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!
Leo sighed heavily as he gathered together all his parchments and books to bring them up to his dormitory. He both blessed and cursed his perfect duties. It was fun at times to walk through the empty corridors after hours, especially when they met someone who wasn't supposed to be out of bed. But on the other hand did that mean that he had to interrupt his studying and leave the cosy place at the fire where he had been reading for the last half hour. However, it was not as if he had a choice. Duties had to be done. So we dropped his bag next to his bed and drew out his robes. It tended to be a bit chilly in the corridors at night, even at this time of year. When he reached the closed double doors of the Great hall, he could already see his fellow prefect waiting. He was right on time. "Hey," he greeted with a friendly smile. "How're you doing?"
Alexander was almost glad to leave his small group of friends to go to meet Leo. It was getting a little late, and he wasn't very tolerant of their conversation. They were all walking on thin ice when it came to werewolves- and it was irrelevant anyway! Who cared whether you'd want to date one or not, they couldn't start thinking about that until the werewolves were allowed to attend school! For once, he'd kept his trap shut and headed out early. He had to do patrols tonight, and in the dour mood that he was in, he was hoping to find some silly people out after curfew. He didn't mind his prefect duties, but they were quite a lot on top of his fifth year. He'd promised to keep his grades up, but he wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that when he had to stay up late and check other people weren't out of line?
He took the long route, planning the night. There was a lot of places to check, but he was sure he remembered the other prefects would be doing the upper part of the castle. They claimed it was to avoid favouritism or something like that. He didn't care all too much since he and Leo would be going upstairs to head to bed anyway. He made it to Great Hall and stopped, glancing around awkwardly. Alex was sure he'd be late, especially with the moving staircases playing their usual tricks. It seemed like it wasn't so, as he saw Leo approaching. Alexander certainly hadn't to wait long, that was for sure. He returned Leo's smile with a grin of his own. "Hello partner, are you ready for a night of investigation?" He was teasing, and of course, he didn't think that the evening wouldn't be eventful at all. "I'm doing fine, how about yourself?" he added.
"Not bad, not bad," Leo replied, making conversation. "Let's see if today will be interesting for once. I won't get my hopes up though," he admitted in reply to the other's joke about a night of investigation. Prefect rounds could be incredibly boring at times. Especially when you had to walk around the castle with a stuck-up or a grump. Those were the worst days. But that was not the case today. Alexander was a pleasant enough fellow to do rounds with. However, the Gryffindor also wouldn't say no to some excitement.
Together they started walking the corridors of the dungeons. After two years of being prefect, Leo knew a fair share of potential hiding spots, which he checked almost automatically. "So, how's it going in class? You have exams this year too, right?" he commented after a while of walking in silence.
The Ravenclaw prefect gave a beaming smile to Leo. "That's really good to hear!" He followed alongside his prefect buddy, nodding as the other boy admitted to wishing for a more interesting patrol. "What a night for walking around aimlessly, right?" Alexander knew that patrols were something that all of them had to do, but it didn't mean that he had to like the task. He checked innocuous places as they went, focussing more on sound than sight. He had his wand ahead of him, already having cast lumos, but his night vision wasn't all that good. In anycase, Leo seemed to be pretty on top of his game.
Alexander gave a long sigh and a nod, "Yeah, got the OWLs coming up, so all the teachers have decided that we have to do about three hours of study and homework for each subject. I bet you know how that feels. It was like I was cruising along in fourth year and then bam! Suddenly I am buried in stress." He turned in to face Leo a bit more, his face a little more serious. "How are you finding seventh year? Is it as terrifying as I imagine?"
Leo grinned. They both knew that it was mostly pointless and boring to walk the corridors at night. "Definitely," he replied sarcastically. "Almost like a 'stroll in the moonlight'," Leo joked. He did take his prefect duties seriously but at times like these he'd rather have done something else.
"Don't I know it. You'd think they could prepare us ahead of time. But instead they just drop everything on us the year we have the exams," he agreed. "And it's exactly the same now in seventh year. Just twice as bad." Leo sighed, thinking of the pile of homework he still had to do.
The Gryffindor suddenly stopped in his tracks. They had passed an empty classroom and he was sure he'd heard a laugh from somewhere, probably the room to their left. He held Alexander back and put his finger to his lips, motioning for the other prefect to be quiet, then indicated the classroom door.
