Site Plot: The Kidnapping | Open

As the Great Hall fell into darkness, startled shrieks and murmurs broke the quiet of the room as its inhabitants tried to make sense of all that happened. There were a few scrambled shuffles, blind attempts to return to friends or move closer to the professors. A chorus of 'what happened' and shouted names rang out across the room, starting softly and growing louder with the mass anxiety that was building.

It was in these moments of thick black, that a second set of screams exploded through the stones. They burst through the walls like a physical force, echoing down the corridors and shaking the stone foundations beneath their feet. Ruth’s voice, high and splintering, tore through the dark as her body convulsed beneath an Unforgivable. It reverberated with such shrillness that the painted glass in the highest rafters began to rattle.

It was soon joined by a third voice, Everleigh's, disembodied horror to those in the Great Hall. But somewhere far above, her small frame hung halfway out a shattered window of the Dark Tower

In the dark, with the screams growing ragged and more tortured with every second, panic swept the hall like wildfire. Students stumbled and collided, their breathing coming sharp and shallow as they fumbled without light. Hands were stepped on, legs tripped over. Frantic calls for reassurance were answered with none, it becoming all the more apparent that dark magic had found its way into the hall.

Every attempt on mild spells was futile. It was as though the dark's tendrils had reached into the cores of their wands, choking the very magic that ran through them.

Somewhere outside the Great Hall, was movement; a unit of four long-cloaked men - wands drawn and hardened determination written across their features. They rushed down the corridors and up the stairs towards the locked double-doors calling for them to be opened by order of the Ministry.

Inside, the professors were faced with a conondrum. Open the doors to the 'aurors' and risk their students to possible maniacs - or keep them out and deal with what lurked amongst themselves?

Well, getting snippy certainly wouldn't help.

There was a lot going on. Evander wasn't stopping--somehow, he'd gotten louder. People were panicking all over the great hall, tensions were running high, and now Alice was snapping at him. He understood, of course. He was the youngest of his siblings, but Cassian imagined that had Justine--or even Adam--been taken, he'd have been beside himself. He'd have been freaking out. Even then, he'd have known that panic solved nothing. He'd always been the practical fixer sort. Currently, he could not save her sister or Ruth or Maevie. All he could do was offer a level head and hope that the situation really was under control.

He let Benji handle his co-prefect, knowing they were closer than he was to the girl. Coming from him, the words may have been better received. He was equally grateful for Matilda adding her own two knuts on the matter.

They were all on edge, but eating each other alive wouldn't make things any better.

Cass shot Rosie a quizzical look when she got to her feet with the squirming baby, wondering where she was going. The question answered itself when she handed the toddler off to his mother. It was a relief, if only a small one. Even without meaning to, Cassian suspected that the kid's screaming was only adding to the intensity everyone was feeling. It was the right call, too. Within seconds of being handed back to his mother, Evander's wails became gentle, tired whimpers. He curled into his mother, finding his comfort there. Minutes later, Rosie was curled back into him.

“ Right. Though maybe if we summoned them and I only did something if things got really bad. As no one being able to do magic would likely throw them off and we have to outnumber them. Right?“

He...didn't know. Cass got the impression that maybe he should've had more answers and assurances, but as Bear's question softened, the sixth-year could feel the heaviness of his uncertainty.

"I guess if we--"

Darkness.

It had started with the crackling and straining of the shields above, and now they were engulfed in the sort of darkness he could feel. It was only getting worse. Maevie's screams filled the room, making it clear that whatever ideas of them being 'fine' were much less true than any of them would've wanted to believe. Cass clung tightly to Rosie, fearing this might be a cover and that more of them were about to disappear.

His girlfriend's lumos was quickly snuffed out, as was his when he'd tried. "Let's try not to go moving around. No one needs to be getting lost before this can get figured out." Cassian didn't want anyone in his company hurrying off and getting lost in this new chaos.

“ I’m here. Hopefully the theatrics with the darkness a sign of desperation out of them as they are losing. “

"Yeah...yeah...maybe this is their big escape plan because they know they can't keep this up much longer."

Then the screams came again. Ruth's...Everleigh's...

"Shit," the boy muttered, running one hand through his curls. He felt sick. A cold shiver ran through him at the shrillness of the screams. The last time he'd heard such desperation was on the docks when the men had nearly taken Rosie. "Shit..." he said a second time without noticing. He could smell the briny sea air and hear the gentle lapping of the water against the sides of boats. Cassian tried to anchor himself back to the great hall, but that was where the screams were. Suddenly, he could feel an ache in his side, his entire body beginning to unravel with memory despite his outward composure.

Then the knock on the door. By order of the ministry...

He'd said they would come. This...this was going to be fine. They weren't alone out there in the countryside, where no one knew they were in trouble. Help...it was help...yeah?

"Sounds like the aurors might be here," he whispered, his voice tight in his throat. "They'll save them."

Morgan narrowed her eyes when she – and David – were ignored by the cranky toddler. She frowned and held the toad closer to her chest, as if protecting him. “Well I think that you look quite dapper,” she said to the toad. She looked over at Alice and Benji, who she was sure one (she didn’t know which) was going to start an actual fight.

She’d defended Benji before, and she would likely do the same again. She didn’t know Alice at all, except that she had heard the girl was boring as hell, always scared of getting in trouble. How lame.

Screaming.

Morgan winced, finally feeling a bit of the unease that everyone else was feeling. She frowned, holding David close to her as if he was the only thing keeping her grounded. If she had to remain calm for the amphibian, then she could find a way to remain calm altogether. She didn’t recognize who might have been the source of the scream, but did it really matter?

She bit her lip, looking at Benji and feeling bad. She felt bad for Alice too. But what would feeling bad accomplish?

Silence.

The silence was almost as loud as the scream had been, if she were honest. It was like someone had used silencio, except it made her deaf instead of the other way around.

The next thing that Morgan knew, the candles flickered out and the shields broke. She furrowed her brow, clutching David tightly.

And then the darkness happened. Admittedly, Morgan did scream a bit however if anyone asked her later if she’d been scared, she would say she hadn’t been. Perhaps startled, because who wouldn’t be if the lights went out, but not scared.

She knew they’d be okay.

Blobbie was still screaming. She sighed. “It’s okay David,” she whispered. “No one will hurt us.” The toad croaked in response, as if saying ‘yeah right’.

And then more screaming. Now, Morgan realized, they had heard all three girls scream. The anguish they were feeling was at a level the girl could never imagine being possible. She bit her lip, keeping her mouth shut.

"Could we not? I mean, there's nothing we can do. Snapping at each other isn't going to make this better."

He was right. Alice knew that he was right, and yet all she could do was roll her eyes in response. It’s not like she would listen to him. Usually she was the voice of reason, however Everleigh had always been her responsibility whether anyone asked her to be or not. Alice had to save her sister.

A mess of red hair. Tilly. Alice let her cousin hug her tightly, let her words soothe her.

“Ever is strong. Stronger than us right? We need to be strong for her, think good thoughts. They WILL save them. They have to.”

Staring into her cousin’s blue eyes, the same blue eyes that everyone in the family except for her had, Alice nodded slightly. It was true, Ever had always been the strongest of them. Even when she’d been a baby, there was something different about her sister. Stronger. More determined.

Truthfully, Alice wished she could be more like that. At least then she wouldn’t be panicking.

“Guys, everyone take a breath, the last thing we need to do is start fighting.”

Alice sighed and nodded. She gripped Tilly’s hand tightly. Then the scream. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t think that it was Everleigh however she wasn’t sure. How could she be sure?

A moment later, darkness came. She couldn’t see anything around her, but still felt Tilly’s hand in hers. So Alice placed her other hand on top of Tilly’s and squeezed. She didn’t like feeling blind, however that was the only way she could think of to explain this.

Did her parents know yet? Was Ever okay?

Alice remained silent, the cranky toddler still throwing his tantrum. Couldn’t his mum shut the fucking kid up? She held her breath, as if that would help the situation.

It wouldn’t.

Momentarily more screams. Alice’s brain was searching for Ever’s voice. But that was Ruth. No, Everleigh didn’t come until moments later.

The sound was painful. Hearing that scream come from her sister was… unbearable.

“No! Ever!” she screamed in response, her body full of rage. She dropped Tilly’s hand and stood up, but then didn’t move. It was still pitch black. She couldn’t even recall which direction the doors were in.

Crumpling to the ground in a heap, Alice ended up with her head in Tilly’s lap, sobbing.

Her senses were assaulted as time went on. The group she huddled in close too kept getting larger. Cass, Rosie, Benji, Alice, Morgan, Bear, Kate, Fiona and little Evander who was not having it. She felt bad for the tot, he had no idea what was going on, but was feeding off the tension in the room.

The screams. First Maevie, the sweet first year. How could anyone hurt her? Then Rae. Tilly closed her eyes tight, wishing and praying to make it all stop. It didn’t stop. Never letting go of Benji, needing him more than ever. With every new screech from her friend, her stomach flipped, everything she had eaten wanting to come back up. Tilly kept her hands tight on Benji and Alice. Keeping them grounded, just as much as her.

Hearing Cass’ muttered "Shit..." was almost too much. It made the situation more real somehow. A croaked sob left her mouth. And then Ever’s screams filled her ears.

“No! Ever!”

Alice stood quickly, Tilly could feel her stand up, losing her grip. “Oh God.” She said, through tears. The sounds filling her ears were unbearable. What was he doing to her? To them. How could anyone be so cruel, so evil. Suddenly, Alice was crumpled up next to her, head on her lap sobbing. Tilly let go of Benji’s hand to wrap her arms around Alice. Running her hand through Alice’s hair, the two girls sat there on the cold Great Hall floor and cried.

The knock at the Great Hall door had Tilly’s head snapping up. "Sounds like the aurors might be here,” Cass said in the darkness. “They'll save them."

But will they? Is it too late? What condition will the girls be in when finally rescued? She continued running her fingers through Alice’s hair, trying to sooth away the agony of hearing Ever’s continued screams.

A scream shot through the hall, disembodied and sounding strangely like Maevie. Benji pressed his back into the wall, as Matilda's hand found his free one, and he pulled Kate against him, covering her exposed ear. Fuck. The screams were horrible, agonizing. He didn't know if they were real or some sort of curse to make them all go crazy but -

Darkness.

Benji's grip on his sister tightened, as he listened to the whispers and murmurs of his friends. This was fine. Julia and Miss Byrne were here, and if worse came to worse, he could protect Kate and Matilda and anyone else that needed him. Cass and Rosie were both talented with their wands and he could do some real damage when he wanted to.

“Benji, please don’t leave me.”

"I'm here," he answered softly, giving Ging's hand a reassuring squeeze. He'd faced worse, he told himself. This was nothing he couldn't handle, nothing he couldn't wait or fight his way through.

A second set of screams.

Rae.

The air caught in Benji's throat as her unmistakable voice flooded his mind. Her screams were deeper, raw and agonizing, and it was all Benji could do not to fly from his place on the floor and somehow fight his way through the dark to find her. "Fuck," he growled, as Matilda dropped her hand from his, and he buried his fist against his forehead to try and keep himself grounded. He could hear Alice screaming now as Everleigh's voice joined Rae's, as the rest of his friends shifted uncomfortably near him.

He could only imagine what was happening to Rae. It was the worst sort of helpless that he'd felt since...he couldn't even remember. Somewhere, Thayer was hurting her, possibly killing her, and there was absolutely nothing he could do. Benji was a protector, Rae being one of the people he was most fiercely protective of, and to listen to her wails and screams carry on while he sat there...

He was losing his mind. He had to stay focused, for Kate. "It's alright," he lied, his arm that held her tightly giving her a soft squeeze. "It'll be over soon." It had to be. This couldn't continue. If it did, Benji worried he'd never see Rae again. Or Maevie. Or Everleigh. And while he wasn't as close to the two younger girls, it made him sick to think of what someone was doing to them.

A pounding on the doors. The Ministry. "Cass..." Benji muttered as he reached for his own wand and held it tightly in his grasp. Whatever was coming through that door, if they weren't exactly who they said they were, Benji was ready to blast them into oblivion.

“I’m here. Hopefully the theatrics with the darkness a sign of desperation out of them as they are losing.“

"Yeah," Rosie breathed softly, nodding even though no one could see it. That...that made sense. Theatrics. A horrible taunt to try and scare them all into submission while whoever was growing more and more desperate. Without allowing herself to think about what desperate men did in desperate hours, Rosalie turned to her side to wrap her arms around Cassian, burying her face lightly in his neck.

As her sweet friend's screams rang out across the hall, she felt her boyfriend clinging tighter to her. Whether from fear or concern she'd disappear too, she didn't know. She let him, letting the rise and fall of his breathing calm her.

"Shit."

She felt him shiver, could hear the crack in his voice. "I'm here," she said softly enough so that only he could hear her. Cassian didn't handle screams well. In the moments where he startled her or she'd gotten so riled up that something scared her enough to make her scream, his reactions were always visceral. She understood, without either of them needing to say anything. Where the screams took him back, unexpected touches took her. Her hands clasped behind his back as she squeezed him again in an effort to keep herself calm just as much as him.

The screams were broken by the sound of voices on the other side of the door. The Ministry? Were they sure?

"Sounds like the aurors might be here. They'll save them."

"What if its not them?" Rosie asked, her voice shaking more than she had meant to allow, "What do we do?"

He hoped Cassian was right that this was part of their big escape plan. He just wanted whomever it was gone and didn’t even care if they got caught as long as everyone was ok in the end. The Auror’s could deal with it later.

He listened again as the shrieks of what he could only assume were those missing echo’ed the walls of the Great Hall. The screams that joined in the chorus of sound around him made him shiver slightly as he stayed in his spot. The book he had been reading now carefully placed besides him leaning against the wall behind his back from where he was sitting. A glimmer of hope that if he had to get up he’d be leaving the book in the safest position possible. As he’d certainly wasn’t going to be weighed down by a library book in the current situation.

His face scrunched in confusion. Why would the Auror’s want in the Great Hall by order of the Ministry? Was someone with them on the other side. He doubted it, unless it was a student, and even then they’d be unnumbered.

He doubted a Professor would go rogue. Then he realized the former Headmaster had so that was a bad assumption. Still he thought the door better closed. Deal with the situation one has not introduce more problems was his philosophy for most things.

It seemed Rosalie was thinking similar.

He said “ Shouldn’t the Aurors be going towards the screaming not us. They need more help than we do right now. “

Yes, he was scared. However, he also spent enough time in Knockturn Alley and was smart enough to not let himself get too distracted from being scared as he grabbed his wand and held it close to him. So if he needed his wand he could try to do something. Though considering how rubbish he was at every practical charm that would be logical he had no idea what he'd do.

Rose was worried about Alice; the girl looked like she might throw up with worry. Evander was screaming and the kids were having a hard time with him. She knew she should take him back, and yet…

"He had to gather up his creatures and I'm assuming he went to the tower with Gideon and Ruby. You know he wouldn't stand by if he could help. He'll be fine. Rosie's got Evander if you want him back. Maddox handed him off to me in the chaos and - "

Blue eyes wandered over to Rosalie and noted the issues the girl was having with the boy. If he hadn’t been so overstimulated, he’d probably be a great source of distraction. But all he was doing was making things worse. She saw Morgan offer her toad to the boy, and he barely even looked at it. Stuffed animals weren’t working, real animals weren’t working, what would?

Screams had interrupted Julia. It sounded like little Maevie, though she could be wrong. Rose winced, mostly because with her auror training she had heard that kind of scream before; it went along with torture. And these girls were just children.

“I’m sorry Miss Byrne.”

Rose nodded and accepted Evander in her arms, holding him closely to her chest. The boy instantly began to quiet, though she could feel him shaking a bit from being scared.

With a whisper from across the room, the shield broke and the sound stopped. Her eyes widened as she rocked Evander slightly in her arms. Then another whisper and the lights went out. Pitch black was all around them. Some kids screamed, which caused Evander to begin fussing again.

She couldn’t think like this. She had training to deal with situations like this and Rose could not just stand by quietly and let everything fall apart around them. Deciding to take the situation by the horns, she casted a silent silencio on her fussing toddler, quiet instantly filling the area despite him still fighting against her. Then she casted a silent finite incantatum.

Moments later, the candles flickered back to life and she could at least see who was around her. Her mind kept trying to figure out how Thayer could be up there torturing children and also controlling this mess down here. But he wasn’t.

“Julia… please take him, I need to see who is doing this,” Rose said softly to Julia, who she handed the still-silently-crying Evander to, before moving away from the big group of students and slipping into the shadows on the perimeter of the room, just like she had been taught.

There had been a whisper, signaling to Rose that someone in the Great Hall had to be working with Thayer, but the problem was… who? She thought she knew all of her colleagues, but did she? She obviously knew Ruby, Gideon, Maddox, Julia, and the others. Right? She bit her lip, her blue eyes scanning the adults in the room. She moved slowly along the side of the room, her eyes locking on the figures of each grown up.

As she moved, she put faces to subjects that were taught at the castle. Divination, History, Transfiguration, Charms… they were all familiar to her.

And then she saw him. She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes stuck on one of the adults who – as she now realized – had never even introduced himself to her. He also always seemed to keep to himself, really only communicating with anyone who communicated with him first.

Rose slowly approached the figure from behind, trying to remember his name. What did he teach? And what was his name?

As she approached, she noted that he was attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible, and yet now that she had spotted him, it was obvious that he was the source.

Runes, she thought to herself as it dawned on her. Farrow teaches Ancient Runes.

Rose spotted a figure moving towards her and when she looked, briefly, saw it was a scared first year. She held her finger to her lips, signaling for the student to be quiet. Banging on the door had drawn the professor’s attention, and he looked as if he was about to do something drastic with his wand up.

Finally, Rose reached the man. She pressed her wand to his neck when she was close enough and wrapped her arm around his torso as a way to keep him from leaving. “Drop the damn wand,” she said, her voice low. “It’s over.” She held him tightly, her wand poking into his neck enough that she saw him wince.

Julia wasn't a woman who frightened easily. Having grown up, surrounded by men who twisted the world until it resembled the one they wanted, had hardened her to the grim parts of life. Yet knowing her students were now trapped in this room with a possible monster, in the pitch dark, had goosebumps rising along her skin.

Halloway had been a nutjob, and the professors that had followed him into ruin had been just as fanatical. She had thought, when she'd given her resignation, that it was the last she would ever have to see of their ilk. Upon Halloway's downfall, James had insisted she return to Hogwarts with the assurance that all those that would tamper with the safety of her students had been removed.

How incredibly wrong they had been.

Her breathing remained steady as another chorus of screams broke through the hall - Ruth and Everleigh. Her heart ached, knowing two of her assistants were somewhere out there being tortured by a madman. The sooner they put the dog down, the better. Julia clenched her jaw in fury, even as voices sounded on the other side of the blackened room.

Aurors. The Ministry.

If it was really them.

The candles flickered back to life, dimmer than before, but at least now they could vaguely see.

“Julia… please take him, I need to see who is doing this.”

"I've got him," she whispered taking the silenced baby back into her arms, ignoring the rapid thud that had taken over her chest. She moved quickly towards the double-doors, looking back over her shoulder as she held Evander in one arm and her wand in her free hand. "Quiet," she snapped towards the students, all eyes on the doors. "Get down, all of you." If there was about to be a fight, she wasn't sacrificing one of her students in the process.

Hayes - the Keeper of the Keys - suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder. An older man, one she held a lot of esteem for. He nodded at her, his gray eyes serious and direct, and motioned for her to get back. Julia held Evander closer to her as he began to settle, giving a slight nod of understanding, before moving closer to where the students had gathered. "Do what I said, stay low. Don't try anything," she whispered to them.

Hayes moved swiftly to the door, as the voices and bangs continued.

It was a funny thing, fear.

It could freeze a man in place or make him run headfirst into danger. It could make a room of hundreds go dead silent, or ignite into screaming chaos with the slightest spark. In the Great Hall, it crept, slow and suffocating, curling through ribcages and squeezing lungs until it took up every inch of space a breath could fill.

The light from the candles flickered weakly against the high stone walls, illuminating pale faces and shaking hands. Students crouched against the walls, some clutching each other, others remaining stoic. Some with eyes wide and glassy. Professors stood like statues, every one of their wands raised, steadfast and ready to stand guard over their charges.

The doors shuddered as Keeper Rutherford moved closer to the door.

Once. Twice.

The third strike split the air with a deafening crack, centuries-old wood splintering under the force. Rutherford squinted against the outburst, but remained in place, his wand at the ready to take the first stand. A rush of cold wind tore through the hall, scattering blankets and flame alike.

Four figures filled the doorway - Ministry cloaks, wands drawn, boots echoing across the stone floor.

"Stand down!" one shouted, "By order of the Ministry!"

Across the hall, Roisin Byrne had the Runes professor cornered, wand at his throat. His expression was serene, where terror should have resided. A faint smile curved his lips, seemingly having already accepted his fate.

The air hummed with anticipation as Farrow glanced around the hallway, studying each professor who had now turned their wands on him in solidarity with the Aurors. He shrugged lightly, as his wand dropped from his hand and clattered across the floor.

"It's not over," he hissed so that only Byrne could hear, "It's only the beginning."

The Aurors moved quickly, taking Farrow into their custody, shouting commands for everyone to stay in place. Three spread through the room in practiced silence, checking the corners, confirming the immediate threat was removed.

Some students began to sob, others stared blankly at what had just unfolded, their friends screams still echoing in their minds. Above them, the torches flared brighter, as the Great Hall seemed to exhale in unison.

In the coming hours, the Aurors would command all back to their houses while they swept the entirety of the castle and began their investigation. News would spread slowly - starting in Hufflepuff and then to Slytherin, up to Ravenclaw and finally to Gryffindor - the madman was dead. The girls were alive. The immediate storm had broken.

And yet, even as the words would pass from mouth to ear, the fear would remain - a living thing that would take weeks to dissipate, if it ever did.

A day that had begun with revelry, joy and excitement had descended into something twisted, dark and cold. A reminder that though the Ministry had tried, radicalism hadn't been eviscerated from Hogwarts's walls.

Tonight, the school stood whole again.

How long it would remain that way - time would certainly tell.

---

And that's our first site plot for Knockturn Bound! We hope you all enjoyed the story, and look forward to seeing how this will impact the school, ministry and Wizarding World in the coming terms. We have so many fun things coming from this, and can't wait to take you all along.

Feel free to continue writing and/or closing out your students' reactions! This thread will close on November 3.

Thank you all for your participation!

The arms wrapping around Alice provided little comfort, because the tortured screams of her little sister was breaking something within her. She needed to be with Everleigh. Despite her sobbing, Tilly’s hands through her hair did begin to provide a little bit of comfort, to the point where the girl’s sobs turned to just tears rolling down her cheeks.

She closed her eyes, even as the banging on the doors began. Aurors? If they were aurors, then they needed to get their damn asses to her sister. She didn’t know if those who had gone after Thayer would be successful in getting the students.

Alice, with not a mean bone in her body, would raise hell if anything happened to her little sister. And that is why she was so upset at the moment; she’d always done everything she could to protect Ever from everything – including the wrath of their mum and dad. Quietly going behind her sister to clean up any messes she had made so they would be none the wiser.

The lights came back on – just enough so it wasn’t dark anymore. Alice opened her eyes, unsure of what to do. Ever’s screaming had faded into nothingness by this point, which both relieved and worried her. Did the silence mean that Thayer had been taken down? Or did it mean that perhaps Thayer had won?

Honestly, Alice had no idea. She wouldn’t know until later.

"Stand down! By order of the Ministry!"

The voice was loud now, inside the Great Hall. Alice finally sat up, wiping away her tears so she could see clearly. She saw the head nurse with the Runes professor, enabling the aurors to take him away as well.

There had been two. And there may even be more. Alice hugged herself and looked over at her cousin. There was no news. The aurors didn’t know how things were going wherever the others were. She needed to know.

“Are they okay?” Alice asked the nearest auror, desperately needing answers.

Morgan rarely ever felt scared, but the more time that moved on… without word from her father… she was worried. She’d lost her mum, and didn’t even want to think about the possibility of losing her dad too. She looked down at David, frowning.

What would happen to her if he didn’t make it? Where would she live? Would she be sent away to an orphanage? Or would Benji’s mum take pity on her and take her in. Or even Blob’s mum… though she didn’t know a whole lot about the redhead. Except that, for some reason, she didn’t want to keep Evander with her. Which was strange…

Morgan didn’t dwell on it for long though. Banging at the massive doors to the Great Hall began and then aurors burst in. She felt some tension she hadn’t noticed before release from her shoulders as they came in. Law enforcement were the good guys, she could trust them. If they were here, then perhaps that meant that things wherever her father was were okay.

Speaking of Rose… Morgan’s eyes widened when she saw the woman with the Runes professor, holding him at wandpoint. So many ex-aurors worked at Hogwarts now, and perhaps that was a good thing. With the way that things were going this term – the broken magic, the evil teachers – the students needed protection.

Otherwise things would just be… terrible.

But, things were so much simpler before she even knew about all of this extra magic stuff. It’d been safer when she was living with her mum, seeing the random magic spell help with household chores. Now? Now everything was… dangerous.

Rose was little, and Farrow towered over her. She expected him to fight her, but he didn’t. For some reason, one she didn’t know and one that she may not want to know, he remained in her grasp, allowing her to press her wand to his neck. What did that even mean?

The doors burst open after three very loud strikes against them. Aurors entered the room, some she even recognized. After a moment, the man in her grasp dropped his wand – effectively surrendering. That movement eased her mind a little, but she did not let go of him until the Aurors took him into their custody.

“It’s not over. It’s only the beginning.”

Rose, her arms now free, glared daggers at the man. What the hell else was going to happen? And just how deep did this group go? Which parts of the magical world were completely unsafe? Would any of it be untouched by this evil?

Looking back over at Evander, her eyes settled on Morgan. The girl looked worried, and she frowned. How long would it be before they got word from the other group? She moved back towards Julia and took the silently crying Evander from her arms, hugging him closely. He immediately began calming, thankfully, but she kept the silence charm on him anyways. There was still a bit of chaos before things would calm down.

“Just try to sleep, baby,” she murmured in the toddler’s ears, swaying slightly.