Locking The Doors Main Story Closed

INTERACTIONS︱@Anastasia Beckett
STATUS︱Open to Gryffindor interactions

Ivy had taken to grabbing a book to read at mealtimes. Having her nose in a book told people to leave her alone without needing to say anything, and the Gryffindor honestly didn't want to talk to anyone nowadays. Even though the Blossom Ball had happened nearly two months ago, and the encounter with the hag almost three, the memories were still crystal clear in her mind. Ivy filled her time with studying and errands to escape her own thoughts, and although having someone to talk to might have had the same effects, the conversation often turned to the very topic she was trying to avoid - the Ball. More often that Ivy preferred, someone would mistake her for Ana, which wasn't great considering the fact that the older girl had been on fire, so the first year was consciously avoiding places where there were large crowds. She blended in a lot more than she would have liked to admit nowadays.

Slipping into a random seat in the middle, Ivy didn't raise her head to look at the people she was sitting with, far too engrossed in Sense and Sensibility. It wasn't until she realised that there was no food in front of her that she looked up, eyes narrowing. "What's going on?" she muttered, more to herself than to her housemates. She looked around the Great Hall suspiciously, trying to figure out what was happening. Students were still filing into the Hall, but usually they didn't wait for the latecomers to begin dinner. Her grey eyes would flicker to the staff's table, and finally noticed that the four Heads of Houses were standing right up the front instead of sitting down as usual. Ivy raised an eyebrow, wondering what they were doing - oh, and Headmaster Lear wasn't here again. His absence hadn't had much impact on Ivy's life, seeing as she never saw him anyway, but she had to admit, it was getting a little weird now. She didn't think she'd seen him for... gosh, it had been months, hadn't it?

Professor Pendrast called for silence, and the response was almost instantaneous. The chatter around Ivy disappeared, and she slid a bookmark between the pages of her book and shut it gently, pushing it to one side of her as so not to get too distracted from whatever speech the HoHs were making. Whatever it was, she was sure that it was going to be serious. To put it simply, a ton of shit had gone down in the past year.

The Gryffindor Head reassured them that their academic grades would not be impacted negatively, which Ivy hadn't really thought about, to be honest. She had been more busy with trying not to die and dealing with nightmares, which was kind of funny if you thought about it, because her parents had sent her here to learn magic, not survival skills. Ivy's stomach dropped at the thought of her report card, which was sure to be a disaster due to the whole thing with her slacking off three quarters into the academic school year. Well, maybe not a disaster, seeing as she had been an E-O student for the most part, but she wasn't getting straight O's, that was for sure. At least her parents wouldn't be able to yell at her about it in person, seeing as they were forcing her to attend summer camp and then she was going to London with her aunt... if she didn't know any better, she'd say they were trying to get rid of her.

Ivy had to stop herself from laughing when Professor Pendrast spoke about safety. Oh, the irony. Bit late there, Professor, she thought bitterly, glaring at the ground. You had to either have been living under a rock or be an oblivious idiot to not have noticed what was happening around the school. She zoned out when the Head of Ravenclaw started speaking about dhampirs - Ivy had not attended the Masquerade Ball, and when she had heard the recounts of the event, she was rather glad that she stayed out of it. The Gryffindor thought that the race baiting was rather stupid. It was a bit like judging gravity for making you fall out of a tree.

Her head snapped up at the mention of hags, the panic rising in her as she listened. A hag coven? So there were more of them? Great, just great. Ivy fought to keep her expression neutral, and kept her eyes on Professor Browne. The only sign of her horror was how hard she was gripping the edge of her seat, so hard her knuckles turned white. If the Ministry was getting involved, then this was really serious. Well, Ivy wasn't going anywhere near the Forbidden Forest, that was for sure. Who in their right mind would want to die? ana apparently

Professor Jensen was talking now, saying something about summer boarding being cancelled (no surprises there)... oh, and the Ball. It was bound to come up eventually. Ivy swallowed as she recalled the events of that night - the flames, the mosps, the panic. And the aftermath. She had ruined a friendship and was left with even worse nightmares than before. Not for the first time, Ivy wanted to hit herself for her stupidity. She had known already that there was danger on campus, but she had still gone to the Ball... what was I thinking? Still, there was a positive noted in Professor Jensen's speech. Although Ivy did want to see her sister, she was still excited for the Quidditch Match. She was half-convinced that something stupid was going to happen like it always did, but this was different - this was London, and it wasn't going to be just students there.

Ivy listened dutifully to the new rules stated. The new curfew rule, although rather frustrating, made sense - but she failed to see how being in groups would help. Having other people around you was more of a burden in the Gryffindor's mind - it gave you something else to worry about other than your own survival. Also, if an attack did happen, what would having two or three more students even do? Some people acted older, but at the end of the day, Ivy knew that all the students, including her, were just children with very little knowledge of magic. How would they protect themselves?

The HoHs wrapped it up shortly afterwards, and Ivy shifted down the bench where there was spare space in order to make room for a few pushy fifth-years. She picked up her book again, absentmindedly picking up her goblet of water, only to find that she was sitting next to none other than her doppelganger now. Ana looked rather annoyed, with her arms folded across her chest and holding a cup of - was that coffee? "Hello," Ivy greeted her quietly, setting down her book once again. She frowned slightly as she heard Ana's judgement of the new announcement. How could she not take this seriously? People had been hurt really badly - including Ana herself. "I think they're being serious," Ivy said. Her tone was kept light and playful, but there could be a note of accusation heard as well. "It's not so nonsensical when you consider all the stupid situations we've gotten ourselves into."

This, as Scott would soon find out, had definitely been the wrong evening to arrive in the Great Hall starving... The boy hadn't eaten properly at all during the lunch hour (rarely ever managing to nowadays), and had since then relied pretty heavily on the hopes that he'd be able to eat as soon as he sat down again... the last lessons of the day had felt longer than ever before.

It seemed only fitting, then, that this particular evening should host a number of unprecedented speeches from their dear Heads of House... Scott couldn't do anything other than politely ignore the rumble in his stomach then, and look up to the professor's table as they slowly but surely made him forget all about his hunger with the contents of their announcements.

Now what was all this?

Flicking his astonished gaze from teacher to teacher as they all took turns on talking, Scott felt if anything more and more confused after every word... This was of course not the first year that things had been going on without his knowledge (and he was sure this was all as shocking a news announcement to many others as it was to him) but it still bewildered Scott, the amount danger that could really threaten them here. At Hogwarts. At school.

Of course, some of the information he already possessed: he had for instance himself gone to the illegal ball that they were frowning upon currently. Cowering a bit as their professors' eyes swept over his table, Scott cursed himself to their words of disapproval... He'd understood himself that he'd managed to leave the dance right in time to avoid any of the danger that they were speaking of, but perhaps it would still please the most disappointed out of the four of them that he hadn't managed to have a very good night even so.

Thinking of this, and with the sound of Professor Jensen describing the International Quidditch Tournament in the background, Scott made a quick scan across the students' faces down the Gryffindor table. Some looked horrified, like they'd never heard of such dangers, and others looked horrified instead with the detention they would surely be serving. Eventually, though, his eyes landed guiltily on Anastasia's face among all- sitting as she was several seats down the table. He knew the ball hadn't turned out well for her. He knew it was in part his fault.

Catching the second-year's eyes for a second, Scott gave the girl a tired smile, which could convey anything from "Are you alright?" to "I'm starving to death", depending completely on what she herself wanted to see... then he turned back.

He would have to catch up with her after dinner, wouldn't he? The dreaded summer was quickly approaching, and there was no point in procrastinating it any more.

Especially not if both of them faced a 50% risk of being eaten alive or something on the second floor.

"How about some food after all that, ey? Hang in there for these last few days. Enjoy your meals."

He sure would try.

~Open to interactions~
@Nico Shymane @Hjørdis Jensen

The days seemed to be getting longer and longer now that it was coming into the last few weeks of the school year at Hogwarts. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with himself over the summer. The thought of somehow staying with the magical world seemed to lift his spirits just a little bit when it tugged upon the future strings, but, it would be a good social respite to be able to go hang with his old mates back on the block for a few months to reset his social life once more. It was what he thought of at the time, despite his face being shoved within a book on wand lore that he had borrowed from the library.

Now it seemed that all of the students were mandated to attend dinner in the Great Hall this evening, Zyk really didn't understand why, but to say that he cared to think about such things would be an easy overstatement. There was much on the 11-year old boys' mind to worry about the situations and going-on in the castle as of recently, there were whispers that lingered within his ear from time to time of the odd nature of events that the castle produced, but, alas, he cared not too much to let the thoughts resonate within that mind of his.

Slowly he walked through the entrance of the great hall, trying to keep a casual flicking of the eyes up and back down to his book so that he could at least try not and run into a wall as he walked along with his peers. Automatic corrections were made to his steps as he adjusted his path to head towards the Gryffindors table. It seemed quite packed at the moment, but, he paid no attention to those sitting at the table and just walked along the long stretch before finding himself needing to take a seat. It seemed that all the heads of houses were present at the dinner that evening, which was rare, and the number of adults at the professors' table seemed to draw his eyes for a moment.

Turning himself, he settled himself down next to a few students upon the benches that aligned to the table where the food would soon be magically settled there. Still, he let his eyes linger upon the words of the book that his attention cast towards. A soft sigh escaped from him when he realized that he would need to put the book away before the food was served, unfortunately, his housemates were quite messy when they ate and he didn't really wish to have to explain to the house-elves that ran the library why there was food upon the book he was loaned. Stowing it carefully within his bag that he had with him that evening, he'd settle things carefully at his feet beneath the table and look back up just as the heads of houses started to talk.

Sitting there now, he noticed that he sat next to a girl that was looking towards the heads of houses and listening to them intently, they hadn't noticed who each other and it took a moment for Zykeal to realize why there was slight anxiety building up within him as he looked over the girl's shoulder towards the professors as they talked. At first, he was paying attention to the professors, but the details of the girl he once adored kept standing out in her profile. There was the thought of trying to get up and move down the table, but, with a quick glance and realization that the professors would not tolerate his moving during such an announcement, he'd resign himself to just trying to focus on the announcements at hand.

When the talking was over, he turned himself before the girl next to him could notice him at first and let himself look to his opposite side. As they all turned together though, he did note that the girl on the opposite side of Ivy was her doppelganger and a slight annoyance played through his thoughts at the site of that one. Although they seemed to look very similar, he thought Ivy to be completely different and extremely more beautiful. Regardless, he knew that one of them would notice him soon, so he just adjusted himself to look straight for the moment until he heard the voice of Ivy, one he hadn't heard since their time at the lakeside.

Habitually, Zyk would fetch the ivory-colored aspen wood wand from his waist side to set between his fingertips, slowly spinning it throughout his fingers as he nervously waited to be spotted by one of the two that were on his side. It was a little distressing towards him and he called for a cup of iced water as he waited for the situation that he had randomly happened upon to become more uncomfortable than it was already. It took a moment of his twirl of the wand like a drumstick for him to finally justify at least making his presence known to his tablemates at the time. Letting the wand settle within his palm, he'd rest it within his lap and look over to his side and at Ivy as she sat there, "Um, hey.."

@Ivy Bellamy

Open to Slytherin Interaction

| Open to Gryffindors Table and close-by Students |

~Calming Presence

The third year had sighted his friend @Scott Alexander quite close at their table so he made a beeline towards him and sat down across from where his dorm mate would have sat down. He intended to catch up with him since they usually only saw each other in passing or chatted in the evening while they were in their dorm, but aside from that both of them were too busy to actually spend time with something fun. He would have greeted him instantly if it was not for the head of houses asking for their attention, all of them, which if he remembered had not happened before so it must be a important matter of concern.

First of all, of course he had noticed Lear missing and had even heard some few rumors and details here and there but he was at this point not all too sure in what to believe anymore. At first when he had not seen the old man around anymore he had assumed him to have taken a vacation since none of the professors seemed it worthy to address the matter. Later on he would hear from others that the headmaster might not have disappeared willingly but Alan had never expected such a thing to happen without drama breaking loose. But for it to be addressed openly, after such a long time made it seem all the more apparent even though perhaps it was a little late now as it should have happened earlier.

The next message would not address him directly and would rather be directed towards the dhampirs of the school, like his friend Neculai and funny enough the head of house himself as he had recently discovered by a curious question. It had been obvious but Alan was not one to pay much attention to the previous Astronomy teacher's class. They went on with a message that would make him pale slightly as his hands clenched into fists within the safety of his uniforms long sleeves that hid the uncontrolled emotion well. Hags? He had never seen one and he was quite happy about that as well as he would rather never in his life encounter one if he could avoid it. However to hear that they were here, at the school, meant danger as he knew that they had no ounce of propriety and were evil in a way. Even he would be a fool to trust them like he had been a fool to think he could talk an angered mosp out of attacking anyone. A student had gotten hurt because he had failed to take the right actions when actions had to be made and Alan still failed to get a clear conscience about the matter.

The next topic made him flinch as slight guilt shone in his eyes. He had been one of the students to attend the secret disaster ball and had wished to rather not be there because it ended in, well, a disaster. He had pictured it to be a nice evening but of course it would not have happened. He realized that this, especially with the knowledge of hags being around, was too risky for now and he would have to be more careful from now one if he could help it. He would make a face at the new rules and limitations since even though they made sense they sounded awful and lame. They were no kids so to make the bedtime so early was going to be stressful. He also loved to spend the late evening and early night in the common room which would be impossible from now on. Not to talk about his runs in the morning which usually took place shortly after six am which was now included in the curfew time. Alan did not like these new adjustments and would furrow his brows in distaste.

The rest was not all too important anymore but with this damper on his mood, he would huff out a breath of air and shake his head in frustration. 'What a pleasent morning this is...', he would think with sarcasm clear before he would face Scott "Well th-that were some news, no?" he would ask with a sigh, not even expecting a real answer for the question but wanting to start a conversation with his friend anyway since that had been why he had come here in the first place.

[font=book antiqua]

Interacting with @Phaedra Stavrou

The Headmaster's disappearance was startling upon returning to Hogwarts. Dymphna had gotten used to seeing him around the castle in his infamous armor, always ready for a battle that seemed to crop up every now and again. She still wasn’t sure if they could trust Headmaster Lear, and his absence was suspicious. If he turned up injured or worse then she would feel awful for thinking so. He wasn’t the only Headmaster to be wary of however. Her eyes kept shifting to the unwelcome Headmaster Plott, here to stay for eternity it seemed. Didn’t he have his own school to run? Why was he hanging about?

At her cousin's voice, the blonde focused her attention on the Hogwarts staff. They seemed quite serious and the words that followed revealed why. It was simple enough - those that needed something were going to get it before they caused potential harm to others. Don’t go where you aren’t supposed to go. Of course, Dymphna has no plans to throw herself into danger. She wasn’t one for causing trouble in the first place, but had snuck out to stargaze when she was a foolish first year. It was a simpler time then, not knowing what dangers lurked at Hogwarts.

A stricter curfew was to be expected as well. As far as she was concerned, they made the best decisions under the circumstances. She didn’t want to be put in another situation like at the Masquerade Ball. The new rules didn’t feel that restrictive in her opinion, not that they didn’t apply to her but rather they didn’t make a mess of her usual routine these days. She tended to sleep early (when not staying up late to study) so the curfew itself wasn’t that big a deal. The areas that were off limits were usually off limits, but of course, someone had wandered into the Forbidden Forest so they had to reiterate. If anything had happened there, she was blissfully unaware.

Towards the end of the speech, Dymphna turned to Phaedra sitting beside her. “Well, doesn’t sound too bad, does it?” If anything, she welcomed the routine and structure. Something that Hogwarts sorely lacked. Trying to stay optimistic about it all, she piled her plate with a few of her favorite foods, and tried not to listen to the doubts creeping around in her mind.

Thread left unless someone tries to stop him.