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!
Alexander wasn't quite sure what was going on, a feeling he wasn't used to at all. It was only the second day back, so he was on top of his school work. It was only the second day back, so he should be in his friend's good books however that did not seem to be the case. The other Alex and freaking Dio had started avoiding him like the plague, and Aggy was...off. He'd thought she was just in a bad mood on the Hogwart's train but that bad mood had extended for far longer than seemed healthy to him. And something had happened between her and Evan, he was sure of it. He couldn't quite figure it all out and he was left floundering. The desk was warm where his arms had been resting, his notebook untouched. He was sitting next to a dormroom member, both of them having slipped in a tad late. He was exhausted after the first night, but that'd happened last year. It was something to do with teaching all the firsties and Durmstrang students the rules.
As they were dismissed, Alex kept his eyes firmly on Aggy's shoulders and packed up his bag. He wasn't going to let this weird cloud hang over her all day, maybe he could help her sort out things with Evan? Or at least try and cheer her up a little. He swung the satchel straps onto his shoulder and exited a few persons after her. "Hey, Aggy- Aggy!" he called, hurrying a little to catch up with her. He fell into step with her and smiled as brightly as one could with bags under their eyes.
"Whatcha been up to? How're the Durmstrang students, I noticed there was quite a few at the Gryffindor table last night?" He queried.
It was only the second day back, and Aggy was just about done with everything. She didn't want to be here any more, she just wanted to pretend like she was Sleeping Beauty and go back to bed for a hundred years. Maybe if she did, all the nonsense in her life would just poof! Fade away and be over and done with by the time she woke up!
Of course, the downside of living out a real life Sleeping Beauty story would be having to face a veritable creep who somehow decided that solving his ideas by kissing strangers was a grand idea - was his ego so inflated that he'd convinced himself his lips were magical? - but maybe the pros outweighed the cons in this situation... or maybe not. A sick feeling swelled in her stomach as Aggy the more she thought about the story of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip, the more his actions were beginning to feel a lot like the ones she had been waking up and screaming from nightmares about.
Aggy was only pulled out of her gradually darkening thoughts when she heard the professor dismiss them and frowning, she stood up from where she sat to hastily start shoving her belongs in her bag before tearing out of the classroom. It was then she heard a painfully cheerful voice calling her name and she grimaced. Normally... she considered Alex to be one of her closest friends, one of her best friends, but based on the fact that she was currently ignoring Evan like the plague and quite obviously so, she had a feeling he was going to approach the subject. "Alex," she said, before squinting at the dark circles beneath his eyes, one's that she knew she mirrored herself. "Is it hard to walk around with all those bags?"
Before she could help herself, a scowl appeared on her lips at the mention of the Durmstrang students and she ignored the question of 'whatcha been up to?' in favour of saying, "Oh, they're great, I'm sure. They're probably over the moon at having to share a dormitory with my kind."
Alexander glanced down at the satchel that's strap rested on his shoulder, completely missing that she was talking about the ones under his eyes. "Uh, no?" He replied hesitantly. His mention of the Durmstrang students didn't seem to go down well, going by Aggy's infuriated expression. He felt a little annoyed by her initial judgement of the diverse population of students that had joined them. "What do you mean, your kind? Redheads? Natural gingers? I'm sure they're less likely to imply you have no soul." He tried to joke, playing it off as if he wasn't sure what she was talking about. It was clear, since Durmstrang had a reputation of hating muggleborns. They weren't allowed to attend, like they were allowed to attend Hogwarts.
He considered the idea that Aggy was worried that they'd incite some kind of hate group or influence the feelings of the professors, but he doubted that a small minority would be enough to convince any rules to be altered. "If they bother you, they're probably just curious. There's no harm in humouring them." He offered, smiling sweetly at her. "I mean, my dad was a squib, it's not like you're alone in this. I'm sure they're nice- have you spoken to any of them yet?" Alexander picked at the fraying seam of his bag absentmindedly, keeping an eye on the rest of their classmates.
He still hadn't asked about the Evan thing, but he let it rest for a little while longer. He didn't want to upset her by bringing up things that she didn't want to talk about. He did, however, want to convince her that the Durmstrang students were nothing to fear. That's the message Professor O'Connor had been trying to promote.
The joke that Aggy had made about Alex carrying all those bags had gone over his head and when she opened her mouth to try and explain the joke, she was soon sidetracked by Alex's very own joke where he pretended like he didn't know what she was talking about. "There's nothing I love more than someone being purposefully obtuse. I'm glad you remember that, Alex," Aggy said, voice as dry as the Sahara desert. The corner of her mouth curled up in annoyance as she tacked on, "I'm also glad you remembered that painfully old joke about redheads that's been repeated again and again for the last decade like it's funniness didn't expire approximately two days after it was first uttered."
Annoyance rose in Aggy's chest like a tidal wave as Alex started trying to justify the whole anti-muggleborn sentiment Durmstrang was renowned for, something she didn't expect from him of all people. Wasn't he supposed to be on her side? Why was he so vehemently pro-werewolf and yet when it came to this issue, he tried to defend those who were prejudiced against her? "It's not myjob to humour anyone. If they want to be curious about mudbloods, then maybe they can go and pick up a book in the library for answers because I'm not some stupid museum exhibition they can prod a button on to 'learn more' about, I'm a person."
Alex's persistent optimism was grating on her especially as he went on to claim that he knew what it was like because his dad was a squib. But... the truth was, he didn't. Alex never would. He was a half-blood, and he'd never have somebody tell him to his face: you don't belong here, at least not when it came to magic. He'd never had anybody doubt his abilities just because he was born to parents who possessed zero magic, not like she'd had people do. "You don't get it, do you? You just don't. It's not the same, Alex," she bit out, exasperatedly shaking her head. She wasn't in the mood to explain it further.
When Alex asked if the Durmstrang students were nice, Aggy just leveled him with an unimpressed look. "They haven't spoken to me, and I haven't spoken to them. Mainly, in fear of them draining my blood so they can embrace their lifelong dreams of bathing in the blood of their enemies." Did she actually think they'd do that? No, probably not. Her blood was likely not good enough to bathe in, she thought petulantly as her arms raised to sit across her chest.
Alex's face soured as she responded to his light-hearted jest with unamused snark. "I was just joking around; I didn't mean to upset you." He responded warily. This wasn't something he was going to argue about, but he'd never seen her be so defensive over something that he felt was so little. He leaned out of her personal space, trying to put some distance between himself and the prickly lion. "I didn't say it was your duty- and I didn't say you weren't a person either! Hey, I'm on your side. I was just saying that you didn't have to be so goddamn angry at people you don't know. Because they are people too, you know."
He had tried to be gentle, but he was a little unnerved by her attitude. Sure, she wasn't the sweetest gals to others, but she rarely turned this towards him. Alexander found himself bristling up; he really wasn't in the right headspace to deal with another friend giving him shit for being who he was. "Oh? Really? I'm so sorry for trying to encourage you to be a decent person towards these kids who are completely out of their depth! I obviously don't understand, how would I? I didn't grow up in the muggle world, or actively defy everything a 'true' pureblood would stand for." His voice was sarcastic and a little exasperated. As if all the energy drained out of him, he shook his head and said plainly, "C'mon Aggy. I'm the son of a squib and I'm a gay werewolf activist. It's almost offensive to say that I don't understand. They're just as likely to hate you as they are to hate me. Let's keep our minds and hearts open, okay?" He bit the last word off a little too much, in retrospect.
He rolled his eyes at her suggestion of them draining her blood. "But Aggy, it's your blood they don't like in the first place if that's what you're claiming." Alex tried to keep his tone teasing.
Even though Aggy hadn't been actively looking for a fight, it appeared she had one on her hands as Alex's features changed abruptly to something far more acidic than before, and his tone transformed into one that was defensive. But it turned out she wasn't in the mood to back down - then again, when was she? "Yeah, it really sounds like you're a pro-Aggy supporter at the moment, doesn't it, Alex?" Aggy said bitingly, her arms folding across her chest as she, too, took a step backwards. Just moments later, Alex was telling her how to feel towards the Durmstrang students and immediately, her heckles raised. "You don't get to bloody lecture me, Alex. That's not your job and I'm well-aware that they're people. People who are predipositioned to dislike me that I am immediately meant to welcome into my space with open arms like everything a-okay when it's not. Everything not okay - it's fucked up. Everything is so -" Aggy cut herself off, shaking her head furiously because even though it was true that everything was a mess, going down that road was inviting Alex to ask questions.
As Alexander's voice turned into one that was angry with her, Aggy's chin raised defiantly in his direction because she was not backing down on this and if he thought she was, he had another thing coming. "I am not a shit person just because I'm not like you, Alex. No, really, I apologise for not being as kind and caring and non-judgmental as you are," Aggy said, her voice raising louder by the second. It didn't lower any as he accused her of being almost offensive because it felt like he'd just slapped her fair across the face. "It is not the same, Alex. People - why don't you understand what I'm saying? For - you're the son of a squib, sure, but when people find out you're a half-blood, they don't ask questions about your parents background. They just accept that you belong in this space because you have some magical blood and they know that you're meant to be here. They don't do that with me - there's -"
Trying to explain this felt like pulling teeth and Aggy raked her fingers through her hair, grimacing, as she tried to simmer down just a little. "Look, I'm not saying that - it's different, and I'm just saying that you don't understand what it's like to be muggleborn because you've never been one and you never will be. I didn't say everything was going to be sunshine and bloody rainbows for you too." She glanced away, jaw tightening. "I'm not ready to just accept that they're here yet. It's going to take a while to adjust and I'm not being rude to them either, I just have struck up a conversation with them yet because I don't want to."
"Aggyy." He stressed the last syllable and gave a sharp sigh as she accused him of not being on her team. "Aggy, it's not like I'm best friends with them I just- urgh. This is freaking ridiculous." He shook his head and stopped dead, most of the students having vacated the hallway. "No, no. You misunderstand, I'm saying they might not be predisposed to dislike you! I'm saying that you shouldn't assume you know everyone's prejudices. I'm not lecturing you- you know what. I'm arguing with you. I think that you are allowing your own biases get in your way and I don't think that's a good look."
He threw his hands in the air, pressing the tips of his fingers to each temple and looking up to the sky as if some deity would float down from the heavens to aid him. "I didn't say you were a shit person! I didn't even think it!" He immediately protested, before clenching his jaw to stop himself from interrupting further. There was a little bit of guilt nibbling at his heart, he hadn't meant to imply that she wasn't a good person. She was lovely, she was his best friend! How could she think he would say or think otherwise! And he wasn't saying he was perfect either!
He took a deep breath to compose himself and nodded along to her. He didn't understand, she was right. He hated not knowing and he struggled to keep himself snapping at her and let her have a say. Nothing productive would happen if he just yelled over the top of her. He had to listen to what she was saying, not just formulate a response. "Okay." He responded, "Okay. Fine. I'll take it. Thought you'd want to be my wingman or something. I won't push it." He lowered his hands and curled them around his thin frame.
"I guess this means you don't want to talk to me about what happened with Evan?" He asked, glancing anywhere by Aggy.
Aggy silently agreed with Alexander that this was ridiculous. The whole idea of him expecting her to take the higher ground and educate the poor purebloods who wanted to know about a muggleborns they'd only ever rarely encountered before was absolutely stupid. "Well, when they come up to me and don't treat me like I'm dirt on the sole of their shoe then I'll know they're not prejudice, won't I?" she said stubbornly. "I'm not about to strike up a conversation with people who might hate me, Alex. I wouldn't ask you to go up to someone with a reputation of being anti-werewolf or homophobic just in case they're not either of those things." She'd hate for Alex to get spat at or worse for talking to people who disliked him due to their own belief system, and... it wasn't like purists were known for being passive so the chances of her being hexed once they found out she was a muggleborn, or for them to chew her out over it like it was something she couldn't control? They weren't exactly low.
To be quite frank, Aggy didn't give two flying hoots of what Alex thought was a good look or not. Whatever, call her biased - that's fine. Maybe she was but she wasn't the one who had to dispel a reputation, that was up to the Durmstrangs if they cared enough. "I don't know why you're getting so offended on their behalf, Alex. It's not like I'm going about spitting at them, and it's not like this effects you personally, so why are you wasting your breath on trying to change my mind?" she asked, before her lips drew into a thin line. "No, you didn't say I was shit, you just said I wasn't decent for not doing what you want me to do."
When Alex finally relented a little bit, Aggy did the same, her chin lowering and her arms slowly unfolding to rest beside her body. It didn't feel like she had to be on the defense anymore. "When have you ever needed a wingman? You know if you want a snog, you just have to ask. I've been feeling left out ever since you and Evan kissed," she joked weakly.
Aggy grimaced as Alex proceeded to ask what happened with Evan. No, she didn't want to talk about it, but she knew full well if she refused to say a little bit, Alex would prod. It was in his nature. "It's - it's nothing. I just - he touched me and I didn't want him to - and it's fine. I just don't want..." Aggy trailed off into silence. In all honesty, the first few days since she'd stormed out of the hall... she'd been angry and upset that another man had pushed into her space like that, like... like he had over the holidays. But the feeling had since receded into guilt and embarrassment. She'd overreacted big time, and she knew that Evan wasn't him - Evan would never do anything to hurt her. They'd cuddled before, they'd kissed before, and he'd never pushed his luck. He was safe. But... when he'd wrapped his calf against hers, and wrapped his arms around her, it had been overwhelming and she'd been pulled back into the dark memories of him just... taking he what he wanted.
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Alexander's mouth as she spoke about him not needing a wingman, "No thanks Aggy, you've got a few too many girl parts." He smirked playfully. Kissing Aggy wasn't on his bucket list, neither was kissing Evan but he'd certainly done it. He thought a call back to the running joke from the Winter Ball would lighten the tense mood. He ran a hand through his hair, and with his other hand he tapped his side.
His brows furrowed as she said that it was nothing, and tried to still himself to give her his full concentration. The words caught in his throat and he stared at her for a few moments too long, trying to piece together the fragments she'd been given. "Th-that's not nothing That's not fine." His voice broke, his shock apparent. He knew Evan and Aggy were close, he'd never thought Evan would ever... "What, have you reported him? That's...that's just awful. I can't even fathom." He blinked a few times.
Aggy, quite frankly, had no desire to actually kiss Alexander. Not just because he was one of her best friends but because he had a very vested interest in dick and he was bound to be disappointed by the fact that she very much lacked that apparatus. "I mean, really, would you count my chest as being 'girly'? There's nothing there. I think if you closed your eyes, you could pretend it's Greyback's chest instead," she returned, truthfully a bit thankful over the fact that the tense mood from before had started to lighten.
Alexander was right - it had been awful when it had happened, Aggy had almost wanted to cry, but... apparently, she needed to be smacked over the head with a 'How To Explain Things Properly: A Guide for Dummies' because he started talking about how she had to report Evan and her breath caught in her throat. Evan didn't deserve to be reported for something so minor, not like... like he had. But Aggy... she'd never been strong enough to tell anyone, let alone the police. It's not like they'd believe her anyway. "No, it wasn't him who - I... he didn't, you know. Do... he just - he w--w-would never do s-something like..." Aggy's stutter, the one that had been all too present as a child, had come back with a vengeance. It always did when she got felt something far too intensely - and right she felt a huge flood of worry and guilt. "He... Evan just... he t-t-touched my... my waist. That's... and I... I d-didn't want him to... it was s-stupid. I... I over-r-reacted."
