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 the first week of school after the Winter Break, and the History of Magic classroom had went through major changes. The students found themselves in what can only be described as a huge wooden cabin — the usual glass windows had been replaced by rickety shutters that let in wisps of cold January air, the seats were simple logs, polished just enough to not give anyone splinters on their lower ends and instead of individual desks there was a long oak table for every row of seats. Beeswax candles provided small pockets of light on the desks, but the rest of the classroom was dark and silent.
When all of the students had settled into their seats, the candles went out all at once and everyone was silenced by magic.
A low, disembodied male voice filled the room, giving a dramatic monologue.
“Today’s tale starts like your usual horror story. It’s a dark, stormy summer night. The wooden cabins creak and whine just like a ship in a hurricane in the midst of the merciless ocean. The shutters rattle, and so do the teeth of the weak-hearted colonists that cower underneath their linen blankets.
The year is 1588 and we are on Roanoke island, on the coast of what’s now North Carolina. The second colony of English settlers desperately await the arrival of a supply ship from way back home. Every day is a fight for survival - be it against the elements or the Native Americans, who the colonists perceive as their greatest threat.
A scream pierces through the rumbling of thunder.
The next time a living soul sets foot in the fort, the houses are vacant and the only trace of any life is the word “Croatoan” carved into a tree.”
With that, the lights came back on and everyone’s tongues were untied. The teacher’s desk was front and center, lit up like a stage. Sean was leaning against it, dressed in a simple costume — light linen shirt, dark linen pants and a belt with knife holder, worn brown leather boots, his curly black hair let loose and his beard looking a tad bit unwieldy.
“I’m Sean O’Keffee,” he introduced himself with a bow, his voice full of enthusiasm, “and I will be your new History of Magic teacher. My first question — what do you think happened at Roanoke? There are no wrong answers — at least, not yet!”
Dio had already fallen asleep on his desk before the class even started. History was by far the most boring class. The Slytherin hadn’t even noticed the change of teacher. It wasn’t until a keyword was dropped that the blonde boy rose from his desk. “Horror?” As someone fascinated by the macabre, horror was among the few genres of books he read. Not this one but a fair share of them.
When the teacher started an eerie story... Well consider him interested for the first time. Even if he had no idea what this story had to do with history of magic, he didn’t care. “Ohh! Were they eaten by the natives? Or maybe some dark curse roamed the island?” It was rare for Dio to speak up in class in a non complaining manner.
@seanokeeffe,
5'11 | dangerous outside soft inside | single | hetroflexible
Roxanne had heard that Hogwarts was getting yet another new History of Magic professor, but she hadn't expected much to change. While she loved reading books about history, she always felt like class told it in the driest possible way. But when the whole classroom was redecorated, wood paneling covering the usual stone walls and long tables instead of desks, she took notice immediately. As she sat near one of the candles, she inhaled deeply, the lovely scent of beeswax rising up. She needed more of these kind, she thought. They would smell so nice when she was burning them at night--she always went through so many candles.
Then the candle went out, leaving her with nothing except the scent lingering in the air. She peered through the darkness, trying to see who was speaking. Biting her lip, she hoped that nobody would be reminded of the Winter Ball by the sudden absence of light. As for her, she wanted to concentrate on the story, her curiosity piqued. Anything with important questions was exciting to her--far more exciting than the usual History class. When the candles lit themselves once more, she was one of the first to raise her hand. "I think it must have something to do with dark magic, didn't it? People don't just disappear without a reason."
James yawned as he walked into the History of Magic classroom. It seemed the students around him were discussing the redecoration, but even that wasn't enough for him to want to pay attention. He did quite like how dark it was, though, and hoped this wasn't going to change. “Finally, a professor who realizes this is nap time,” James said, loudly, as he sat down at a table and put his head down.
He showed no interest in the story that was being told and it probably looked like he wasn't paying attention, though he heard everything. He just didn't care enough to look like he was actually listening. When the classroom started answering the question at the end, he finally lifted his head. “It wasn't dark magic,” he replied. “The colonists liked pulling pranks on each other and as some of them returned to England for the supplies, the remaining thought it would be a good idea to have some fun.” James spoke confidently, as if he knew this was what happened when he didn't know anything about the colonists. “It just went wrong. The people who returned weren't able to decipher the Croatian clue and started up a new base.”
He put his head back down on his desk and started drifting off.
Post by GREYSON AVERY on Sept 9, 2019 12:57:12 GMT
Strolling into History of Magic a few moments after the rest of his 'friends', hearing the weird arse voice echo in the room as he kicked back a chair that made a loud 'screech' noise, Greyson leveled this new Professor with raised eyebrows because what the hell was this dude wearing? "Shit, man. You look like a knock-off version of Gilderoy Lockheart," he said, not bothering to raise his hand as he kicked his legs up onto his desk.
He didn't give a flying crap if he ended up with detention. He'd ended up with so many detentions this school year alone that he couldn't count them on two hands.. 'Sides, it'd give this new dude a chance to demonstrate his 'power,' show the others how he ruled the roost, but he didn't scare Greyson. Nobody scared him not even his dad... that tosspot couldn't really get to him from Azkaban, could he? "You gonna be a buzzkill like Dear Ol' Uncle Graham who went twiddly deedin' back to the Ministry to do Merlin's good work?"
Post by JUNAID ZALAYAT on Sept 9, 2019 14:44:10 GMT
History was the hardest class for Junaid. It involved a lot or reading and writing. While speaking and listening the English language was going decently well, he still had trouble with the written form. The script was entirely different, he had never written these letters before or read them until coming here. And while he grew up wit history stories about his own country, he knew little till none about the British history. He’d have to work hard.
Lately he found himself sitting next to Greyson often. Hopefully the guy didn’t mind. Jun didn’t have many friends and he was growing found of the young troublemaker. The guy had a tough life and he wanted to shield him from pain. Besides he felt responsible keeping him out of trouble.
When the new teacher started with a scary story, Junaid felt his skin crawl. Without noticing it himself, he moved closer to the Gryffindor beside him. Jun didn’t do too well when it came to scary stories. He like comedy and sport stories most of the time. Upon hearing two words he hadn’t heard, he shyly rose his hand. “Professor what does vacant and croat- eh? Mean?” His Arabian accent was thicker on the words he didn’t know.
The Hufflepuff wanted to lower his hand but his mouth fell open at the words coming out of his friend’s mouth. “Greyson!” The older boy gasped and covered the other boy’s mouth with is hands. His cheeks turned red in embarrassment of what his friend just did. Of course, he knew the boy by now so he shouldn’t be surprised. Usually he couldn’t blame the guy but this new Professor had done nothing wrong yet.
Post by AGNES CLEARWATER on Sept 14, 2019 4:31:36 GMT
Strolling into class, Aggy took her usual seat next to Evan, unpacking her bag with a yawn so wide that her jaw clicked. She was exhausted, had bolted awake after a bad nightmare again last night, and all the coffee in the world wasn't going to help. Even if she somehow figured how to inject the caffeinated beverage into her bloodstream.
It was mid yawn that she caught the fighting words from Greyson Avery, right after Professor O'Keeffe had asked his question, and she couldn't help it. He was such a dick and she had to snap back. "Yeah, and you look like a knock-off version of every stereotypical angst-filled character that ever starred in a John Hughes movie but you don't see the rest of us telling you that in the middle of class, do you? You know why? Because some of us are here to learn."
Turning back in her chair, Aggy settled her gaze on the Professor. Was she going to get detention for interrupting as well? Probably, but with the Hufflepuff prefect's hand physically clamped over Avery's mouth, he'd actually shut up and now class could get back on track. "Maybe they were attacked by Lethifolds, or some other XXXXX creature, Professor."
Post by VIOLA ROSALINE on Sept 14, 2019 4:56:31 GMT
"Y
As usual, Vi was practically bouncing as she entered the History of Magic class, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Whoa, Prof, look how fabby dabby this set-up is! It's, like... whoa. Can you keep it like this forever? It's so much better than a stuffy ol' classroom," Vi raved, hands moving madly as she took a seat next to James Potter and started unpacking. She didn't usually sit beside James because hey, somebody new, right? Maybe she'd make a friend in this class.
Listening to the story that was being told, Vi bobbed her head along, at one point looking over to shoot a smile at James and maybe whisper how spooky ooky it was when she noticed the Gryffindor boy had his head resting on the desk. Immediately, Vi lowered her own voice, nudging him lightly with an elbow. "You're gonna get in trouble if you're all sleepy, y'know? Plus, I don't reckon desks are the most comfortable place to have a wee sleep, are they? Beds are good for that."
With that, Vi sat back in her chair, listening to the rest of the class answer the Professor's question of what happened in Roanoke. She didn't have the foggiest, and so she didn't pipe up, instead grabbing the quill from her ink pot, starting to doodle a few things on the parchment in front of her.
Post by ALEXANDER GREENAWAY on Sept 14, 2019 5:13:09 GMT
With his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, Alex made his way into History of Magic, steadily ignoring the gaze of his classmates as per usual. He didn't want to draw attention to himself and eye contact seemed to do exactly that and so... not looking at anybody was a good method to fade into the background, right?
Sliding into a seat besides... er, some... Gryffindor girl with curly hair that... was a Weasley maybe, Alex was quiet as he listened to the story about Roanoke unfold, and he remained silent even when their tongues were untied. He didn't want to speak up and answer the new Professor's question because he didn't want any eyes on him. Instead, he slid down a little in his chair, ducking his head down and steadily avoiding the eyes of the Professor just in case he started calling on people to answer.
Noticing that Viola sat down next to Mr Potter in class, Flora gave her friend the look. It had a little wiggle of her head and lop-sided I know what you're trying to do smile that worked even though her tongue did not. Unfortunately this left her sitting next to the despicable and disgusting Dio Greyback - given her family's past connections with the Death Eaters and Greyback's well known allegience, perhaps they should have been on amicable terms but Flora did not hide the look of displeasure that passed over her normally cheerful face once her seat was taken. Just stay silent for the rest of the.... nope. There it is.
"You cannot call them 'the natives' you degenerate," Flora hissed the moment Dio opened his foul mouth. Honestly, she could smell how rotten he was on the inside. "Besides, there was no evidence of violence at the settlement and just because your family would resort to cannibalism doesn't mean any others would," Flora turned her attention back to the teacher then, as she was purturbed by all the mention of dark curses.
"Perhaps the settlement had a portkey in their posession. When they all realised that they would likely starve waiting for the ship, a witch or wizard in the small settlement activated the portkey and brought them home to England once more. Sometimes it's better to admit defeat than continue an unwinnable fight,"Flora was determined to believe that the settlement hadn't come to such a gloomy end as all her classmates were suggesting.
"Or perhaps they had cloaked the village when tensions rose between themselves and the Native Americans and the returning ship of supplies came during that particular period. Perhaps they didn't understand that Croatoan was a clue to let them through the cloak. So they left, thinking that the people were no longer there."
Liam gulped noticably as he stepped into the changed classroom. Change. This wasn't good. No change had brought something... better... yet. His feet were stuck at the threshold of the door and it was only the feeling of his housemate, Gabriel, shoving him into the class that finally brought Liam out of his big old NOPE hole. Carefully Liam chose the wooden log placing as close to the door as possible - or was that a worse idea? What if something came in from near the door? He'd be the first to die.
Middle desk. Not too close to the window. Liam's whole body was shaking with indecisiveness and finally there were no more seats for the boy to choose from. He had to take what was left. His bottom hit the log heavily, and he closed his eyes to take in the deep breaths his ma had taught him about over the Christmas holidays. In one, two, three. Out one, two three. They were closed when the whole place went dark, but he opened them as the eery voice started talking about horror stories. It was pitch black. Liam tried to scream but it nothing came out because he was magically silenced. Liam reached for his mouth and throat, as if to feel if it had been slit before his final, clever decision. Under the desk!
As fluid as a snake on sand, Liam slid underneath the wooden long table and curled himself up into a rocking ball of hot tears. His face was so scrunched into his lap that he was not aware that the lights had come back on.
]TAG: @seanokeeffe, NB: The squirrel is Liam’s carporeal patronus, when he learns it
Post by EVAN OLIVER WOOD on Sept 14, 2019 10:06:39 GMT
Evan's eyes were as big as saucers as he came to the classroom. This was pretty cool! Definitely a far cry from the other professor's approach, though Evan would miss the very knowledgeable Avery. He didn't have to wait long to be joined by Agnes and he chuckled a little as she yawned, wondering briefly if he was skilled enough to throw a lolly into her mouth. "I do declare that -" the next words could not come out because he'd been silenced and the room went dark. Evan listened to the story from the teacher with interest, excited to have a story-teller as a teacher in what had been a rather dull subject for five years... because if it didn't involve animals, Evan's attention quickly wandered.
When the beeswax candles relighted and the students started putting their thoughts forward, Evan rubbed his chin in thought. It was heavy with the stubble of a young man attempting to grow a manly beard look and he couldn't help but ask... "... maybe they just gave up their English ways of life and intergrated with the local tribes? That would be nice, wouldn't it? I mean, clearly, the tribes knew the land and the animals and how to not only survive but thrive? So it makes sense to just assimilate."
TAG: @seanokeeffe, AGNES CLEARWATER, NB: The Emporer Penguin is Evan’s carporeal patronus, when he learns it.
Post by GABRIEL AVERY on Sept 14, 2019 10:40:02 GMT
Gabriel was already not in a great mood; he missed having his uncle at Hogwarts and this... usurper was already making a fancy show of just how fantastic he was. When Liam paused in the doorway to the classroom, Gabriel's temper clicked over and he shoved the younger Hufflepuff in further so that he could just take a seat. Briefly, the blonde boy took in their surroundings and sat down next to his twin brother. His temper wasn't assisted by Greyson's bullshit attitude, but being closer to the boy at some cosmic level soothed his freyed nerves. When Agnes shot back her two cents about his brother, Gabriel smirked, "did you miss the lesson about how not to look like a hag, Clearwater? Y'know, just as we're discussing how people look and all," Gabe's critical eye looked over the redhead and could see the tell-tale signs of tired. "I'd say to go look in a mirror, but I fear it'd break."
Then the room fell silent and dark whilst the show-pony professor put on a theatrical performance as if he were the reincarnation of Shakespeare himself. Gabe's low-level annoyance brewed deeper still as the other students seemed to react so well to this... style. Gabriel just wanted..... nope that's not PG13. Nevermind. "Maybe they just left. Nothing mysterious, dark and suspicious. They just had enough of that spot, had enough of England, had enough of fighting the natives and just left without so much as a how'd-you-do."
History class was not the worst but Ollie was still not very fond of surrounding herself with people. She had been having nightmares all night and for once she felt rather blue instead of her always cheerful attitude. Ollie was tired and history class was quite boring so maybe for once she could shield herself behind Clary, let her be the happy one as ollie dozed off for a few minutes.
But the second she shut her eyes there was darkness, a creepy voice and then a professor. Well that cured her from wanting a nap. The blue eyed girl just sank down in her seat and watched the attitude bashing like usual.
The class was filled to the brim, and being in the spotlight of so many young pairs of eyes made Sean excited. Some of them were chattering about the new look of the classroom, and their approval made Sean feel all warm inside. Alas, most of them didn't look too keen on attending History. This had always plagued Sean's favorite subject, but he wasn't going to let a few ne'er-do-wells ruin it for everyone else.
He smiled at the first lad, who'd been hunched over at the start of the lesson, looking quite disinterested, but now was eagerly asking about cannibalism and dark curses. If only this kid knew how close he was to the right answer!
A curly haired girl had agreed with her classmate, and Sean realized his first mistake -- he should have asked everyone to state their names. But it was too late now, as the thread had unveiled and almost everyone had something to say.
Another boy mentioned something about pranks, and O'Keeffe knew that he'd be seeing that face in detention at least once. He hadn't done anything wrong just yet, but if that was his first thought, the kid was prone to trouble. It comes with the territory.
Of course, Hogwarts wouldn't be Hogwarts if some hormonal teenage boy with anger issues wouldn't pretend to be above it all. Sean deflected the jab at his clothes and didn't let any sign of being offended show on his face, but before he could say anything, the eastern looking guy next to him had clasped his hand over the troublemaker's mouth. Sean raised his eyebrows and his lip corners started twitching -- this was hilarious!
He grabbed a piece of parchment from the desk behind him and skimmed over the list of students, trying to find a name that could fit the eastern student. He dragged his finger down the list and tapped upon finding what he thought was right.
"Junaid, yes? I hope I'm pronouncing your name right." he said, looking at the student. "Vacant means empty, and the other word is 'Croatan-'" he coughed. He'd gotten it wrong. "Apologies, 'Croatoan'. Don't worry about not getting it right."
The troublemaker's classmates were ripping into him. A feisty redheaddragged the boy, and Sean had to stifle a laugh. He showed a thumbs up to the girl and smiled upon hearing her answer. She was close to the truth, too!
Another boy insulted her, but Sean decided to not intrude in their inner conflicts.
When the next speaker accused the first boy's family of cannibalism, Sean's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he clutched the student list once more, his eyes skimming over the names at a frenzied pace. Truth be told, he hadn't really read it before, and now seeing the last name "Greyback" stung that much more. The cheerful expression from his face was wiped in an instant, and his hand moved down to the knife holder on his waist.
Not here Sean. Don't let it ruin your first day on the job. These kids don't have to see you break down. Get a hold of yourself.
The professor straightened his back and started pacing back and forth, his feet sinking in the moss.
"Both brilliant theories," he commented on the girl's words. "Albeit wrong. But don't worry, you get 5 points -- you remind me of myself when I was your age."
The answers just kept coming. Never in his wildest dreams had Sean thought that so many students would have gotten involved -- in his experience, at most one or two got involved when Professor Binns was at Hogwarts. Then again, he was a ghost and he didn't ask much questions.
There was a theory about integration, and another one about changing location. While the boys were talking, Sean looked over the rows of seats. One particular spot was...peculiar. There was a backpack and some books placed by the middle table seat, yet there was no student to be seen. His eyes moved lower and...
"Hey, what are you doing under that table?" he said, approaching the middle desk. He could hear sniffling. Had his little tale been too much for someone?
"Come now, get up." he patted the boy's shoulder before pulling him from underneath the table. Then he pulled his wand out from a holder on his belt and conjured a stack of tissues. He squeezed the soft rectangles into the boy's hand and lead him out to the center aisle of the classroom. Leaning close, he spoke to him in a soft voice.
"Hey, I apologize if I've caused this. Here is what we'll do -- I'll let you into my office and send someone with you, and you'll make tea. There should be a jar of honey and some cookies on the table -- you're free to take as many as you want, alright?"
He patted the boy's shoulder and looked back up, trying to seek out someone to send with him. After a few seconds, he pointed at a boy in glasses who was trying to seem as small as he could. "You there, yes, the one hiding, come here. Take your classmate and go to my office, keep him company. Don't worry about missing the class -- you can hear very well from my office."
When the two had disappeared behind the door on the left side of the room, which lead into a small office fashioned like the rest of the classroom, he returned to the front.
"Thank you all for your answers. It's lovely to see such a degree of participation! Time to reveal the truth."
"The Native Americans know of a creature called the Wendigo. According to them, anyone who resorts to cannibalism, or to acts of greed and violence committed during a time of famine and illness, turns into one of these creatures. They have been described as being tall humanoids with extremely long limbs, their fingers have turned into large claws and their heads are that of a deer. To be more precise, just the skull."
"They say that many millennia ago, a group of powerful witches cursed anyone who would turn on their closest just to survive. You might think it's old hag's tales, but the Croatan -- a neighboring tribe of Native Americans -- have passed down tales about Wendigos at Roanoke, and there is very little reason not to trust them on this topic."
"You might ask - how is this possible, when there were no signs of violence? No bones left over? It's fairly simple - the Wendigo attacked outside. And it is known that Wendigos build shrines out of the bones of their victims."
"The historians of the wizarding world suspect that Wendigos were behind the failure of the Norse colony of Vinland, now Newfoundland. The colony was established some time during the late 10th century by Leif Eriksson. It is known that he returned to Greenland, though he is suspected to be one of the few that made it back."
"Now, why am I telling you all of this? Because history isn't just a list of dates of Goblin Wars and royal decrees that the Ministry wants you to memorize for the duration of one exam. History is full of mysteries that need to be solved, be it to bring justice, to recreate lost technology or to simply quench your thirst for knowledge. For today's lesson I want you all to become detectives."
"I will split you into teams and give you a case file. Your task until the end of the lesson is to make a theory of what happened, using all that you know and all the literature available in the classroom."
He proceeded to pick the groups, moving them each to a different corner of the room. Identical parchments appeared in front of the groups.
"December 5, 1872. The American merchant ship, Mary Celeste, which sailed from New York to Genoa on November 7, has been found adrift in good conditions, though everything on board points to it being deserted hastily. The only life boat was missing. The crew: 7 men, Captain, his wife and 2 year old daughter.
The last captain's log entry was dated ten days before the discovery. No personal belongings had been taken and the ship had ample supplies. The lower rooms had a significant, but not dangerous amounts of water in the lower levels. The ships compass - smashed.
What kind of magical creature or event could have caused this?"
With his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, Alex made his way into History of Magic, steadily ignoring the gaze of his classmates as per usual. He didn't want to draw attention to himself and eye contact seemed to do exactly that and so... not looking at anybody was a good method to fade into the background, right? 
