“I want you not to dismiss me so easily,” Roxanne shot back, usual fire coming back into her eyes for a moment. She tucked the blanket around her more tightly and nodded toward the headmistress’s desk. “Sit back down….Ma’am…Please.” She started demanding and ended up pleading. “I know what ‘I’ll look into it’ means. I have two too many aurors in the family not to. I need you to really look into it, to take me seriously. I can’t…” Her voice broke again. Damn, and she’d been doing so well. “I can’t let him hurt anyone else. I need to protect everyone. I thought I was, but I wasn’t, and I need to now.”
“I don’t know if I can get through the whole story, but if I can, you have to listen, okay?” She didn’t wait for the headmistress to respond, scared she would stop her from saying what she needed to say now for fear she’d talk herself out of saying it at all.
“It started last June. Darius Pucey and I had a…run in. Your normal student squabble at first. I insulted him or played a joke on him or… Well, that part is hard to remember, because I didn’t think it was significant at the time, but I offended his pride. Then, and I know this part is difficult to believe, because he’s a prefect and a model student, and it doesn’t make sense as human behavior, but I am willing to allow the aurors to collect my memories in a penseive and submit to whatever lie detection or take whatever potions will prove to you I am not making it up. He waited until I was alone, on the quidditch pitch after hours, which was wrong of me I know, but it’s not something I’ll ever be doing again. The aurors weren’t doing rounds then, so there was nobody around to even yell for. Darius must have been following me. I didn’t have my wand out and he got the drop on me, immobilized me, and then tested out some spells he’d been working with on me. Not spells from class.” She was surprised she had managed to come this far calmly, even if she did sound a bit disconnected, emotionally checked out for her own safety. She even managed to sound a bit snarky. “Spells he had created or read about somewhere else. Dark magic. He left open gashes up and down my arms and across my chest and large boils. There was nerve pain that didn’t leave marks too. He taunted me, called me a blood traitor, boasted he’d brewed the draught of despair that had been used on Michael Goyle last spring. That’s how I got away. He was going to force feed me a new batch of the draught. He let the immobilization spell drop. I spat and his face and ran. C…Another student found me unconscious in the forest. She got me back to the castle and helped me heal. I had scars for awhile, but I hid them, and, well, I knew how to make them fade. I’m good at healing potions and salves and I had help like I said. I was warned not to go to you or the aurors or to tell anyone. Darius said he’d hurt my family if I did, and I knew there are so many of us, he could probably get to one of them before anything was done to him.”
“Then the owls started. Death threats, threats to my family, warnings to stay quiet, just generally creepy stuff. I saved his letters. I can show the to you, submit them for evidence. They are only signed with his initial, not his entire name but you can match handwriting with his school papers and I can identify his owl. Oh, one time he also sent me this sludge that made my hands break out n boils, though they weren’t as bad as…you know, the other boils.” Her voice still sounded dead and dull, but she was making it. Almost done.
“I was scared for a long time, but I finally worked up the courage to tell him I was going to stand up to him, that he couldn’t get away with what he had done. Th..That was the day before Rose was attacked. I didn’t dare say anything to him after that or entertain the idea of turning him in. He’d proved his point. My family was too vulnerable and he was more powerful and capable than I thought.”
“Nothing else happened until..until recently. I told him I wanted it to be over. I threatened to turn him in again, and..and..and…” Story done, the parts of it that mattered at least done, Roxanne couldn’t continue and she allowed herself to revert back into a ball and cry. “He killed her. I know he killed her. You have to do something or I will.”
If she was shocked by the girl's outburst Locke certainly did not last it show, her face continued a face of impassivity as the girl yelled at her. She was just too used to people yelling to react. She was going to reply that she did took her seriously when the girl began talking again, so she preferred to stay quiet and listen to her, give her the floor until she was needed again. When the position of headmistress had been offered to her she had certainly been shocked, she was not the type of woman who dealt with kids too often or even liked children. But it was for their protection so she assumed it would be bad for her to reject it. The position wasn't too horrid if you didn't count the fact she had too deal with too many eleven year olds.
"The letters will provide great evidence. I will get with a teacher of his letters to compare." Walking over she layed a hand on the gil's arm. "I would also like for you to go st mungo's. We will get aurors examining your memories but first we would like you to be examine as well, to make sure you are all right." How had no one noticed the girl's problems? She knew some students knew how to bury their problems, but this was certainly too much for any girl to handle at this age. She would need to have a good talk with the teachers later.
She choose not to address the interactions with Darius further for now before she got further evidence. Besides she wouldn't know how to deal with the crying girl, better to send her to her parents and a therapist than accidentally harm her. She would also be looking at Michael Gole, make sure the other boy was all right.
"Darius will be suspended for now. Until we get further evidence. You should have come forward sooner Miss Weasley. Threats or not he is only one boy and I have the Ministry behind me. He will be dealt with accordingly."
"I think it will be best if you take the suggested leave for the week. More if you need to. Teachers will send you materials if you nee to catch up with your studies. Would you like me to talk to your parents?"
