Professor Michael Starkey

[profnathanfoster]

New Year | Michael & Nathan

After everything that had happened last year, coming back to Hogwarts seemed even more surreal than it did usually. He had spent most of his time answering letters by concerned and angry parents, most of them ready to enroll their children at another school.

It was a relief to see how many had still arrived and how unaffected their schedule seemed to be. Of course they had all been instructed to be more cautious and take care of the students, but since they had nothing but suspiscions about who could be responsible nothing else had been done.

He had only begun to sort his papers for the new year - which was unfortunate since the new year had already started - when a knock at the door of his office interrupted his work. Confused he looked up. “Please come in.”

[michaelstarkey]

A new year, a new chance to start over, but Mikey doubted it would be that simple. The Ministry was involved, Sarah was stressed, Maeve was crazy, and parents were hysterical about the possibility of losing their children, which was understandable, but the dozens of letter he'd received had worn him out.

What was worse? They were right. Each panicked parent had a legitimate reason to be concerned. They hadn't found the bad guy yet, and there was no guarantee another student wouldn't die.

So Mikey needed allies. With Maeve skulking around, he knew he'd be in trouble if she started yelling loudly enough.

Addie was out--she was in her own world. And Bianca was useless as an ally. Mikey had never so much as spoken to Lachlan, and Augustina was...off doing whatever it was she did.

Nathan was his best bet. Even if he couldn't call Nathan a friend, he was certainly one of the most approachable member of the faculty, even if he was a Ravenclaw and a history buff and, by default, a bit detached. But he was also a House Head, which gave him pull, and with as determined as that lit witch was, he needed as much as he could get.

At Nathan's response, Mikey poked his head in and smiled. "Bad time?" he asked, definitely hoping it wasn't. "I wanted to check in now that the year's started. You know, after last year..."

[michaelstarkey]

Late Night Research - Self-para

"Damn!"

Mikey slammed his book shut and held his head in his hands. Yet another evening wasted with no results, and though Mikey had never been one to resist educating himself, nothing he'd learned was helping.

The year, so far, had been only mildly traumatic--that squid would need to be watched more closely--but trauma had a new bar after the end of the previous year. Christina Eames had been dead for a few months, and the idea that his students were still in danger was a constant fear. Added patrols (and the requisite coffee) had helped, maybe, but he didn't delude himself that whoever was threatening the school would be so easily deterred. They had killed a child, after all.

The problems had called for a distraction, and there was none better than the trunk tucked in the corner of his room. Sarah had found it for him and enchanted it herself to keep the contents inside. His own personal boggart had been helpful--in theory--but he was making no progress. He was just as confused as ever.

No books had shed any light on his particular problem; he'd even considered talking to Persephone in the hopes that she could shed light on the situation, but no. He could appreciate the divinatory arts, but they were exactly the opposite of his experience. There were certainly sources with more legitimate support. He simply needed to find them.

Mikey dragged his fingers down his face as he exhaled and debated opening the trunk. For tonight, the research was over, so he could study the boggart, but what good would another encounter do? Unless the boggart spoke--which, given this particular yet inaccessible fear, it wouldn't--he would undoubtedly go to bed with no more information.

Sighing, Mikey pushed himself up, grabbed his wand roughly, and unlatched the trunk.

The hinges creaked as he opened the lid, and soon a hand grabbed the edge to help pull its owner up.

The man before him stood and stretched his legs, and only after he had stepped out of the box did he notice Mikey staring at him. The human-shaped boggart cocked its head as it studied him with an unnerving fascination.

Since Mikey started at Hogwarts, his boggart had changed. Before, it had turned into water that filled the room and threatened to drown him. Terrifying, but standard. But in his first year of teaching, it turned into the strange man before him who he had never seen before in his life.

At first he'd asked Sarah if he'd merely encountered defective boggarts six times in a row. She assured him that was quite impossible, and only then did he explain the reason for his particular curiosity with the creatures. She'd then obtained one for him, and it had proved to be no different than the others. It still took the form of this strange man, and still Mikey felt no fear. Just confusion.

Initially, Mikey had defended himself in case that hunger was a precursor to an attack, but it never was. Mikey could circle him, study him, even touch him, and he would only follow with his eyes and look Mikey up and down as if considering something. Whatever it was thinking, it was not considering eating him. It had had too many opportunities to do that already.

Like every night before, nothing had changed, and Mikey shook his head. Riddikulus wouldn't work--the thing wasn't scary--so he waved his wand at the creature. It stumbled backward (a conjured air blast to the chest had that effect) and fell into the trunk, and before it could regain its footing Mikey locked it shut.

Angrily--or perhaps simply exhaustedly--he stacked the books that had been completely useless before he crawled in bed and considered the boggart, the students, and the dead girl's mangled corpse before he drifted off to yet another dreamless sleep.

[atfirstlight-rpg]

The Mysterious Box: The Result

[sarah-wilkinson]

Sarah could see the panic in Mikey’s eyes as she laid out her orders. It was easy for her to forget that other people weren’t raised on this stuff like she was. That other people didn’t know how these things work. It wasn’t like Mikey to doubt her, but this was an extreme circumstance. “Michael! Get your shit together! I’ve got this. I’ve personally trained half the aurors on staff, and my father was head for longer than I’ve been alive. There is no way they will find anything that I haven’t! I know that. I’m need to tell them so that they think we on depending on them… alerting them to our trouble, but right now, I’ve got a psychopath running around, and I have no idea what they are playing at. There are few people I know I can trust absolutely, and you are on the top of that list. Now, I need you to do the same for me. It very well could’ve been someone from the outside, but it’s far more likely that it’s someone from the ministry or our very school. The strongest witches and wizards in Britain are at those two places, and there is no way this was done by an amateur.”

"I don’t know Mikey, but if this wasn’t for fun… that means that it was part of a plan, and how many people would go through this much trouble to kill an eleven year old. If this was a plan, we are fucked."

"Where the hell is my staff!?!"

[maeve-delacroix]

Maeve took a deep breath, walking briskly towards the Great Hall. Her eyes were dilated, scared, and the scent of firewhiskey still reeked her lips.

With a slight teeter and a too-blank expression, she entered the occupied space. “Professor Wilkinson,” she greeted. “Starkey." She shot him a menacing look, kept hidden from Sarah, of course. The witch didn’t know her and rage would only make her seem suspicious.

Maeve had been there through the incident, in fact, and she’d seen it all. Christina, the box, the ponderous force… It was tragic, really, but tragically beautiful. She remembered the body, floating into the air like some ominous being of peace. Anyone could’ve died, really. A student, a passerby… Maybe even a teacher. But Christina had been the lucky (or perhaps unlucky) one. Maeve was jealous, oddly, in her own peculiar way. How nice it would be to escape, to leave before innocence ran and each mirror turned into a dagger.

The girl would be a dagger too, though. In photographs, memories, minds especially. Makeup. She was wearing makeup.

Maeve’s heart wrenched, twisting and curling like the dead girl’s limbs. The body, Christina’s body, had once been a girl. One who’d prettied her face for her first year classes, one who’d tried impress a boy.

“No,” she choked out, after fleeing from sight. No one had seen her, she’d made sure of it. Quickly, she rushed towards the nearest bathroom, releasing her stomach into a stall. Then, finally empty, she stitched her nerves back together with cold, barbed wire. “It could’ve been anyone,” she thought, “and you’d feel the same way.”

The burn of firewhiskey seared down her throat, numbing her mind and her insides. After hearing Sarah’s announcement she tossed her bottle, cursed, and set off towards the Great Hall.

"Oh god," she choked, clamping a hand over her mouth. She looked towards Mikey, then Sarah, then back towards the body. "What happened?" She sputtered, her words slightly slurred. "Why… How did she… Who would even do something like this?"

[michaelstarkey]

Maeve. Of course. She and he hadn't spoken since the Veritaserum incident, which was for the best. She had an enemy in Mikey, and he was not above destroying her.

Of course, that would be a bad idea at the moment. There was an actual threat, and as much as he wanted it to be Maeve, he doubted it was. It would be too easy. She was crazy, but not evil.

"That is precisely what we are trying to find out, Maeve," Mikey said, standing and acting as if being half-naked and crying were a perfectly professional thing to do. "But Sarah is taking point, given her Auror training and her particular magical talents." He nodded toward Sarah, a sign of solidarity, and though he was still shaken he trusted her far more than Maeve or the unknown witches and wizards at the Ministry.

She had been right. Hogwarts and the Ministry employed the people best suited to this kind of situation. If anyone could solve it, they could.

Maeve, of course, was not part of that group.

"So, Sarah, where do you want me?"

[atfirstlight-rpg]

The Mysterious Box: The Result

[sarah-wilkinson]

"Shit!" Sarah cursed after whipping the wand from her throat. But as she had more pressing problems, she threw on Mikey’s shirt and started helping him sift through the rubble. Waving her wand around the room, she scanned for any dark magic. "Nothing… how could something like this leave no dark energy?"

"It was a box? None of this makes sense…" She cast more spells to search for clues but, once again, came up with nothing. "What is taking everyone so long to get here. We need a healer to properly check Christina’s body. I’m going to send word to the Auror’s department and St. Mungo’s that we need assistance." She told Mikey as two elephants erupted from her wand and disappeared. "The ministry is not going to be happy that Hogwarts was penetrated so easily."

"I don’t know… This isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. I don’t even know who could’ve pulled something like this off let alone figure out a motive." Sarah responded. She had more experience with dark magic than almost anyone else at the school, and none of this was the type of thing she’d ever seen… It didn’t seem to send a message or anything… "It’s like someone was just having fun with us…"

[michaelstarkey]

The year had been a mess. Their House cooperation tasks had exploded in their faces, and then this actual explosion...

Sarah wanted to involve the Ministry, but when they arrived they'd find a dangerous school run by professors who find it appropriate to run around half naked while failing to understand what killed one of their students.

"Oh god, her parents..." Mikey said, sliding down against a wall. "I suppose Bianca needs to speak to them, but..." He shook his head. "Perhaps Dawson? He's far more tactful, and the last thing those poor people need is to hear of this from her..."

This was bigger than just a death. Bigger than just a mystery that resisted solving. This was part of a series that would see possibly more deaths.

He tried not to cry at the thought.

The Ministry couldn't find them in this state. It was not the norm, but they needed to figure this out themselves. And stop it before it got worse.

But, Mikey wondered, what could he do? He could transfigure stuff, conjure animals, vanish the wood, but what use was any of that? The school and the students were very likely threatened, and he was just sitting there uselessly letting students die.

He wiped away a tear angrily.

"Fun?" he asked, looking up at Sarah. "Who is twisted enough to consider this fun? A girl is dead, and you, the only person capable of finding out what's going on, is clueless. Fat lot of good the Ministry will do, but they're going to come in here and try to fix everything. And more students are going to die..."

He turned to Christina whose body was twisted and bloodied and already starting to purple. Mikey waved his wand above her body and a blanket appeared above her. It slowly fell until it came to rest over her body. "This has to be the only one. We can't go through this again."

[atfirstlight-rpg]

The Mysterious Box: The Result

[sarah-wilkinson]

Sarah felt the warm light of the patronous before she opened her eyes. The hope radiating from it made her start to smile as she opened her eyes to see a glowing hedgehog jumping on her stomach. For that half a second, everything was perfect. That’s when Mikey’s panic voice broke the peace. “Sarah, a student is in trouble in the Great Hall, and there’s Dark magic here. Very dark. Please hurry.”

Without even taking a moment to think about the possibilities, her auror instincts had taken over, and she knew that seconds mattered far above anything else at the moment. Sarah knew Mikey better than anyone else here at Hogwarts, and regardless of the fact that many of the other teachers probably would have thought Mikey was freaking out about something minor that a student was doing. Sarah could hear the fear in his voice. And not too much can actually scare that hedgehog. He may only be good at Transfiguration, but she’d seen him do far more than you’d believe using only that. So, this… this was bad.

Running faster than she’d needed too in years, Sarah ran through her living quarters and office before blasting her office door open and continuing into a third floor corridor without missing a step. Trying to run down the stairs barefoot, Sarah found herself jumping down half of them so that she wouldn’t trip down them. As she was half way down the stairs to the Entrance Hall, she heard an explosion and was nearly shook her off of the staircase.

She took the corner into the Great Hall, and her heart dropped as she saw Mikey leaning over girls contorted body next to the door. She must have been thrown into the back wall… Sarah servayed the room. No other students… good…

She pointed her wand at her throat and spoke. “Attention students and staff members!” She said with voice that seemed to be coming from the very walls of Hogwarts. “Students you are to stay in your common room until further notice! Anyone caught outside of your common room will not only be expelled buy have to deal with me. Prefects, you are in charge of guarding the exits. Do not let anyone out of your common room. I also need all staff members to the Great Hall immediately!” Noticing her nearly naked body for the first time since she’d gotten out of bed, she added to Mikey. “Mikey, take off your shirt.”

[michaelstarkey]

When Sarah spoke, Mikey responded, so when she needed his shirt, he gave it to her.

Of course, he could have conjured one, but with the explosion and the mangled student, there were more pressing concerns than a chill.

It took him a moment, though, to realize that Sarah's wand was still at her throat. Which means everyone had heard her demand his shirt...

"Sarah, your wand..." he whispered loudly, nodding emphatically toward her wandhand. Yes, student death was worse, but now amid this serious incident there was a potential scandal. Fantastic. He didn't doubt Maeve would make something of it, and then there were the looks he'd get from his students...

No. This was far more pressing. The girl was dead, he knew it, but that was really for the medic to decide. As his ability to use healing spells was nonexistent, he stood and moved toward the Head table. It had previously been a gorgeous mahogany, but now the table had been reduced to splinters. "There was a box," he said, staring at the scorched wood. "I didn't see it when I walked in, but after I got the other students out, it...expanded?" He shook his head. That wasn't the right word. In the moments before it exploded, it hadn't grown any larger, but it had...swelled? Bloated?

"It was some sort of energy that expanded. It's what knocked her back and, apparently, destroyed the box entirely..." He'd hoped to find some shrapnel or something, but he only saw the splinters. He focused on the wood, only on the pieces that used to be the table, and with a wave of his wand conjured wings on each individual piece. They flew upwards a few inches, allowing him a better look, but he still found nothing. Just ash and scorch marks.

He turned back to the girl and checked once again for signs of life, still finding none but still hoping against hope she would be already. "Sarah, what's happening...?"

[atfirstlight-rpg]

The Mysterious Box: The Result

[christina-eames]

Mornings were never her thing. Even for an eleven year old, there was far too much to do before being seen by people. There was hair, makeup, and a rabid sifting through the closet to see what would be acceptable for the day.

Still, she would look fantastic. There was no alternative.

The Great Hall was empty, and Christina wondered if the magical plates would produce food even if it wasn’t meal time. She was hungry—no dinner the night before—so it was certainly worth a try.

She had nearly settled in to her normal place at the Slytherin table when something at the head table caught her eye.

It was an intricately designed box, small, and powerful. That much was obvious. But what was it? And why on earth would they have left it there?

She pushed herself up and approached the box, wand in hand. It was gorgeous, pulsating almost, and she knew she had to have it. Perhaps power was inside? Maybe nothing—

No. Not nothing. There was much to this box, and as Christina approached, she felt herself wanting nothing more than to hold it.

But perhaps, she reasoned, it was not that simple? Her wand then, she decided, reaching out and touching the tip to its glossy wooden lid.

[michaelstarkey]

Sarah had been up for patrol the previous night, but Mikey got stuck with it. He hated it, but that had been the deal: she'd covered for him, so he had to cover for her. Twice.

Of course she'd called in the first favor without warning.

Mercifully, Mikey could summon enough coffee from the kitchens to sustain him through the night. It was a terribly Muggle habit--there were numerous Wizarding alternatives with much better effects--but he'd have needed Addie for that, and that was too much work. There was also tea, but coffee gave him that jittery feeling that tea didn't. Coffee wired him, and he needed that buzz to get through the night. After all, patrols were never fun because nothing ever happened. A student or three out of bed maybe, but that ate up half an hour at most.

He drained his fourth cup of coffee as he entered the Great Hall and dropped the mug before he could vanish it.

He didn't notice the crash of ceramic on stone. Instead, his eyes were glued to the girl suspended in the air above the head table, her arms outstretched, her eyes opened and cloudy.

"Oh my god..." he breathed, stepping forward cautiously, barely processing the other students standing around, looking equally unsettled. "What happened to you...?"

As he approached, he began to feel weighed down, as if the air were heavier, and his movements seemed slower. Indeed, she was completely motionless--even her hair, which was floating above her as if she were in water, was completely still. It was as if time around her had stopped.

He pulled his wand out and extended it, but he knew this was well outside his capabilities. This was very dark magic--even a Muggle could have felt that--and for that, he needed the expert. "Expecto Patronum!" he said, and a silvery hedgehog appeared at his feet and looked up expectantly. "Sarah, a student is in trouble in the Great Hall," he said with his wand to his throat. "And there's Dark magic here. Very dark. Please hurry."

He pulled away the wand, and the hedgehog sped off.

He repeated the process to summon the other Heads, then turned his attention to the door of the Great Hall. More students would be arriving soon, and Mikey didn't want them to see this. He needed to keep them out, get the stragglers out too, and buy the faculty time to deal with this problem. With a few flicks of his wand he created sentinels, half a dozen clay men with instructions to keep all students out of the Hall. Some headed toward the doorway, and others approached the students who were staring at the girl, with the directive to carry them out forcefully if necessary.

As he waited, he tried hoping for the best, but he knew things were bad. Curses were always unpleasant, but this had the markings of something far worse, and it made him shiver violently. No, it wasn't his area of expertise so there was a chance he was very wrong, but from the looks of it, this girl was already dead.

[michaelstarkey]

Potential Success || Mikey & Maeve

[maeve-delacroix]

"Oh?"

She smiled, stepping contentiously towards the man. If he wanted a fight then he’d get one, and Maeve would show him no mercy.

Every word, every threat; they all bounced right off her. She wasn’t scared, and she wouldn’t back down. Not now, not ever.

"Pain?" The witch scoffed, grinning wildly. "I’m afraid I’ve become quite immune to it. Still, if you want to test me, well…. Hit me with your best shot, Starkey. "

She’d grown up with pain; built a house from it. Taunts and insults formed its base, corroborated by rage. Guilt built the walls and windows; sadness, the door. Finally, roofed by grief, she had nothing left to lose.

"You!" She exclaimed, gesturing towards a passing professor. It was Augustina Wollsworth, the charms teacher. "Veritaserum," Maeve proclaimed, voice filled with a sense of urgency. "I need it direly."

Without a word, Wollsworth set towards the serum, returning in a matter of minutes. Maeve thanked the witch, turning back to face Mikey.

"Drink up, Starkey. I want to know everything.” 

[michaelstarkey]

She actually did it. She got the Veritaserum. And that old witch had fetched it without question.

He'd have to have a talk with her. For all she knew, Maeve was about to interrogate a student and subject them to unnecessarily hard punishments to get the answer she wanted, and professors really shouldn't help with that sort of thing.

But there were more important things to worry about, like the crazy witch and her Crusade for his blood.

He grabbed the bottle from her without a word, uncorked it, and tipped it into his mouth. The clear liquid slid down his throat, and though it was flavorless he sensed a bit of bitterness. Perhaps it had been made wrong, or maybe he was just projecting.

He dropped the bottle, vanished it, then looked to Maeve. "So, what is it you want to know? 'Everything', after all, is a bit broad."

[michaelstarkey]

Potential Success || Mikey & Maeve

[maeve-delacroix]

Maeve narrowed her eyes, shooting Mikey a glare that could melt the man’s skin off. He had raised her blood to its boiling point, and she had reached the point of no return.

The man’s tears brought her back a bit, as they took her by surprise. What was he playing at? And why were his eyes so big and puffy? Maybe the others were right, maybe he didn’t have it in him. No! Michael Starkey was evil. Evil!

“C’est vraiment des conneries!” She spat, throwing her hands to her sides. It was bullshit, all of it. A complete and utter disaster! This would never have happened at Mahoutokoro, or Beauxbatons even! Hogwarts was insane, and the professors were all mad too. Why was she here again?

Maeve sighed, pursing her lips as she paced back and forth. Her hair shot up in angry bursts; forming a mohawk, then standing straight up, then cycling through colors. Curses tumbled out of her mouth (French, of course) and every word she uttered led her hair to increase in unruliness.

"Oh I’ll try," the woman hissed, "and I’ll more than succeed. I’ll skin you, reanimate your corpse, then feed you to a group of stray cats. They’ll eat you slowly, bit by bit, and your death is sure to be agonizingly painful. Watch your back, Mr.Starkey; or I might just be inclined to rip it from your bones."

[michaelstarkey]

She was supposed to back down.

She didn't.

By now Mikey was completely baffled. The nerve, not to mention the  utter insanity that apparently made her hate him so much. What had he ever done to her? And why was she so suspicious of everything?

He really did want to run away and cry, but he refused to give her the satisfaction. He stood silent for a moment, focusing on controlling the involuntary shaking his hands did when he was nervous; to settle them, he grabbed his wand. If she took it as a sign of aggression, then at least he'd have an excuse to turn her into something foul.

"The thing about hedgehogs, Maeve," he said, steeling himself and stepping closer to her, "is that they are fantastic at protecting themselves. They may seem all cute and defenseless, but if you get too close, you will feel pain."

He smiled despite feeling like this random and sudden feud would not end well for either of them. But it seemed like she wouldn't back down, and the worst thing he could do was let her trample him.

"And keep in mind, Maeve, that Transfiguration affords me certain...creative license. You know, should you try to skin me."

He wanted to blast her with something nasty, but he put his wand back in his pocket. "Find evidence, or leave. But don't sling accusations you can't back up. It just makes you look foolish."

[michaelstarkey]

"Hello Professor, I hope I can be a good student to you" Louis bows down, "Thank you so much for the assistance but I don't want to be a bother to my teachers. I look forward to being under you class"

I'm sure you won't be a bother. I'm just grateful for students who are excited to learn. Safety in your travels, and we will see you soon. --MS

[michaelstarkey]

Potential Success || Mikey & Maeve

[maeve-delacroix]

"Oh, like you don’t already know,"  Maeve snapped, fixing the man with a furious glare. 

Did he really think she was dumb enough to fall for his innocent act? No. She was a Ravenclaw, after all, destined to search for knowledge and fulfillment, and Mikey’s words were comprised of nothing but emptiness. “Why?” She repeated, bristling with rage. “One word, two syllables; Gringotts.” Her anger seemed to increase exponentially; doubling with every word the man said. “Are the students okay?” Maeve released a short, barking laugh, unable to believe her ears. “No thanks to you,” she shot back, voice filled to the brim with hostility. Unlike the others, Maeve saw straight through him, and the glare from her sharp green eyes was intended to cut through his every pore. “Please, Mikey. Who else could’ve it? There were hedgehogs all over the place!” Maeve rolled her eyes, convinced he was the only one that could possibly have done the deed. Only then, however, did she realize how guilty she could’ve looked to an outsider. She had been the last one there, the last person to see the tower. It would be so easy for Michael to frame her, and quite frankly, she didn’t put it past him. That’s why he’d gotten Sarah, she assumed, and all the other teachers. After all, who would believe her words over those of poor, innocent Michael Starkey’s? "Don’t you dare try to peg this on me," she seethed. "I had nothing to do with it. And if they use Veritaserum they’ll all know it was you, so save yourself the trouble and admit the deed was all your doing.”

[michaelstarkey]

This was unbelievable. She was blaming him? He'd done nothing!

Yes, there were hedgehogs. Obviously. That was his thing, and that has been his task. But the beasts? The child endangerment?

And Gringotts? "The break-in, you mean?" He shook his head slowly as if trying to clear away the thoughts. This was ludicrous, insulting, and...mind numbingly confusing. Accusations like this were not something he was accustomed to, so he didn't exactly know how to respond. He did know, though, that arguing wouldn't do anything to help his case.

His case... He sighed and sat down against the wall. He had a case now...?

He turned to look at Maeve. "Grab the Veritaserum then. Addie's coming right now; we can see if she has any. I have nothing to hide, Maeve. I had nothing to do with the Gringotts break in, and I certainly would never harm these children!"

He turned away. The woman was fuming, irrational, and just plain mean, and he tried to force back the tears that were already stinging his eyes.

Don't do it, Mikey. She'll take it as a sign of guilt...

He couldn't stop them, though, and before long his eyes were red and puffy. He wanted nothing more than to turn into a hedgehog and scurry away, but that, too would surely infuriate her further.

No. There was no other option but to face her.

He stood, turned to her, and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I have no idea what I'm meant to have done to you to deserve this, but I'm sorry..." He paused to wipe more tears. "And that's all you get. I'm not some dog you can kick around, and if you keep trying to destroy me, I will take you down."

His voice had become dangerously low, and it surprised him. Still, he'd meant every word, and if Maeve wanted a war, she'd have one.

[michaelstarkey]

Potential Success || Mikey & Maeve

[maeve-delacroix]

Maeve bristled, storming around in an infuriated huff. This… This Michael Starkey… What could he possibly be up to? Something sinister, she was sure, and she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

”Starkey!” She growled, storming towards the man. She was usually so calm, so distant and collected. Few things could ruffle her feathers, but the matter of student’s lives was definitely one of them.

"What were you thinking?" She began. "This… This ‘task’ of yours was a horrible idea! You’re lucky I found the first years in time. There were nails, and planks, and wolves trying to kill them… Even hedgehogs. Hedgehogs!” She threw her hands up, baffled and enraged.

With his sweet smile and wonder-filled eyes, Mikey didn’t seem like a threat. But Maeve had a bad feeling about the man, and she was pretty sure he had something to do with the Gringott’s robbery. Up until the task she had no idea who it could be, but the tower incident made him look suspicious. Maybe a first year had seen him robbing it, and that’s why he was trying to get them all killed. 

"I know it was you," Maeve hissed, pointing a finger at the professor. "And once I have adequate proof, the world is going to know too."

[michaelstarkey]

Maeve had never been the nicest to him--or nice at all, for that matter--but Mikey was completely baffled at why she was yelling at him.

"Um...wolves, Maeve...?" he asked, cocking his head to one side. "Where...where are wolves?"

She was going on about the task, about hedgehogs, about finding proof. Proof that what?

And wolves?

It took a second before it all connected in his brain, but when it did his eyes widened and he took a step back. "Wait, you think I set wolves on the students? Why...why would I do that?"

More importantly, though, why were there wolves?

"Are the students okay?" He looked around for the other professors, but they weren't there. "Expecto patronum!" A silvery hedgehog formed on the ground and looked up at him expectantly. "Find Sarah, then the others. Something happened...but..." He ran his fingers through his head, and the hedgehog tried to comfort him by nuzzling his foot. "No, go. This is important."

It took a second before it decided that yes, it would listen, then it disappeared down the hall.

"Maeve, what is going on? And why on earth do you think I had anything to do with that?"

[michaelstarkey]

Potential Success - Mikey & Adelaide

[adelaideoconnor]

"Statues, again? Mikey, can’t you conjure anything else?" 

Adelaide sauntered down the hall towards the Transfiguration professor, a smirk playing on her lips.

"I really hope this idea of yours works. So far, it looks like some of the students are having fun. I also hope they don’t ruin all those precious potions ingredients."

She gave Mikey a pointed look for emphasis.

[michaelstarkey]

Statues were the default. Of course he could conjure something else. Everything else, actually, except the damned things that Gamp forbade. Strange restrictions, really, considering food was entirely molecular, and nothing exactly stopped someone from ingesting, say, a marble statue.

With a flourish he vanished the statues and turned to Adelaide. "I can't see how it could fail. Nathan concocted it, and the tasks as they stand today were born from several conversations. And we've accounted for every contingency." He smiled and cocked his head to the side.

They didn't account for everything, but there was truly nothing to account for. Bloody noses, perhaps, but there was little chance of stopping that without Augustina's help, and god only knew where she was off to.

"And I'm sure your potion ingredients will be fine. They will only be working with the ones that are easily replaced. Besides, are you know a strong advocate for potions knowledge?"

He winked and pulled his wand back out for more conjuring. For a wizard with no other magical skills, transfiguration had become like breathing. Repetitive, necessary, and, at times, invigorating.

[michaelstarkey]

Potential Success - Open

Everything seemed in order, more or less. The students weren't all happy--though some, he'd noticed, were freakishly elated--but all in all the experiment seemed to be working. From what he could tell, all the groups were well on their way to getting out.

Of course, he and some of the other teachers were standing by to ensure nothing went wrong. There was magic, yes, but nothing the students controlled, and there was so little that the professors had generated that "wrong" was largely reduced to punches and arguments.

He hoped very much they could avoid that, because this was designed to avoid exactly that.

He pulled out his wand and began conjuring statues--chosen for no particular reason--when a voice broke his focus.

[michaelstarkey]

New Term - Mikey & Open

New day, new term, new really tiny children running amok around the school.

He knew Bianca wouldn't be happy--then again, was she ever?--and Sarah would be stalking around in an attempt to keep order. Of course Augustina would be doing whatever it was she did (Mikey didn't want to know), and Nathan would be studying up or prepping or something. Addie would be creeping on Lachlan who would be off in his own little world, and Seph would be trying to get her hands into everything, to prove her capabilities.

Everyone had their place, and Mikey's was the food. And the conversation. And the mass production of hedgehogs for the amusement of the first years.

Dawson's speech was mercifully short--it's not like there was much to report--and that meant food and fewer hours til bed. Though, for him and the other Heads, bed was a bit further off. There were regulations, verifications, official sorts of things that they needed to take care of, but when it was all said and done--

No. It wouldn't be quiet. It never was. Students out of bed, ghosts and paintings disrupted and moody, elves flitting about to make extra sure things were tended to.

It wouldn't be Hogwarts without the chaos, and as much as he liked things tied in a neat and tidy bow, the chaos made it that much more fun.

He smiled into his pumpkin juice. It would be a very, very interesting year, he was sure of it.

[tiffanyfenimore]

Into the Alley - Tiffany and Mikey

In the end it was decided that her Dad would bring her to shopping. They started early, so that mom wouldn’t wake up and stop them. Natty slept in the car on the way over. Dad was usually really good at finding places, so she was a bit confused when they walked by the run down building three times before he noticed it.

She had never been in an actual inn before, but she knew Mom would have turned around and marched them right back out if she’d come. It smelled like Dad’s workshop and fireplaces. She noted all the other people wore cloaks or big swooshy jackets. Dad took this in stride, asking for enough help to lead them to the back of the place and through

It was a door.Obviously. Some sort of door that was activated by a keypad that all looked like bricks to prevent burglars or something. 

She had never really been one of the quiet shy kids, but stepping into the funnily name street ( Di-ag-on Alley, she’d repeated the name to herself to as she read the directions he’d written down) she suddenly felt very small and very young in her oversized Camp shirt ( She‘d like the idea of wearing Marisol‘s Miracle Magicians last night) . She grasped Dad’s hand and he squeezed it loosely. He was tall and thin, with a smile Mom used to call charming and good strong hands. Natty had never known him to be afraid of anything, but right now he looked like he just gotten off the Rabid Jaguar 2000. She adjusted her ball cap and tugged her windbreaker closer around her as they walked. What she really wanted was for him to pick her up, so she could see over the crowd of funnily dressed people. But she was eleven years old, and technically too old for that sort of thing. She looked around again, and finally spotting another kid who looked a little less lost then them, reahed out and tapped them on the shoulder. “ Excuse me, do you know where we can find “ She looked at the paper with the directions. “This place?”

[michaelstarkey]

Mikey was surrounded by people shorter then him, so for the girl to tap him on the shoulder, she must have had to stretch.

For a moment he'd thought it was an adult--shoulder height an all--but no. A first year.

He smiled. "Hey, yeah sure!" He bent over to look at the directions. Robes first. He didn't disagree--the most boring part should get out of the way, and then she could get to way more interesting things.

"This way," he said, starting to walk before he realized that he hadn't introduced himself. "I'm Michael Starkey, by the way. Transfiguration Professor. They sent me here to make sure you all don't get lost." He smirked. "It's a bit overwhelming, innit?"

[profnathanfoster]

[A message sent to Michael Starkey by owl]

"Mikey,

I’ve talked to Bianca. She won’t let the whole thing end in chaos and might even participate. I am very sorry, but this means we can do most of the things we planned to do, I don’t think she will interfere often. Or at all.

- Nathan”

[michaelstarkey]

Nathan --

You are fantastic, and I will bake you cookies or something.

But first let's get through this. When Sar comes back with news from Addie, we should all meet to set this up. Tie up loose ends and all that.

Talk soon, Mikey

[michaelstarkey]

Strategizing - Mikey & Nathan

[profnathanfoster]

Nathan grinned. “That was the plan, yes. Good to hear that you like it.” The finer details should probably be discussed after it had actually been approved of by everybody - any of the teachers might still refuse to go along for completely different reasons.

"No winners", he agreed. "Just those who theoretically lost and those who theoretically won. Not even grading. Just their own pride getting hurt in case they don’t finish."

The rough draft was finished, Nathan realized, and it seemed to turn very good. “I’ll talk to Bianca”, he reassured Mikey first. “And I’ll tell you how it went as soon as possible, if you do the same.” The risk of any of the other heads, or the headmaster, to dislike the idea was relatively small. But it was there, maybe for security reasons, maybe because there might not be enough time left before the next year started.