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!
When during one nice autumn evening Rodrik had been talking to Lyuba while they were cuddling on the Common Room couch as friends to, he'd mentioned the argument he'd had with his brother Damian. Lyuba pressed him for details and, once he revealed that they hadn't spoken since the fact, she demanded that Rodrik fix things. He'd gotten defensive -- he didn't see how he'd done anything wrong, it was Damian who had pressed him! But Lyuba reminded him that Damian, too, was grieving, and that he couldn't expect him to be perfectly caring and tactful and so on and so forth. That evening Rodrik got rather annoyed with Lyuba, but a few hours later, laying awake in bed he realized that a lot of what she had said about Damian echoed the conversation he had had with Zoe.
Still, he was terribly reluctant when Lyuba dragged him along to Hogsmeade, straight to the Hogs Head and shoved him through the door, making the small bell above the door ring like mad. Before Rodrik could even open his mouth, she'd already called over his brother and hurried away to chatter away to the innkeeper, leaving Rodrik standing in the doorway, hands shoved in his jean jacket pockets. The jacket had red flannel sleeves, but it wasn't enough for the weather, but it was the best thing he owned, or... Well, it had been Vaughn's, and it barely fit him.
"Hi," he said, glancing at his brother for a moment but quickly turning his gaze somewhere else, feeling embarrassed. Why did Lyuba have to put him on the spot like this?
we got no money, but we got heart/we're gonna rattle this ghost town
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Post by DAMIAN BELANGER on Aug 13, 2020 16:34:51 GMT
we rattle this town
"Hi." Damian twisted his hands in the towel he was holding, as an all-too-familiar voice came from an all-too-familiar person. He hadn't expected Rodrik to be here, not after the way he'd stormed out last time, leaving Damian certain that losing Vaughn had resulted in losing Rodrik, too. He had been trying so hard not to worry, even though it was impossible. The school was right there, so close he could walk to it, and yet he couldn't get through the gates to make sure his brothers were alright. "I hope you're doing okay."
He was about to turn back to work, to set some chairs back at the tables they belonged to, when a hand on his arm stopped him. The blonde girl who had come with Rodrik was tugging on his forearm, and Damian furrowed his eyebrows at her, confused.
"Come sit down," she said, and Damian began to protest, but she shook her head. "I'll tell your boss what's going on. You sit down and talk to your brother." Damian wasn't sure why she was so insistent, but no matter how much he'd been trying to give Rodrik space, the truth was that he did want to talk to him. Even if Rodrik had made him despair so much that he was afraid he was going to be fired--he couldn't throw away his brother like that.
And so he pulled out the chair the girl had gestured at, sitting down gingerly. "I'm glad you came to Hogsmeade again." It was far quieter than Damian's usual speech, but he felt as if he could not startle Rodrik--as if his brother was an easily frightened animal.
tags: RODRIK BELANGER Note: Lyuba is mine and that's why I'm writing what she does!
In all of his life -- it wasn't a long one, but still -- Rodrik had never felt so awkward around Damian. Sure, he'd made him feel embarrassed on more than one occasion, but that was just gentle teasing between brothers. This was a whole different level, making him shove his hands into his pockets and pull his shoulders up without even thinking.
Lyuba grabbing onto both of them and sitting them down like they were two misbehaving toddlers didn't help either. He cast a pleading glance at the girl, as if asking 'Was this really necessary?' and the glare he got back told him that she wasn't going to let him get up from the chair until she would be satisfied with whatever conversation she wanted the two young men to have.
For a few moments he sat there, avoiding Damian's gaze. Rodrik didn't have a single clue as to what he was supposed to say. How do you even begin fixing things? If there was anything left to fix? Was there anything that needed fixing in the first place? Couldn't he just wait a couple of months and then pretend that an argument had never happened? It worked for other people, so maybe...
As much as Rodrik would have liked to believe that not talking was a viable option, he knew it wasn't. They'd drift apart, and it would be just as awkward in ten years as it was now.
"Yeah." He muttered, immediately regretting it, because that was totally going to move things forward. "Uh... How...How are you?"
we got no money, but we got heart/we're gonna rattle this ghost town
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Post by DAMIAN BELANGER on Aug 15, 2020 15:42:00 GMT
we rattle this town
Damian wasn't sure if telling the truth would help--because the truth was that he hadn't been doing well at all. How could he, when he was living without contact with any of his brothers for the first time in his life? Sure, he'd gotten close to Emil in the past few weeks, but Emil was nothing like a brother, Damian thought, not after they'd kissed in the kitchen the other day.
No, while that was something new and exciting, it didn't replace the strange feeling of a void where Rodrik usually was, silence where there had always been friendship. They were so close in age that he couldn't remember the time before Rodrik had existed. He couldn't risk saying something that would drive him away again, and he couldn't risk sending Rodrik toward saying something that would hurt him again--like all those accusations of things that hadn't been true, that still weren't.
"It's been difficult, but I'm holding up." That summarized it, hopefully well enough. Damian let out a sigh, wishing he had a cup of tea or something to sip on while he considered his words. "I missed you in October. There are so few Hogsmeade weekends now, and I really hoped you'd come again."
Damian's words made Rodrik feel guilty. Yes, he felt as he had been in the right to snap at Damian -- his brother knew that Rodrik had always been the most emotional of the four, so he should have predicted how his words would affect him. Though, as soon as that thought formed in Rodrik's head, he also heard Zoe's words about not being to able to fix his grief on her own. And Damian was grieving, too, and as everyone had experienced in the past few months, grief made it really hard to keep tabs on was right and what was wrong.
So Rodrik sat there, feeling guilty for not coming to Damian sooner. Then again, what was the point of coming if he hadn't a clue what to say? Why did Lyuba have to immediately run away to chat to the barkeep? This was her idea, she should help... The discomfort and doubt was making his skin crawl, and Rodrik looked over to the bar counter where Lyuba was deep in conversation with the barkeep, bubbling away in Russian -- Rodrik didn't understand a word but it looked like she was enjoying herself and the pastry she was holding in her hands.
"Uh, I... I didn't go to Hogsmeade at all last month. Didn't feel like it," Rodrik finally spoke, taking his hands out of his pockets and putting them in his lap, nervously fiddling with his thumbs, "Hugo was upset with me for not wanting to go, said I was the only way he can get his favorite sweets anymore, you know, the apple mice pops. I sent Zoe to get a few for him instead."
"But I guess," he shrugged, shoulders still tense and pulled up, "I guess I'm here now. What's... What's new with you?"
we got no money, but we got heart/we're gonna rattle this ghost town
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Post by DAMIAN BELANGER on Sept 5, 2020 17:30:46 GMT
we rattle this town
"You are here now." It was stating the obvious, but Damian had to say something, something to make sure Rodrik stayed here instead of getting up and running away again. "It's good that they let you have Hogsmeade again. I think I'd have gone crazy if it'd happened when I was there. The ban, I mean." And Hugo still couldn't come, despite the fact that in any normal year the third years would all have poured into the village, ensuring the economic survival of Honeydukes.
Then there was the consideration of what to tell Rodrik about his life. It was much the same as it had been the last time Rodrik had been here. "Well, this job isn't half bad." It wasn't anything like Damian had wanted or expected from his career, but at least Askold was a kinder boss than the goblins had been. On two occasions already Damian had been certain that he would have been fired and out the door, but no such thing had happened. "At least, my coworkers are nice."
He had to catch himself before he mentioned just who they were, having forgotten for a moment that speaking about Emil's presence would certainly lose him his job if the Inn got into legal trouble. "That's about it, though. Mostly just serving food--and missing you and Hugo." And Vaughn.
