With the holidays came relief from the Neficus. While those afflicted remained so, the number of new cases dropped to almost zero for nearly two weeks. The world took a sigh of relief, quarantines were cautiously lifted, and students at Hogwarts were allowed to go home.
Just when the world was beginning to look bright again, chaos erupted. The Neficus spread with such sudden intensity that no one had time to prepare or defend. Those who were still well (and those who were inside Hogwarts and Hogsmeade boundaries before the quarantine lift) would still be welcome to return. Parents rushed their children to the school in hopes of securing their health, but the students and Hogsmeade residents weren't the only ones who wanted in.
Witches and wizards, both healthy and severely ill came upon the castle and small town in frantic hoards. The aurors stationed there had no choice but to defend until they could get the magical barrier up. In the end, hundreds lay dead, many more left outside, staring in.
The Neficus spreads like wildfire. The economy and government have begun their steep descent into inevitable collapse. St. Mungo's has shut down, itself becoming a fort against the Neficus-infected. Many magical doctors and nurses are held up with their families, tending to those who cannot hope to leave or survive without aid.
The Minister for Magic, her cabinet, the last well aurors, Department of Mysteries staff, few of Britain's greatest medical minds, and high officials are all stationed at Hogwarts. Only those approved by both Head of Law and the Minister herself may join the safe inside the quarantine.
Eighty percent of the magical population is infected. Fifty percent of those infected are beyond saving and now roam, zombie-like and destructive. The hopelessly lost mostly die off from elements or fall in mindless attack against healthy witches and wizards. The healthy are mostly muggle-borns (though they are not immune), werewolves (immune), and squibs (immune). Very few "pure bloods" are left, most of which can be found in the students and staff left at Hogwarts. Classes continue and business as usual is encouraged to carry on in Hogsmeade, though everything is slow and dreary. The world is falling apart and the winter weather doesn't much help. It is suspected by most that those within the quarantine will be the only ones to survive and restart. However, there is another force at play yet to reveal its face, and it has eyes everywhere. grayroleplays livefromtheendoftheworld myitslikeadream ofsugarandice writeandruin