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!
Earlier in the day, as luck would have it, Greyson had found a balled up piece of parchment on his desk in Transfiguration when he'd finally stumbled into class. 'Spin the Bottle for 16+' it had read and immediately, Greyson had called bullshit. Who the hell was this person to dictate those only sixteen and over year could throw some party whilst casting the best party goers like himself in the dark? It was a load of crap and after stewing about it all day, Greyson had decided screw it. He was going anyway.
Sober as anything, Greyson rounded the corner towards the Room of Requirement, fully intent on busting into the party. He was a fifth year, sure, but he could just lie and say he'd had an early birthday. It was only when he drew closer to the room itself, that he stopped in his tracks because there was some figure close by that looked familiar... Jun? What the hell was Jun doing anywhere close to this party, and why did he look so goddamn sad? What was going on?
"Oi, Zalayat. What's up with you?" he called out, making his way over to the Hufflepuff. His words came out casual, but deep down he was concerned because over the last few months he'd grown to consider the boy to be a rare friend of his.
Post by JUNAID ZALAYAT on Nov 10, 2019 9:44:33 GMT
Junaid closed the door behind him and started making his way back to the basement. Some food and tea might distract him for a moment. After that, he didn’t know what he’d do but he didn’t want to think too far ahead. He was still very much in shock of how Yaman paid with his life for an act everyone was doing freely and openly here. He felt sick and confused. Was he the one that was wrong again? Didn’t he fit in either worlds?
The prefect was too stuck in his own mind to notice the voice of his friend. Jun only noticed him when the Gryffindor entered his field of sight. He froze at the thought of having to interact with someone after all this. “S-stay there. Ah- no, go back to your dorm please. I’m not in the mood to punish you,” he said in a very timid and not convincing tone. Jun just sighed and walked further regardless if Greyson actually would listen or not. GREYSON AVERY,
The pure weakness behind Jun's words made Greyson pause and he paid little mind to the words themselves. Everyone knew Greyson did want he wanted to do, he didn't take orders like some little foot soldier from the almighty prefects, heads and Professors at this school. "As if you would punish me, Zalayat. You'd have to punish all the people at the ickle party too - one you may or may not have come from," Greyson pointed out.
Jun moved to walk past him, but Greyson wasn't letting the guy go that easily. Nor was he going to physically run - smoker's lungs and all - and try to play catch me if you can. Instead, his hand shot down, fingers curling around Jun's wrist to stop him in his tracks. "What's wrong? Man, you look like you've seen a ghost or some shit. Tell me and I'll try to help."
Post by JUNAID ZALAYAT on Nov 17, 2019 10:01:10 GMT
Junaid sighed when Greyson pointed out he’d have to break up the party too in order not to be a hypocrite. “Now that would be social suicide,” he mumbled as he passed. Breaking up a party didn’t boost one’s popularity. Not that he made a good impression there. But considering by how many prefects were there, Jun now assumed it was pretty normal for the Brits to host these kinds of things. Jun was having a hard time understanding this culture and fitting in. He tried his best to make this place his new home but sometimes he still felt like an outsider. Greyson usually made him feel like he wasn’t alone. However right now he wasn’t sure if he needed any social interaction.
The prefect’s eyes widened when he was brought to a stop. He jerked his hand back and brushed the wrist Greyson had grabbed. Physical contact wasn’t really helping him clear his mind. He did turn to the younger student and stared at him for a moment before focussing his eyes somewhere else. “Nothing-” He paused and took a breath. “I-I don’t know- These people- This country- I just- I can’t-” GREYSON AVERY,
"Damn fucking right it would be, and don't think I missed the way you didn't actually say if you went to the party or not." Greyson's eyes narrowed hard, trying to gauge whether Jun had actually had the balls to break the rules and go to a party or not. He couldn't tell just by looking at the Hufflepuff, but... he had an inkling the answer was yes with the way he was being so squirmy and suspicious. "I'm gonna be disappointed that you didn't sneak me, Zalayat. I mean, aren't we meant to be mates? Mates sneak younger by a few months mates into parties, that's one of the perks of friendship, man."
The way that Jun yanked his wrist away so suddenly and completely avoided his eyes after a few seconds made Greyson even more worried about him. Sure, Jun was usually a bit... awkward and jumpy, but not to this extreme. This was weird. "You can't what? Out with it, or I can't help you, man. I can't do shit unless you tell me what's wrong. You need me to go beat some loser up? Or... you need to go drown your sorrows? Just tell me what's up and we'll figure out some way to deal with it."
Post by JUNAID ZALAYAT on Dec 12, 2019 14:02:57 GMT
At all other times Jun would’ve been happy to see his friend. Right now, however any human contact only confused him more. His face turned in a frown as he crossed his arms at the remark. “I’m not going back there, if that’s what you were trying to aim at. And neither are you,” he firmly told the younger student. The Prefect bit the inside of his cheek. Conflicting emotions filled his chest. Yes, back in the days where everything was safe and fun, he would sneak his friends into parties. They did a lot of things Allah and their parents had forbidden. While his family believed he was a star student and the perfect son, Allah was watching ready to punish him. Junaid knew he paid the price for being a misbehaved teen, a fate he wanted to protect his friend from. Now he was trying to be a good person but all the people in this country seemed to think he was just a weird softie. Why was the middle ground so hard to be found?
“Older mates protect the younger ones from making the same stupid mistakes,” he mumbled when suddenly a realization went through his head. “Or do you only want me as your friend because I’m older and can sneak you into parties? ” At this point he didn’t even look at Greyson. Why was he saying these things to his friend? Jun was never this bitter.
“I can’t fit in with this country or school,” he eventually told the Gryffindor after he kept pushing. “Even after a year of living here I still have no clue what is normal here. Things shock me and I keep making a fool of myself. I thought it’d be a good thing to go so I could meet the student of my own age but… what I found,” he bit his lip and shook his head. “People get killed for less.”
Post by GREYSON AVERY on Dec 15, 2019 10:53:29 GMT
"What are you going to do, Zalayat? Restrain me? You can't tell me what I can and can't do. I don't give a shit if you're got a spick and span badge pinned to your goddamn chest," Greyson was immediately firing back, shoulders squaring. He didn't take well to people trying to take charge of him, that much was obvious just from seeing the way Greyson interacted with most professors and prefects, and even if Jun was a mate of his... he wasn't about to be bossed around like some dog.
"I don't need your protection. I can fend for myself," he said, before his eyes narrowed at the accusation that he'd only be mates with Junaid to be sneaked into some parties. What made matters worse was the fact that Jun refused to even look at him as he said that, and Greyson's irritation rose. Disregarding the fact that Jun didn't want to be touched earlier, he moved forward, firmly seizing both sides of Jun's face with his hands and forcing the guy to look his way. "First of fucking all, you git, you don't get invited to parties all that bloody well often and I can sneak into them myself most of the time. Second of all, you douchebag, I wouldn't have hung out with you for months even if that was the reason."
Jun's confession that he didn't fit in had Greyson's eyes narrowing and his head shaking because, "You grew up in another country for fifteen bloody years, Jun. 'Course it'll take you a while to adjust to a whole new country - and for the record, nobody fits in. I mean, shit - isn't that kinda crap, the whole fitting in crap, overrated? Don't you want to just be yourself?" People get killed for less had Greyson letting out a huff. "What, for kissing? You gotta get over it. People don't get killed for that shit in Hogwarts, Jun. It's different here. If you don't like it, don't do it but you need to stop thinking that you'll get killed if you do. It's not going to happen, not here."
Post by JUNAID ZALAYAT on Jan 2, 2020 12:57:38 GMT
Junaid bit the inside of his cheek in frustration and glared at the Gryffindor who bit back. He didn’t like having to do this. Every time he felt forced between choosing to do his task as a prefect or saving his friendship with Greyson. He didn’t want to get accused of giving his friends special treatment. “Then what else should I do? If I keep giving everyone a pass with a gentle tap on the shoulder, what good of use am I as a prefect? I might as well hand back the badge and tell them I’m too weak to do the job,” he grumbled, not sure if he even wanted to be a prefect anymore at this point. Jun parly accepted the job because he was told it was an honor and he would repay the school everything it had done for him. It had only brought him trouble so far. He wanted to help people but instead of helping he was only making people angry.
Because he hadn’t been looking at Greyson Jun was caught off guard when his face was suddenly grabbed. Once he was faced with his friend, something broke inside. The words hit him deep. Jun tore himself free from the grip and just managed to turn himself in time to hit the wall instead of Greyson. Upon impact he could feel the pain rushing through his knuckles, he definitely bruises some bone there. In shock he pulled his hand back to reveal a dent in the wall. Oh, no. Silently he moved one of the portraits to cover it, hopefully nobody would notice. After calming down for a bit, he turned back to face his friend. His fist stung but he didn't pay attention to it besides a soft hiss.
"I'm sorry, you've been a good friend. I just… Lost faith in many things. Every time my head automatically goes in doubt. Once I had it all and was confident in what I did but when I lost the support of the people I cared for, I grew insecure. I overthink everything I do," he said before taking a breath to pause. His body was shaking and he wanted to look away but this time he didn't.
Greyson was helping him reflect and see the problems he was struggling with clearly. "I wish it was that easy. I know it is safe here but every core of my body and soul tells me otherwise. I panic even if I know this school is safe. Maybe I can work on it but I don't know how," he admitted.
"If you're so worried about me breaking the goddamed rules all the time and you getting into trouble, then go ahead. Give me detention," Greyson shot back Detention wouldn't stop him from going to this party though, Junaid would have to physically stop him or stupefy him. Cursing Greyson would be a surefire way to get him pissed the hell off but... there was a certain level of respect it would bring because hey, Jun finally grew a pair of balls.
Junaid lost his shit a moment later and... why? Because Greyson was telling him in any other words he wasn't mates with him for party benefits? Watching as Jun literally punched a wall, Greyson grimaced because he'd been there, done that, and even thought it always felt like a good idea at the time... it never was. "Give me your bloody hand so I can see whether you broke something or not," he muttered, before just deciding to do it himself, reaching out to yank Jun's wrist towards him so he could stare down at it. No broken bones, but he was going to have a hell of a bruise with the amount of sheer force the guy had hit the wall with. "If I didn't want to hang out with you, I'd tell you. I'm not some - well, I am a dick but I'm an impatient one who tell you point blank and upfront."
"Well, my uncle would tell you to go to therapy because he thinks talking fixes everything," Greyson started, his voice cynical, before he shrugged. "But there's other ways you can stop panicking - magical ways, and don't worry your pretty little knickers, they're not illegal either."
Post by JUNAID ZALAYAT on Feb 7, 2020 13:21:48 GMT
Junaid’s eyebrow twitched. “Oh, I’m sorry that I don’t want you to throw away your future like that,” he said and rolled with his eyes. When Greyson dared him to give him detention, he shrugged and grabbed his wand. “Fine.” At this point he was done with everyone and everything. Perhaps punishing Greyson was worth the risk. With a simple charm he conjured a set of shackles, one on Greyson’s wrist and one on his own. “You’re coming with me,” he mumbled, giving his friend the chance to cooperate and walk along before he’d start dragging him.
After hitting the wall, Junaid started calming down a little. Yet he was not letting Greyson just go like that. “Don’t touch-” He was going to sneer when Greyson took his hand but swallowed the latter half of the sentence. Jun stayed quiet and focuses on his breathing between listening to Greyson’s words. It felt good to have their friendship confirmed. Jun often felt like he was forcing his friendship on the Gryffindor. The Hufflepuff mumbled a little ‘thank you’ under his breath.
“I just talked that’s enough for a while,” he shook his head at the idea of therapy. Those people would likely only try to find a reason to send him back. Greyson had sparked his curiosity with his later sentence. The Hufflepuff turned his deep grey gaze towards the other. “Which ways?”