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!
and i'm calling for my mother/as i pull the pillars down
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Post by NADEZHDA KAREVA on Apr 26, 2020 21:31:41 GMT
in the woods somewhere
It was some strange twist of fate, Nadya thought, that by the time her mother had visited them last month, she was already going to become a mother herself. Not that she had known that at the time--but she did now. After having to drink so much tea in an attempt to settle her stomach that she thought she might explode, she'd had to find the cause. It was a good thing she already worked at the hospital, so that she could pull a healer aside discreetly and ask if it could be true.
But it couldn't remain discreet forever, Nadya thought, staring at herself in the mirror on her wall. She didn't look any different now--at least she didn't think so, her clothes hanging on her frame the same way they always had. But after three months--and it was three months now, it had to be, based on everything--she had to tell Papa. Before he thought she was hiding things.
He was in the living room, she knew, because she could hear the faint sound of the television through her door, and she cracked her door open, looking back and forth in the hallway just to make sure that nobody else was there. There could only be Vera--but still, it was a discussion she wanted to have one-on-one.
"Papa?" she said, sitting next to him and leaning against the cushions. She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs while she waited for him to turn down the volume on the movie. "How would you feel--hypothetically," even though it wasn't at all, "about being called дедушка*?"
It was mid-September and Ivan was enjoying one of his favorite movies, the Soviet version of the Baskerville Hound, for what it seemed like 10 000 time in his life. It was just one of those things that, no matter if he'd watched it just the previous evening, would still be good to play the day after.
He was sitting on the couch, TV remote in hand, absentmindedly wondering if the mustache he was trying to grow -- and which Lyuba absolutely loathed, telling him that she was happy to go to Hogwarts just to get it out of her sight -- would ever rival that of Doctor Watson, when the couch creaked.
It was none other than his middle daughter, Nadya. It was a little odd to not have her going back to school -- it felt like just yesterday Ivan was walking with all three of his daughter down platform 9 3/4 , with Lyuba whining that she wanted to go, too. But Nadya had graduated and she was a full blown adult now. It was something Ivan found hard to comprehend sometimes, but he tried, not wanting his daughters to think that he'll never take them seriously.
He didn't miss the apprehensive look on his daughter's face as she hesitated to speak. A soft smile settled on his lips, encouraging her, as he paused the movie.
But the words that came next...
First, his soft smile froze in place, his eyes widening as he looked right at her. And then, as if someone had hit play on the Ivan-remote, he reached his a hand up to rub his face, a sigh escaping his nose.
He didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to know where this was going.
She was barely 18, barely out of school and...
No. Ivan knew better than to chastise her for this. What was done, was done, and it was better to deal with the consequences instead of spending twenty years crying over spilled milk.
He turned back to her, the smile coming back, his hand reaching out to take hers to lace their fingers together, just how he'd done when she was a little girl coming to him for comfort.
and i'm calling for my mother/as i pull the pillars down
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Post by NADEZHDA KAREVA on Apr 28, 2020 4:59:03 GMT
in the woods somewhere
"Овсянка, сэр." From the TV came the familiar sounds of Sherlock, the old version that she'd been watching for her whole life. It was possible to forget that Papa had grown up as a Muggle when she had been at school, but at home, with the TV, the memories of movies were all easy to recall once more.
But those were the last words before Papa paused the show, turning his full attention to her, and she could barely meet his eyes, her usual strong and defiant gaze failing in the face of her fear. Not once in her whole life could she remember him being frighteningly angry--disappointed, yes, full of rage, never--but somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered Scarlett's trembling voice telling her that her parents were going to kill her. But when she did see the smile on his face--a small smile, but one there--her breath puffed out in relief.
"Three months," she said quietly. Papa took her hand, and tears sprang to her eyes unbidden, completely unexpected. She wasn't sure what emotion she was feeling, only that it was very nice to feel the warmth of his fingers laced together with hers. Would it feel the same when she held her own child's hand? "I saw a healer once, just to make sure--she said March."
Three months.And it was the September now...Where did she have the time to-- No, I don't want to know that. Ivan recoiled internally upon considering how she'd managed to get pregnant during exams. Had it been someone at school? A classic case of teenage pregnancy? Or... When?
He knew it was bound to happen, he'd had conversations about this part of adult life when they were growing up, but it was still weird to think about one's daughter getting bedding someone.
But the paternity of his possible grandchild wasn't what worried Ivan at this very moment. There was something far more important.
"Nadya, my dear," he said, his voice quiet and soft, reaching up to brush off the tears in the corners of her eyes, "It's alright. I'm not angry, okay? I hope I've never given you reason to think that I would be." He leaned closer, placing a soft kiss on her forehead before pulling back away, hands still clasped around hers.
"But I have to ask you this -- are you sure you want to go through with this? You know better than anyone that this isn't something you can..." Abandon. No, that would be too close to home. "It's not something you can opt out of with ease. You've still got time to make up your mind, but your decision... It's final."
and i'm calling for my mother/as i pull the pillars down
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Post by NADEZHDA KAREVA on May 16, 2020 4:32:29 GMT
in the woods somewhere
Nadya let the calm presence of Papa steady her emotions, squeezing his hands softly. Now, after his reaction, she wondered why she had been so worried--perhaps it was just that she had been through so much lately. From Scarlett's little baby and Nadya's failure to protect him, to the marks just short of what she would have needed to become a healer, to the brief appearance of her own mother in their lives once more--so much had happened in the space of a few short months.
But there were questions to be asked. And the first question, and Nadya supposed she could not blame him, was if she would keep the baby after all. She knew it must have come as something of a surprise. After the letters she had exchanged with him over the school year, telling her about his concerns over hearing that she was seen at a Muggle club with a werewolf, Nadya had decided not to say anything about seeing Toby anymore. Papa was a good person, but he was also a Ministry official, and she didn't want to alert anyone to Toby's location, even by accident.
It did not escape her notice that he asked what she would do before he asked who the father was. Perhaps he knew.
"I know there is still time to decide," she said, looking down at herself. It was only three months, her belly was still flat, Papa was the first one to know. She didn't have to have the child. And yet...
"Do you think I should? Get rid of it, I mean." Nadya's voice grew quieter still. "I don't know if I could, though." She had always wanted children; what was a few years sooner? "I think I've gotten attached already."
Ivan couldn't stop himself from sighing deeply, gently squeezing his daughter's hands. In truth he did think it would be best for everyone if she wouldn't have a child, not right now, not so soon...
The prospect of being a grandfather was something that excited Ivan to the very bottom of his heart, but Nadya was... Nadya was a wild child, and he wasn't convinced that she knew what she was doing.
She hadn't told him that she was dating anyone, so this might have been a one-night stand gone a little too far, and this child might not have a father present in his life--
It was all speculation and assumption from Ivan's side, but for the last few months he'd tried to become the father that doesn't pry into the lives of his adult children, so, if Nadya didn't offer information upfront, Ivan wasn't sure if it wouldn't be overbearing to ask.
"Sweetheart, I don't think my thoughts matter here. It is your decision, but if you have any doubts at all... I'd suggest not going through with it. Nobody here will judge you for it, nobody has that right." He spoke, taking one of her hands and turning it around so that the back of her hand would be in his palm, with her palm facing upwards. He started rubbing circles on her palm with his index finger, to soothe her just like when she was a child.
"But if you want to keep it, go ahead. Your family is here for you. I'm here for you, every step of the way, my dear. Take all the time you need to make up your mind."
He hesitated for a moment. The question of the father bugged him, but...
"Is there anything else you would like me to know right now?"
and i'm calling for my mother/as i pull the pillars down
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Post by NADEZHDA KAREVA on Jun 15, 2020 2:11:37 GMT
in the woods somewhere
Did she have doubts? Nadya thought about it, eyes resting on where Papa was rubbing comforting circles into the palm of her hand, as if she was a little girl again. There were doubts, certainly, about the thought that she might be bringing a child into a world that hated it. That her son or daughter would face the life of being not fully human, while having a werewolf for a father...
But why should that stop her? She, too, had a right to have a family, didn't she? And who better than her would teach her child to fight for their own rights?
"I will think on it." She would, even if she was already considering what her future would look like with a baby in it. It wouldn't be too difficult to keep working, she was sure--Papa had raised all three of them on his own from the time that Lyuba had been a baby.
There were still things to consider, though-- like-- "I need to ask if I will be able to stay here," Nadya said. "I know things are kind of crowded--" especially when Nikolai wasn't at Hogwarts, as they didn't have quite enough rooms-- "but I'm sure I could fit a crib in my room, for now." That would be the only option--London was expensive for a salary like hers, and it wasn't as if Toby had an income for them to live together.
The fact that Nadya asked if she would be able to stay in the apartment with her baby spoke volumes. There wasn't a stable relationship in the picture -- she would have told him already. Did she even know who the father was? For that to be the case, she would have had to bed several men in quick succession, or even at once--- Ivan felt queasy at the thought alone, and he didn't want to know the truth if it was anything like this.
"Why wouldn't you be able to stay here? You're my daughter, and the little one will be my grandchild. I'm willing to switch rooms with you, even. Mine's bigger, we could get rid of the double bed, it would free up some space..." he offered. He didn't really have much use for a double bed, he'd be off well enough with a single one -- he'd just never gotten around to switching because the double bed was still a very good bed. They could dismantle it, put it in storage until Nadya moved out. She could take the bed with her, one less piece of furniture to worry about.
"If you need anything at all, I'm here for you, Nadya. I brought you and your sisters up on my own, I think I know a thing or two about being a single parent."
and i'm calling for my mother/as i pull the pillars down
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Post by NADEZHDA KAREVA on Jul 3, 2020 16:48:49 GMT
in the woods somewhere
Being a single parent. And there was a real possibility; Nadya wasn't sure yet what Toby would think, whether he would want anything to do with the baby. She had to tell him soon, to know if she should be planning for a future with or without him, and her heart ached to think that it might be without him. It wasn't as if they'd ever spoken about children--all they did was hang out when they could, have her give him food and drinks and companionship. And yet she had the feeling that she would miss him fiercely if he wasn't there.
But the fact remained that neither of them had their own house, that the only place she would have to put a baby was here, in the apartment.
"I don't know," she said, shrugging, "I suppose I was just worried--you know what happened to my friend." For nearly a whole year there had been secrets for Nadya to keep alone, to keep them from Scarlett's parents just like with everyone else at Hogwarts. Perhaps it had taken a toll on her thoughts.
"I'm sure my room will be enough, but if we set things up and it isn't, then we could switch." Her room wasn't large by any stretch of the imagination, but neither were babies, for quite some time. "There will be time to figure it out."
Ivan could feel a painful tug on his heart as Nadya mentioned the events surrounding Scarlett Bianchi -- the girls were close friends, and to have her child be kidnapped in some convoluted revenge scheme was an awful thing to experience. All's well that ends well, but Ivan understood all the reasons why Nadya would be worried, starting from her veela roots and the current dislike of certain magical creatures...Which Ivan was contributing to, rather unwillingly. Perhaps that was why she didn't come forward with this any sooner? This was something he'd need to think over, but not at this very moment. No, right now he had to reassure Nadya and be there for her.
"Nadya, you know I would never let something like that happen to you," he started, "I do everything that I can, and I'd do even more if I had to, to protect you and your sisters against any harm. Please remember, that you can always come to me with any worries you have, and I'll try and do my best to help you."
"Now, come on over here and give your Papa a long hug," he continued, laying down to face the TV and pulling Nadya almost on top of him, embracing her and turning the TV back on.
