The message must have been sent late at night, for there are few who see it and even fewer who read it. It is only in the morning when people notice the urgent blinking light from their phone. Reactions are quick, sleep easily leaving their eyes as they swipe onto their phone to read the new announcement. Would it be a positive one? A negative one? One could only wait with bated breath as their eyes rapidly scrolled through.
Good morning students!
Once again, we are reminding you in an uregent request to obey all the temporary rules we have set out. It is for your safety that we have put them in place and not something meant to be a trifling decoration to be ignored. We have had an injured student ( @crcwan) taken to the infirmary in sever condition due to their own foolishness. This is not a prank.
( ' and this is the best part of his night, seeing his most beloved student after a horrid hour of patrolling just because his job does not stop from there. there’s silence but yong’s gaze screams something deadly, alec is dead. his fingers tap against the office table. could both of them survive a night of detention without either of them putting the office on fire? ) have you eaten dinner? ( ‘ he starts, bottling the fuming anger inside; this will be a long night )
I was going to keep things quiet because I certainly know when to keep quiet about the bad news but I couldn't stand everyone's foolery. Especially the Inquisitor over there creating his own theories instead of stating out the proper facts. Come on, are we all a bunch of five-year-olds pretending to be Sherlock Holmes? Don't even bother because clearly none of your brain cells will match even one of his.
So here’s a breakdown for you idiots. We currently have three victims, Nicole Park, Lycus Maleko Campana, and Vaimiti Mikolajczak. The latter is the girl in intensive care. Do you want to know why? Because we clearly have a werewolf on our hands! I tried visiting the Hospital Wing as Lycus is a good friend of mine and Vaimiti wasn’t there but Nicole was. So I politely inquired as to why this was going on for which I have heard the news. The thing that has been hidden from us! She had been bitten by a transformed werewolf and may become one herself. I wonder how her poor parents must feel.
But that’s right folks. We’re out here being attacked by a crazy wolf. Hogsmeade couldn’t feed the creature and now it’s out here at Hogwarts where there are a lot more delicious and younger people around. Ever wonder why veal is more expensive than beef? It won’t change here.
Hopefully, you’ll be smart enough not to make the wrong choice and turn into a werewolf meal. But what can I say, I never found many of the students here smart.
A lot of students where gathered outside the forbidden forest. Younger students in the back, but Yuna was not among them. She had snuck away, making her way into the forest on her own - hidden by the darkness of the night. As she walked past she saw the older students in the front with the professors and wizards from the Ministry. She wondered if her father was among them, however she did not have time to stop and look.
He probably isn't, she thought as she went deeper inside the forest. Her mother usually said that he is too important to be sent out in action. Yuna hated that, because it meant there were others who were less important, worth less. She hoped he had come this time, for her. Then they could sneak away and discuss good books once she had stopped all this.
Distracting herself with her thoughts made the dark forest seem a little less scary. Now that she had put some distance between herself and her peers it felt safe to get some light. Lumos, she thought. The wand in her hand immediately provided some light for her.
She took a deep breath. She had to be brave this one time. For her friends, for the professors. She did not want anyone to get hurt. Her thoughts were interrupted as she spotted him, a magnificent wolf. She approached him calmly. "Hello mister wolf, I won't hurt you. I just want to talk" she spoke in a soft voice. She had gotten his attention and her heart was beating like crazy as he started to move closer to her. "There's no need to fight tonight" she continued, "nobody needs to get hurt". Something felt off. He's gonna attack me, she realized. He's fast, she does not have time to utter any words. Luckily she does not have to. Protego.
Either he is too powerful or the spell was not perfect, in the moment she's not sure. His claws do not penetrate her but the impact lunges her backwards. A loud sound as she lands, causing her a lot of pain.
I failed, people will get hurt. She's not sure what feels worse, the pain or the fact that people she care about will be in danger. I'm gonna die. She hear people approaching. They start fending off the wolf. It's all blurry. Her head is pounding. She manages to feel the back of it, blood.
She can feel her consciousness starting to slip. She thinks of her friends, of Cai, hoping they will all be okay. People are talking, she can't make out the words. Someone lifts her up, is it her dad? She does not know but she feels safe, at that moment she loses consciousness.
sitting up in an instant, feeling cold sweat covering her body, but burning at the same time. she looked around, not sure where she was or what she was doing there.
hospital wing.
she thought and felt dizzy. she probably just sat up to quickly and reached to press a hand to her temple, a headache already forming. she hated headaches after waking up. however, she had way too many questions, to just lay back down and go to sleep again.
the nurse came running soon after, obviously distressed about anastasia waking up screaming.
“i just had a bad dream.“ the professor said, waving her hand dismissively. getting attacked by a werewolf on her evening patrol, how fun. she would have almost laughed at the thought, but there were two factors that stopped her.
the fact that she stopped having dreams, or remembering them, years ago and the nurse’s worried expression.
“oh honey, it wasn’t a dream.“
“fuck..“
now she was laying back down, staring at the boring ass ceiling she never thought she would have to look at in her life, and everything going through her head.
how much more fucking useless could you get, anastasia kim?
she asked herself numerous times, and all the memories of being stuck in hospitals came back. she never complained about her injuries, about how she felt, about the little sleep she got, the paperwork she had to do. never. not once.
but she was frustrated now, by the fact that she couldn’t even protect herself, couldn’t get out of a single werewolf. how bad had she become at using magic? had she lost her touch to things like that?
it wasn’t even a pack, it wasn’t even against another wizard or witch, one that could possibly kill her. the thought made her blood boil, because she was better than that.
she used to be better than that. she had her glorious days, but not anymore. she was a divination teacher, due to a leg injury. it was more of a psychological thing if you asked anastasia about it. whenever she gets stressed, or overworks, it begins to hurt, as if someone was breaking the bones and tearing the ligaments in her ankle. it was painful when it actually happen, the injury that put her out of commission for a while.
but she had fully healed in that time, there was no trace of the injury, a few scars left on the skin.
but she was fine, that’s what she would say.
with a heavy sigh, she pushed herself up and made her way to the toilet. she disliked being alone, all the thoughts she didn’t want to have entering her head, playing with her mind, causing her to go to places she never wants to go. she didn’t like being alone and not having anything to do. not even homework to mark.
she walked past a mirror, and her feet slowed down, before she took a few steps back to it.
anastasia’s eyes landed on herself in the mirror.
it made her sick just looking at herself like this, she felt pitiful. she felt disgusted, she couldn’t look at herself.
maybe she should had fallen into the dark arts before. maybe.
she studied herself a bit. noting the few bruises she had gained, along with the dark circles under her eyes. she looked like a mess.
her fingers clenched tightly into a fist, a few quiet cracks being heard due to the pressure relieved in the joints, but they only made her want to hear glass crack.
before she could stop herself, her knuckles collided with the cold surface of the mirror. shards falling and smashing on the floor. the pain of the cuts in her skin shaking her back to her senses and she pulled away. a bit too fast, causing her to fall back against the wall and eyes landing on the broken shards on the floor.
anastasia wan never the aggressive type, not without a reason.
she slowly let her legs give up on holding her up and found herself sitting on the floor. it wasn’t possible to e that frustrated with herself. that angry that she was in this situation, to the point in which she hurt herself.
she glanced down to her hand, just to find blood covering her fingers, and it stung. the numerous small cuts stung and slowly brought her to reality. she fucked up, badly.
what a wonderful way to spend the end of her 29th birthday.
crying on the floor in the hospital wing bathroom out of frustration, pulling on her hair and trying not to scream or destroy anything else.
His hands run over the soft leather cover of the book on his lap. The greenish glow coming from the windows in the common room is comforting. He sighs as he unties the leather string keeping the book closed and flips it open to the silky string marking the page he had stopped at last time. His handwriting covers all the previous pages. He leans back against the armrest of the armchair he is currently sitting in, legs up and bent so the book journal can rest against his thighs. He grabs his favorite fountain pen, and hesitates a few seconds before pressing the tip against the paper.
March 2018, day 21
They found the creature. Teachers and older students were asked to fight, to help capture it, and yet I remained here, in the safety of the Slytherin dungeon. I am not the kind to put myself in danger unnecessarily. I prefer to follow instructions if they are meeting my best interest. Although I can’t help but wonder, is that cowardly of me? Mother, father, what would you have done if you had been in my position?
I imagine you would have helped the injured students at the infirmary with your plants, mother. Father would have probably been at the frontline, fighting. I chose to stay here, to keep an eye on the younger ones, to reassure them if needed. Was it a good decision? Maybe they don’t really need this kind of help. Aish, I don’t know…
He stops writing, tucking his pen between the pages before closing his journal and running his hands through his hair out of sheer frustration. He thinks about all the students and teachers who are currently out there, fighting, and he thinks about the students at the infirmary, the ones who had suffered from sudden attacks and were slowly recovering. His mind wanders, remembering how he kept looking for a familiar tall silhouette the last couple of days, whenever he was having meals in the great hall, hoping to find the student back on his feet and okay. He had not dared go back to the infirmary to check if he was still there or if he had been allowed to leave already. Useless, he was useless. But it had been his choice not to fight. He’s in the middle of debating, again, whether it was the right decision or not when he hears light footsteps and he cranes his neck until he sees a younger student in her nightgown, clutching a stuffed animal to her chest.
She quietly walks up to him and sits down in the armchair next to his. She sniffles and quickly brings her hand up to press her palm against her cheek. Damien immediately sets his journal aside and unfurls himself from his armchair, standing up and walking over to her. “Here,” he tells her softly, handing her some tissues, which he had stuffed in his pockets earlier because you never know when you might need to use some. She glances up at him and mutters a soft ‘thank you’ before taking one and wiping her cheeks with it. “Are you alright?” he asks her, even though it is obvious that she isn’t. She shakes her head. “I just…I can’t sleep,” she admits, now fiddling with the stuffed animal on her lap. Damien nods. Given the current events, he isn’t too surprised.
He’s about to say something when another student shows up in the common room, hair a total mess and pillow marks imprinted on his cheek. His eyes are wide, and Damien thinks he sees him shaking a little. The boy sees them, hesitates and then heads in their direction. “Can I…can I sit with you?” he asks and the girl nods as Damien motions to go right ahead. Silence settles over the room for a few seconds before Damien decides to break it. “Alright, I’ll be right back,” he announces, turning to grab his abandoned journal. He returns to his dorm room, tossing the journal on his bed before rummaging around in his things as quietly as he could.
When he returns to the common room, the two younger students are quietly talking together although they stop when they notice him. Damien sets the tray he had been carrying down and then moves to hand a warm mug to the boy and another to the girl. “It’s warm milk,” he says, grabbing the last mug for himself and returning to his armchair. They glance down at their mugs and then at him. He arches an eyebrow at them before taking a sip. That seems to reassure them enough and they start drinking as well. It’s quiet again for a few minutes and he simply enjoys the silence, keeping an eye on the other two.
So maybe he isn’t out there fighting the big fight, but perhaps, in his own little way, he is helping.
There is an unspoken tension which has settled upon the residents of Hogwarts as they settle in for dinner. The Headmaster's voice which demands silence from the students and staff breaks the heavy air briefly. All eyes are quickly on him, a single mutual question strung in the air.
Is this about the injured students?
"Students, I have important news to share with you. We do not wish to distress you but this is a grave matter and the staff has decided it would be best to inform you instead of keeping it a secret. I know many of you are wondering if the incident at Hogwarts is linked to the incident at Hogsmeade. You would be correct."
Quiet murmurs ripple through the crowd, some louder than others.
"It appears there is a lone werewolf amidst wandering around the land and the Ministry of Magic is cooperating with us to apprehend the creature. They have not infiltrated the fortress and we have fortified the surroundings with extra spells for the time being. However, once again we ask you to keep cautious and do not head out after your curfew. On that note, until we know that the area is safe again, nobody will be allowed to leave the castle ground and curfew time has been adjusted to 9 pm. Once again this is for your own safety and we ask everyone here to cooperate with us. If you see anything suspicious, please inform either the Head Students or any member of staff."
Hello everyone and welcome to our next event! It looks like we have a wild werewolf on the loose. This event will start from today, March 8th and go on for two weeks to last until the end of March 22nd. What you wish to have your muse do is up to you. Students, do you dare head out to confront the creature? Or do you wish to hide in your room? Staff, certainly you have to be all the more alert and ready. You'll never know when evening patrols can go wrong. All event threads can be tagged as CR!EVENT3.
Also, this is voluntary but if you wish to have your muse attacked by the werewolf feel free to send us a message to the main and we will keep a note of it. Whether you will be, we will let you know when the time comes but if you do decide to choose to do so, your muse will most likely be out of commission for the rest of the event and stuck in the infirmary. Keep that in mind and enjoy!
"Students attending Care of Magical Creatures, there has bee a change in plans. From tomorrow onwards, all classes will be held inside the Hogwarts castle instead of outside as per previous sessions. This is due to the ongoing situation we are currently dealing with and to minimize any further casualties which may occur.”
The announcement comes in the middle of dinner, simple and straightforward. There does not appear to be much leeway or suggestion for anything else which may have occurred to cause the change in plans. For the time being things seem a bit omnious but relatively tranquil. That is until it becomes known by a group of students who visited the infirmary that two students ( @crkyrie & @crpenelope ) were attacked in broad daylight while heading back from their class. It seems like nobody can be safe now.
