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!
Thud. The beater bat hit the practice bludger, making it fly away before returning again. Woosh. “Arggh,” the blonde Slytherin holding the bat growled as he missed the shot. Lucky for him practice bludgers didn’t want to knock your kneecaps off. If it were a real one, he would be in a lot of pain right now. Another try. Dio lifted the bludger and swung. This time it was a hit but a rather sloppy one. He hissed in frustration as he watched the bludger move into a direction where he didn’t intend it to go. What the hell was wrong with him? Even if there was a summer between last practice and now, he never had fallen backwards on his quidditch skills. Something was making him slow and sloppy.
It was coming back, alright time to hit it again. Boom. “Huh?” The practice bludger landed in the grass before him before he even saw where it went. “FUCK!” He yelled and started to hit the ground with the bat instead. Dio couldn’t handle this. Quidditch was one of the few things he could actually do. How had he become this bad? Anger was rising up again which he noticed as hitting the ground in frustration usually was a sign of that. Not to mention the trembling of hands, probably one of the reasons he kept missing.
“Shit.”
The potion was wearing off, wasn’t it? The bat fell on the ground. He quickly had to take another dose before -
He saw someone at the Quidditch field. A familiar someone. “Damnit,” he hissed to himself as his hands ran through his pockets to find a vial before Skylar would come to close. There it was! But before he could consume it, he found himself face to face with the ginger Hufflepuff. Fuck… Time to act normal.
“Sup?” Yeah that was exactly how you’d start a conversation with someone you hadn’t seen in months. Dio pocketed the vial again and instead pulled out a bag of cigarettes to smoke. At least nicotine could temporarily calm the nerves.
when there's nowhere else to run/is there room for one more son?
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Post by SKYLAR REID on May 6, 2020 1:33:29 GMT
simple twist of fate
It was going to be a miracle, Skylar thought, if he was going to go back to History of Magic class ever again. His shoulders were hunched as he made his way out to the Quidditch field, no hint of a friendly smile on his face. The only good thing about this school was the Quidditch pitch, he thought bitterly. Out there, there were no professors or students from Durmstrang to make his life worse than it already was.
Marching onto the pitch with a Snitch in hand, ready to chase it until after curfew if he had to, Skylar was stunned to find the face he'd thought might not have returned, after not seeing him at the feast. Not everyone would think that the sight of Dio Greyback was a relief, but for Skylar, it somehow felt like the best thing that could've happened.
"Hey." He shoved the hand that wasn't holding his broom in his pocket, trying to look casual, even as he spied the cigarette in Dio's hand with envy. "Can I have one?" He gestured with the end of his broom. It probably wasn't the best for an athlete's lungs, but, as he'd learned, if it could calm Dio, it could calm him too.
Dio wanted to disappear. He was not in the right headspace to play Mr. Cool. Skylar thought better of him than what he was worth. A part of him wanted the kid to keep thinking it. If he stayed the Hufflepuff would eventually find out people were right about Dio. If the potion wore off, all build up anger would be released. Skylar might even get hurt like what happened with Greenaway. He should start pushing people away again. Perhaps if he could time it right, he could dose again and stay calm enough for a proper good bye.
Blue eyes glanced up with a hazy expression. “Since when do you smoke?” An eyebrow rose but the Slytherin eventually shrugged. “I’ll give you one if you promise not to cough like last time,” he teased the younger boy. Sure, he could miss another cigarette. Dio handed him one as he moved a little closer, he could already feel his fingers twitching, wanting to hurt or hit something. Dio left it for Skylar to light it himself this time. While he was doing that, Dio would quickly down the flask of calming draught.
“Practicing, huh? Ready to kick our butts again,” he could laugh about it now but back then he was grumpy for days. Honestly Dio was in worse shape than before so there was a high chance, they’d lose from the Puffs again. Perhaps he should tell his team and let the reserves play if it really got bad enough.
when there's nowhere else to run/is there room for one more son?
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Post by SKYLAR REID on May 10, 2020 3:24:49 GMT
simple twist of fate
Skylar shrugged. "I do now," he said, reaching out to take the cigarette. He didn't really smoke, at least not often--but whenever he got the chance, he would take it. It didn't taste good, and it made him cough, but there was something about the image of himself smoking that made him feel better. Like a version of himself who was more carefree, who didn't need to care about the news in the Daily Prophet or the well-being of his siblings or even his future. It was impossible not to care about those things, but if he could let the worries drift away into the air with the smoke for a moment, it was easier to get through.
The Snitch, now in his pocket, was fluttering around now, wanting to break free, and Skylar dropped his broom on the ground, lighting the cigarette with his wand before tucking that away and grabbing the Snitch again. "Yeah, practicing. Gotta win the cup this year, even if we've got to kick your butts again." Skylar grinned around his cigarette, the thought cheering him. "You can chase me around with Bludgers if you want. I'd rather get hit with one of those than whatever hexes that Durmstrang asshole wants to cast on me." And with that memory, the smile was gone, Skylar's grip on the Snitch harder as he thought about the essay there was no way he was going to write.
The raised eyebrow lowered again with a shrug. "Whatever, it's none of my business. Just don't tell your brother I influence you, he knows where I live," he told the ginger Reid. That reminded him, almost all their conversations had been about their brothers. It has been a while since they've really been alone.
"Have you spoken with Dallas this summer?" Dio asked because they'd discussed it before. "I'm glad he decided not to join my brother's pack now. The aurors really fucked up that one." Slowly Dio was starting to think his brother wasn't so great after all. He couldn't even protect his own people. His grip tightened on the cigarette. If he hadn't noticed it in time, it would have snapped in two. Another drag was taken, the pleasant burning smoke filled his airways into his lungs. His head was muted for a second.
There was his chance, Dio was about to down the vial of calming draught but the kid was faster than he thought. Shit. Back to the conversation.
He grinned at Skylar's optimism on winning the cup this year. "Hmm, we'll see about that. Don't think I'll go easy on you, just because-" Because what? Heck no, Dio wasn't found of this little twerp. He didn't do friends or whatever anymore. Pushing away McCarthy was a task on it's own.
I'd rather get hit with one of those than whatever hexes that Durmstrang asshole wants to cast on me. "The what?!" Both the vial and cigarette snapped. Blue liquid mixed with blood dripped through his first as the glass cut in his hand. In a heartbeat, Dio was up and in front of Skylar. He was ready to throw a punch if needed. "Please tell me you're joking."
when there's nowhere else to run/is there room for one more son?
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Post by SKYLAR REID on May 18, 2020 4:09:29 GMT
simple twist of fate
"Yeah, I spent some time with him." There had been a time, not really that long ago, that Skylar would have said he would have been afraid to live with his brother, but things had changed. Without their parents around, the Reids had to rely more on each other, and Skylar was pretty sure he'd seen Dallas more in the past year than he had in the whole two years before. And in that he'd realized that Dio had been right--that it was just one night a month. "I had him teach me guitar some. Oh, and I'm an uncle now." It was a bit strange to say it, being that he was only fifteen, but it had been so nice to meet his little niece--even if the crying was incredibly noisy.
That was better than whatever hell the Durmstrang people were here to put him through. Skylar released the Snitch from his hand, watching it flutter away from the cloud of smoke that puffed out of his mouth. It would get lost somewhere, and that would hopefully give him hours of practice out here, until it got dark enough that some prefect would show up and demand he be inside the castle.
"Yeah, this kid cast a spell and got me in some shit with his professor. She wants me to write an essay on respect now." As if that was going to happen. "If I show you his face, maybe you can send a Bludger a little ways toward the stands in the first game."
Skylar told him he started spending some time with his brother. At least one of them was making progress. If trying to progress was even what Dio was trying to do. Honestly at this point in life he had no clue where to go or who he even was. He was glad to hear the little Puff was doing better on those terms. However Dio wondered why the kid decided to be in his company even if it was no longer needed. Usually people stayed for short amounts of time.
Even if he didn't mean to somehow a tiny smile crept on his face as Skylar shared what he had been doing this summer. "Look at you being a good little brother," he teased the ginger and ruffled his hair with a small chuckle. What the heck, Dio? "You play guitar now? That's cool, I'm a little jealous. Vito won't allow me to 'make noise' he needs to 'concentrate on wand making'," the Slytherin groaned. It was unfair how his mum got a way with it and he didn't. Probably because Vito was afraid of their older sister.
"An uncle, man that makes you sound old," he cringed at the idea of babies. Was Dallas too poor to buy condoms or was it planned? Wait he didn't even want to know about that. The guy still worked at his local bar. He still had to look him in the eye. "Uh, congrats I suppose," he mumbled because he was horrible at these things.
Dio watched the snitch being released in the air and traced back to Skylar. They weren't getting much practice done.
Picking out the glass pieces from his hand, Dio hissed as some got stuck in his skin. It didn't matter, the pain distracted him from going full ham on anger. "Fuck that Professor, she doesn't just get to demand respect just because she is a teacher. And that kid… Point him out and I'll make sure he regrets coming to this castle," he growled declaring war. His face was in a deep frown, the anger was breaking through his previous calming draught.
when there's nowhere else to run/is there room for one more son?
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Post by SKYLAR REID on Jun 5, 2020 16:05:20 GMT
simple twist of fate
Pointing him out? That would be easy enough. "It's Dascălu. The Headmaster's grandson." Somehow it didn't surprise Skylar that someone like that would be the class bully--and that the history professor would favor him. Because sure, neither of them had technically been following the rules, but there was only one of them forced to write some bullshit essay. "You don't take History of Magic anymore, right? I'd drop it if they'd let me. The professor favored him." At this rate he'd score a solid Troll on the O.W.L.
With the Snitch released, Skylar could look at Dio with more attention, without trying to keep the little ball from flying away, and that was when he noticed the blood and potion dripping from the Slytherin's hand. "Shit--Dio, your hand," he said, reaching out for the limb that was currently having shards of glass picked out from the broken skin. With anyone else, he would have told them to go to the hospital wing, but Skylar had first-person experience seeing Dio in a hospital bed. The older boy would have no patience for it.
Holding the cigarette in his mouth, Skylar looked over Dio's hand, trying to shove down the little excitement that stirred in him at touching Dio's skin again. He knew he definitely wasn't the person you wanted to try healing magic, but he was the only other person out on the pitch. "Should I, uh, bandage your hand or something?"
