Black PV Slytherin Participants Finished

Opeila looked bad. She layed in one of the hospital beds, curled up into a crying little ball that was covered with long brown hair.
Her legs were still black from the venom and she was shaking in pain.
Never had the girl experienced something as painful.

She would have felt deeply ashamed for the way she had acted in the common room, the holding on to Flash, the begging for help, if she hadn't known that she couldn't have done anything different.

She tried to breathe against the pain. In. Out. In. Out. Relax. She would get through this. They were giving a potion to some of the injured students, hopefully to at least take the pain away. Would her legs stay black afterwards? Would she have black legs forever?

If her father ever heard about this, he would forbid her to go back to Hogwarts. Opeila was sure that not even Lady Margery could change his mind then.
The brunette had closed her eyes, still whimpering quietly, bit focusing on breathing slowly. She could do this.

What sorts of spiders had those been? Did they come from the Forbidden Forest? And why did they come just when Professor Jensen had not been there to protect them?

She remembered Selim and his knives. Opeila wished that there had been an opponent that he could have used them against...

Mentioning @Flash Holmwood @Hjørdis Jensen @Selim Faust

Selim ended up trailing the ones who headed to the hospital wing after grabbing a few things from his dorm... syringes and alcohol wipes that he kept in his trunk for opportunities such as this. He did end up helping a few students here and there who where struggling, though, despite how little he really cared.

As they entered the ward, he watched as the nurses bustled about, calling for a potion of some sort to stop the curse. He knew he'd have to act.

Eyes scanning the people afflicted who were unconscious or writhing on their beds in pain, his eyes landed on one particular duo.

Flash Holmwood, his dormmate who he hadn't bothered interacting with ever since he came to Hogwarts, and Opeila Seilun, a girl he had met one night while he was up in the common room then promptly forgot about.

His dormmate was fast asleep, probably from the stress of the situation. The girl was curled up in obvious pain, idly he contemplated just knocking her out, it would probably help her, if anything... unless his peers still felt pain when they were unconscious.

No matter, he couldn't really take some of her blood as a sample if she was awake... perhaps he could simply speak to her.

Well, at most, if he was caught, he'd get detention, which wasn't really much of a threat to him.

Mind made up, he decided he'd just have to gamble that the girl wouldn't notice a needle amidst the excruciating pain of the venom-curse coursing through her veins.

So, he made his way to her, attempting to stay out of the way of the people moving about. If he did reach her side, he would make sure his back was blocking his actions as he took out a syringe. Humming in thought, he took out a disinfectant swab, disinfecting the needle for good measure instead of wiping the area where he planned to insert it.

Looking over her, he positioned the needle, and tried to slide it under her skin where it had become mottled and black, which honestly looked painful.

If he positioned it right, he would hit where he knew there was a vein (Some of the small perks of being taught assassination, human anatomy). If he hit that vein, he wold try and draw out blood, and hope that the small pinprick of pain wouldn't be noticed.

If he were in any other mood then a scientific one, he would probably see this as a rather odd thing to do. Right now though, all he was thinking of was getting a sample of tainted blood to study how a curse could be administered by a bite, and if he could make an anti-venom.

Honestly, he doubted he could, but his curiosity was still there.

___ ___ ___

[Action: Inserting a needle in Opeila Seilun to take her blood]

Opeila waited, hoping for a teacher to come over and give her the cure to this.... whatever this venom was.
Flash on the chair next to her bed had stopped moving so she was quite sure that he had fallen asleep.

Breathe. In. Out.
She could trap the pain inside, push it into a small area... or pretend that she could, her imagination did the rest...
Opeila could feel that her body managed to relax a little. Something she desperately needed, her muscles had been cramping for the last hours, since the spiders had bitten her.
Her vision was still blurry with tears, but it didn't matter. The pain was still there but suddenly endurable sometimes.

She was not prepared for that sudden pain in her leg. Opeila's eyes widened, she gasped in pain as she felt the needle being inserted into her leg. She turned her face, that was barely more than a pain-distorted mask to her housemate, her teeth and hands clenched. Black hair. A face she couldn't recognize, only the triangular fringe caught her attention for a split second until the pain was hardly bareable.

Had she been able to think clearly, she would have been angry. How dare this person stick a needle into her leg while she was laying on a bed, unable to defend herself?

Anyway, Opeila could not think that clearly. She just closed her eyes, new tears streamed over her face. She was shaking, whimpering, not knowing who or why this was done to her.

Edited because of rolls.

@Selim Faust

Hjørdis had been rushing in and out of the room, trying to make sure everyone got to the wing safely. She knew Finley had been given a summary of events before leaving him to treat them as she went to make sure she helped any stragglers.

The Head of Slytherin ushered the remaining students into the hospital wing, bringing in the last lot of injured students. She could hear their screams and see them crying. They had been broken. Whatever happened tonight was something they would remember for years to come, she knew that much if nothing else. They were all so young. It seemed to be the youngest who had gotten hurt in this event. Those who were unconscious probably would be the fastest to recover, ironically. 

Their expressions on their faces would haunt her nightmares for years to come. There was no way for her to cushion this blow. She did not even know who the enemy was. Spiders, apparently appearing out of nowhere and disappearing long before she had the chance to even catch one. Her own expression was usually blank, emotionless and often seen as cold. But she was human. And inside her cold icy exterior was a beating heart that breaking at the sight of them. They should not have had to experience this. No child should. Haven't they all gone through enough? There had to be some sort of explanation but she could not fathom what it would be.

"Fin, how can I help?" She called out to the nurse, once she had ensured everyone was present in the room, quickly striding across the room to him. The female had to do whatever she could to try and make this situation a little better. Vancleaf. She probably ought to have called him Vancleaf in front of students. She normally would have but it slipped her mind. There was no doubt that she was in more of a panic that she was letting on to be. Of course, not many would pick up on that, perhaps only those who knew her very well but she knew. She recognised she was slipping up.

Going up to him after he had assessed a lot of them, she dropped her voice into a whisper and asked, "Any updates?" Not sure if he was going to say anything they wouldn't want others to hear. Her eyes almost pleading for him to give her anything but bad news. Hjørdis needed to know whatever information he could give her. She just silently hoped he did not say anything about fatalities. She had not had the time to assess each and every student. Some could have been hurt far more than she could see. She feared for the worst. But secretly, she hoped he would provide her with a positive update to say they would all be healed and healthy, at least physically. He might even have some sort of information, perhaps the poison was from a particular type of spider or from a specific region. Anything to help narrow down the mystery and the endless questions running through her head. 

She did not hear him say anything about a curse, entering moments later. 

The only joy in this whole dire situation was the fact that she could stare at Finley's cute face whilst she was here.  He was most definitely handsome, and talented. Being able to deal with so many injured students so efficiently was definitely appreciated. Even if he was dressed in his... pajamas with a bath robe over?! She did not question the attire. Well... she did but only momentarily and of course, internally. He was certainly not expecting a room full of screaming children at his door from the looks of it. She was not in much better shape, to be fair. Her usual pristine look was probably falling apart quickly this morning. The woman might be dressed better, even though all she was doing was going on a patrol. But that was all before she came back to utter chaos. Her hair was definitely falling out of place by now, she probably had stains and scuffs all over her clothing and there was just zero time to care. Her priority was the safety of each of these children.

Her eyes scanned the room. None of them deserved this. She should have been there. She was on patrol duty, how did she let this happen? How did a hoard of spiders enter the premises without her knowledge?

Mentions: @Astrea Soleil Neptune

The crisp white sheets wrapped around Nick would have reminded him of the summer nights when he was younger. During the day, when his mother was at work, Nick would clean the house, write, hang out with friends, or just do something to occupy his time. Then at night, when his mom came home, the two would watch movies on their couch, snuggled up in some sheets because it was too warm for blankets.

He would've been feeling that nostalgia, if he wasn't in so much pain, or unconscious. Surprisingly, Nick had, for once, not screwed up a spell and had actually cast Incendio correctly. But, his luck was short lived, since he immediately threw that flame onto a girl's hair. Then, a myriad of spiders latched onto that same girl and she went unconscious. Nick knew deep down she could've survived that if it wasn't for him

Finally, karma worked against Nick, and he was attacked by two heavy spiders clamping onto his chest and shoulder. The chest spider bit into him and hit his blood stream, immediately filling his chest with venom and pain. He would've probably fallen after a while, but the shoulder spider gave a final blow that made him immediately pass out in pain.

Nick has felt pain before, but this was different. It was this throbbing pain that consumed his world. It felt that every single time his heart beat, every single organ was exploding out of his body. His blood literally felt like it was boiling. That was also probably because the venom was circulating in his bloodstream. He wasn't one of the first people to be poisoned but the blackness was travelling through his blood and his skin fast.

Despite all of this, deep in his core, past all the pain, he felt an immense amount of guilt. He wanted to help out with the spiders, but all he did was make things worse. He started a fire, contributed to that one girl getting knocked out, and him being knocked out makes this whole process a little bit harder for the teachers and nurses.

Cursed? She thought she heard someone say that they thought the students who were bitten had been cursed. It was enough to break through her concentration and look around the room. More students had filed in and filled the cots. Moans, groans, and cries filled the room. Some of the students that were better off were attempting to help the nurse with his tasks, while another was-wait, what in Merlins name is that kid doing?-attempting to poke one of the female students with a needle?

She had noticed that Miss Jensen had finally arrived as well with the last of the students in the common room. The Head of House spoke with the nurse before looking around the room with what appeared to be concern, regret, dismay, and shame on her face.

"Excuse me. Miss Jensen. Can I ask you something?" She called out to their House Mother, hoping that she would be able to find the time to come over and provide some clarity to what she had heard others speaking. Although she was controlling the pain relatively well, it would not be much longer before her mind gave up all control to the liquid fire coursing through her veins.

Mentioning: @Selim Faust | @Opeila Seilun | @Finlay VanCleaf
Interacting with: @Hjørdis Jensen

He had never seen anything like this before, only rumors that he thought were exaggerations. Perhaps he should not have admitted his worry to the children that they were in fact cursed, but being the victims of such dark magics if anyone they should have the right to know. There was a rise in the level of panic both in the students as well as the nurse. 

Was there enough for all of us?

The grim truth was no, there was not enough. He frowned and tried to choose his words. "Enough to help," he answered. Some of these kids had been bitten multiple times, others only once. He had enough of the potion to stop the spread, prevent it from reaching their hearts. Enough to dull the pain. But he feared that most of them would have physical scars to accompany their mental ones

He took the bottle and handed it off to @Bridget Collins. "Take a drink," he instructed the girl. "And get more," he instructed @Arlo Reynolds. "I need all of it," he clarified. There was never a need for much, but he had perhaps a dozen bottles, but he wished now he had more. A bottle each? That was likely the best he could do. 

@Opeila Seilun was resting in another cot, conscious when a young boy would creep up from behind. Selim Faust, the boy had not done anything during the spider incursion and escaped with mostly mundane injuries. Allegedly the boy had a store of hypodermic needles, well at the very least hollow-bore needles attached to a syringe. He cleansed the needle rather than the skin of the girl, why? Well, that is hard to say. Needles were often sterile and the skin of a target was disinfected with an alcohol swab because there was a surplus of bacteria on the skin that could be introduced to a patient's bloodstream. Cellulitis or septicemia. Cleansing a needle only places the boy at risk for a stick injury.

Roll: 10 + 9 (DC 15)

@Selim Faust did not stab himself. He would aim for a darkened area of the girl's arm. He was aiming for a vein, why an assassin needed to know where veins were when arteries were the real relevant vessels is unknown. Vasculature often has a general same location but there is a great deal of variation. Visualization is essential, even practiced anesthesiologists, physicians and nurses would find it nearly impossible to not only hit a vein without seeing it but to also thread the needle into the vein. It would be pure luck if he hit a blood vessel.

Roll: 16 + 9 = 25 (DC 25)

The flesh has hard, as if it was burned. It looked like slate. He would have to exert abnormal force to have the needle push through the darkness. He was incredibly fortunate (and accurate) as the bevel tip of his needle found a blood vessel. A flash as the base of the syringe where the needle met the syringe. 

He would have to pull back gently on the plunger with withdraw the blood, in this unlikely scenario where he did in fact find payload. As for poor Opelia, being poked with a needle through the dense, inflamed, cursed tissue would be incredibly painful. Something that Selim would not be able to sneak success in. [No roll, there is a 0% chance of her not noticing]

Of course, the nurse was occupied with other panicking students. He was not watching the deviant child. Out of the corner of his eye would he see the sickly youth creep into the room or come upon the vulnerable girl resting in anguish in a cot?

Roll: 1 (Critical failure)

Nurse Fin did not notice Selim at all. 

The withdrawal was not without risk to the girl. There was a reason people don't draw blood from legs. Risk of blood clots.

Roll: 6 (10% risk)

Yes, she would have a blood-clot form in her leg, a medical consequence of Selim's selfish act.It would not be something she would notice right away, it would be after this pain ended. After she healed. This deep pain in her leg. Potential damage to nerves and musculature. [A blood clot is what gave Dr. House a limp]

There was also a risk of infection.

Roll: 22 (10% risk)

She got lucky, she did not end up with an infection that could have proved life-threatening. 



Professor @Hjørdis Jensen would enter the infirmary, asking what she can do to help. Asking for an update. The nurse's hands would be shaking as he administered the potion he had on hand, starting with Bridget. "Give the kids a swig. I swig of..." he was obviously flustered. "Thick Golden Potion," a strange choice he would explain immediately thereafter. "This is not an injury, it is some sort of curse," he announced. The trouble seemed to be permanently etched in his face. "The spread will stop," he did not verbalize the next part -- I think. He had no way of knowing for certain. "But it won't spread and" maybe "the pain will stop." He did not know if the pain was from the darkness or the fact that it was spreading. Considering the appearance, the dark areas appeared dead, a problem in and of itself. But dead tissue feels no pain. At least that was his logic.

He offer a sip from the bottle in his hand to @Caelan Stewart. "They said spiders, they might be the same spiders." It was before Nora's time, the Hufflepuff incident almost two years ago. In the Forbidden Forest there were these shadowy spiders that disappeared in response to the light. The students had not been bitten, however the forest took substantial damages from a rogue incendio blast. It was merely speculation, but there were injured students that night that babbled on about the darkness and the terrors that waited in the night. He had never heard of spiders with such features or venom. It was troublesome.

@Tyranni Whitethorn would approach Nora.

Interactions: Finley Vancleaf & Tyranni Whitethorn

Her heart sunk and shattered into a million pieces with a single word. Curse. Curse. Her expression remained blank, emotionless, almost cold looking. But inside, her heart was pounding fast, full of dread and fear. Any hope that he was joking had long gone. The look on his face, his fluster, the screaming children around them... Hjørdis could only hope this was a bad nightmare from which she would wake up from. But everyone knew that that was not the case.

The trouble etched onto Fin's face matched the trouble Hjørdis felt in her heart. This attack was far more than coincidental. It was far more than accident. She hoped, genuinely hoped beyond hope, that Griffith had spiders in his stables and accidentally let them loose. Or a kid had accidentally let them loose. Innocent, harmless spiders. That may have poisoned out of fear but cursed? That was a whole new level of darkness that these students did not need to go through, on top of everything else.

"R-right," She replied. It was about all she could muster. Hjørdis had not stuttered her words in as long as she could remember. But it came out that way before she could stop it. She took a bottle of the potion that he mentioned, scanning the room for anyone who had not been treated. All she could do right now was administer the potion and hope it worked. The spread had to stop. It had to. There was no choice in the matter. She could not allow her students to be cursed. 

She would not allow it.

It didn't matter how long it took, Hjørdis would work doubly - no triply - as hard until she found a cure for this. She already was taking an increase in patrols but given the whole situation, that would need to double. There was no way she could risk this happening to more students. They needed a cure, quickly. They needed to prevent any more children from suffering like this. She had no idea how yet. Her heart was still panicking. But she knew she had to do whatever she could to figure it out. That much was certain.

She probably only managed to give one or two people a swig of the potion before she was called by one of the youngest students. A first year. The dread filled her heart even more. Eleven year olds were being cursed. It stung. Hjørdis quickly remembered that Tyranni had spoken to her briefly before making her own way to the wing. She had mentioned the pain, and being bitten. Oh God. Within an instant, Hjørdis had marched her way over to the girl, "Here, take a sip of this first." She offered, holding up the bottle for her. Assuming she did take a swig of the potion, Hjørdis would continue, "Now, what would you like to ask me?" The Head of House wanted to ask how the young Whitethorn was feeling but... it would take some time for the potion to work, if it worked at all that was. Hopefully this would buy some of that time. 

For a moment, Illowy felt herself come to as she dared to open her eyes slightly. Every part of her felt so heavy, like hot lead was being pressed over top of her. She dare not move, even to twitch a finger for fear it would only aggravate the pain further; meaning the only thing she would see was whatever was in her immediate line of blurred vision.

Vaguely, she could make out the forms of adults running around the Hospital Wing, though she only recognized the silvery hair of her Head of House. Once in a while a form would pass her closer for her to recognize them as her other housemates. She could only assume everyone was in a panic, but she couldn't hear it well. Everything sounded so muffled, like a far away roar with the occasional word passing close enough to her slightly. The girl wanted to cry out for one of them to come help her, to do something to make this all stop, but that required strength she didn't have; not even enough for a small cry to try to validate how the burning was radiating into her very marrow. Even attempting to keep her breathing level and her eyes open felt herculean in effort.

Pale eyes sifted through the few forms she could see, straining to hear a familiar voice or see one of her friend up and about and okay. She wasn't sure if anyone else was terribly hurt, or what happened after she'd blacked out, but she hoped everyone else was okay.

Illowy did her best to keep her eyes open, but it felt like the hardest thing to do. Her body demanded her to give back in to sleep, but she was afraid. She feared if she let herself close her eyes, she might never open them again.

More people started to enter the Hospital Wing. Nico couldn't make clear who was who or what was what... She just felt very tired. As if she were paralyzed. Of course she wasn't. The energy she put in crying in pain had finally caught up to her, slowely letting her drift off in a restless slumber.

She thought of her parents. Her father that would pick her up and toss her around. Her mother screaming in the background as she got so scared that he would drop the young dhampir. Their precious little girl. A few drops of blood rolled down her cheeks again. Merlin, how she missed home. How she wished she was laying down in her sofy bed, surrounded by plushies of many sea creatures she saw in aquaria and pictures on the Internet. The Muggle world didn't seem so scary or chaotic anymore. As far as she knew, there were no big scary spiders that could turn your limbs black. As far as she knew, there were no spiders who were actively out to hurt children and eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Her mothers face came in view. The one of a woman who always looked her best. The matriarch who taught her how to look flawless and perfect. That effort was wasted now. The pale, porcelain look of her face was ruined. The huge amount of crying blood had washed away big bits of her foundation, uncovering her deadlooking, pale skin.

It didn't matter. Nico didn't care. She just wanted the pain to stop... and to go home.