's not a vampire now too?" It was a reasonable fear, she thought, with the amount of time the blonde girl spent with Alana Valentino. Alana was another of those girls that Isobel had always wanted to impress, but with everything that had happened, fangs and blood and all, Isobel wasn't so sure how she should act around the Ravenclaw anymore. She'd never met a vampire before--what was she supposed to do with that information? And what about her twin, the one who roomed with Wolfgang?
She reminded herself that Wolfgang knew how to take care of himself, and that it wasn't like they were dating anyway, so it would be weird to care too much. Isobel hated the thought of looking too clingy, something that she kept very good tabs on when she was around Vinda. Vinda never acted like she needed other people to like her, she just walked around like she already knew she was better than them all. It was the kind of air Isobel worked hard to put on.
"I'm not the type to let a man be in control of me. Don't worry about that," she said, leaning back. "He can be my arm candy. That's how I like it."
"Even if she's not a vampire, who's to say she won't try and sneak Alana in here to feast on our blood? I wouldn't put it past her. If she's hitting people on her behalf, then why wouldn't she gather her food as well?" The sniff that came after Vinda's words implied that no, this was not an admirable trait in her eyes. Merlin forbid the day she acted like a simpering little puppy dog for her partner. She just hoped that whoever ended up betrothed to her didn't expect that, or they would be very taken aback.
Vinda nodded at Isobel's next words because it appeared that the girl did know her worth after all. It was good to see, because she only liked to surround herself by people who were confident within themselves. She didn't like the fuss that was needed with insecure people, the constant expectation that you would reassure them when they were feeling uncertain about something. Even the idea of being around somebody like that was exhausting, and she had more important things to focus on. "Arm candy? Well, I hope he's attractive enough to warrant that sort of title. What does he look like, Isobel?" Hopefully he didn't have red hair. It was unsightly on most people, with the very rare exception being Isobel.
all i really want is to be wonderful/people in this town, they can be so cruel
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Post by ISOBEL LINWOOD on Oct 6, 2019 3:34:25 GMT
Ah. Vinda had clearly pinpointed that Isobel was talking about a specific boy, even though she'd tried so hard not to give that impression. Not that it would make much difference if she did see them together sometime, but still--Isobel didn't want to be ashamed of who she chose to sleep with, and with anyone else she wouldn't have acted like it. But Vinda was so opinionated and so sophisticated and cosmopolitan...
And didn't that mean she should like Wolfgang? Even if, as far as Isobel could tell through the history books, his family wasn't so important? Wolfgang himself was ambitious enough to make up for it, if their conversation in the corridors that one day meant anything. And he certainly looked the part. Isobel herself had lived her life on the belief that if you only acted as the person you wanted to be, then you could become them.
"I wouldn't call him arm candy if he wasn't," Isobel said, tucking a piece of red hair behind her ear. "Dark hair. Brown eyes. A jawline so perfectly square it works as--" alright, perhaps that sort of detail was something Vinda might judge, so she moved on, "--athletic, too, and still looks good in a suit, unlike half the Quidditch jocks." Maybe that was enough detail to give away his identity, or maybe not--either way, it was the kind of description she hoped Vinda wanted to hear.
"Some people live their life wearing rose-coloured glasses, Isobel. They find someone's personality attractive and therefore their idea of said person's actual attractiveness sky-rockets in their head," Vinda said flippantly. It was good to try and keep yourself grounded in reality, see things as they truly were. Rose-coloured glasses, in her humble opinion, were absolutely useless and they had stopped being in fashion years ago - it was no longer the 1960s.
Listening intently to the Isobel's description of the boy, she started visualising boys from their own year. Aiden Valentino fit that description perfectly... as did Raouf Nashaat, the Slytherin transfer, Wolfgang Kallenbach, Rodrik Bellanger, Cooper Narro... they had an abundance of boys with dark hair, brown eyes in their year. Trying to draw more information on this person's appearance - she did love a puzzle, after all - she asked, "Perfectly square that it works as a..." and waited for Isobel to finish what she had been saying.
But then Isobel mentioned that he was a Quidditch jock and Vinda's eyes narrowed critically. Quidditch? She had always said that Quidditch was a sport that required zero talent. You sat on a broom, chasing after balls, and maintaining your balance. It was... pedestrian. "It's not that Hufflepuff, Jonah Stevens, right?"
all i really want is to be wonderful/people in this town, they can be so cruel
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Post by ISOBEL LINWOOD on Nov 10, 2019 4:45:38 GMT
No, Vinda, don't bring up those words. Just because Isobel knew from personal experience that she'd meant it made a good seat didn't mean her friend needed to know that. As far as she could ever tell, Vinda had never slept with anyone, and Isobel knew better than to pry into the reasons for that. As long as the blonde didn't hate her for her own choices, it would be alright.
"Not Jonah. He's nice enough, but I feel like it would take a special Hufflepuff for me to like one. Not that they're all bad, but you know how it is..." She shrugged, letting Vinda fill in the rest of the interpretation. Isobel was proud to be a Slytherin, had been so happy when she hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor just because her parents were. Nothing about her was brash--and when she thought about it alone, not much about her was brave either. But that was alright when she had other traits. Even her idiotic younger sister being in Slytherin too hadn't bothered her.
Since Vinda was already at the point of guessing, Isobel felt like there wasn't much point in trying to dance around the topic. There were already so many topics she avoided about herself; she could let this one go, especially since it would be weird if she didn't admit the truth. "It's Wolfgang Kallenbach. I told you he looked good in a suit," she said, glancing back down at the closed sketchbook.