Streets of Hogsmeade

[Pathological Kisser]

Hildy gasped as Belle mentioned seeing a professor, grabbing her friend’s sleeve and pulling them both into the shadows of the few store overhangs as they hurried towards their destination. Hildy squinted in the darkness and nodded as she saw the sign for the dueling range. ”That’s it. Jogging toward the door, she considered her friend’s words. She had been worried about professors or the caretaker catching them, but she had never considered that the shopkeeper might turn them in. But if the rumors were any indication, this didn’t seem to be a person that was a stickler for the rules.

Hildy still had trouble believing that it was a woman. After all, a woman owning a dueling range? It just seemed odd. Of course, her sheltered view of the world from her mother’s attempted ‘ladylike’ raising tainted her opinion. After all, she and Belle were more gung ho for dueling than Devin. And as to the ‘other’ rumors…Well, it really didn’t matter what she did with her free time. As long as she let Belle and Hildy get some practice in.

Rushing up to the door, she paused. Giving her friend a giddy, nervous laugh. ”I guess we won’t know until we try.” Reaching out, she grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, hurrying inside before they were spotted. She knew it was reckless and she knew that her uncles and grandparents would kill her if they knew how reckless she was being. But, as she figured it, no one knew that they were sneaking out. Actually if someone had wanted to attack her that night, they would be planning on somehow getting into the school, not trolling the streets of Hogsmeade. All in all, she felt liberated. Just breathing the sweet air of the night in these stolen happy moments was worth more than any punishment that they might be subjected to.  

[Porcelaine Ivory]

WHERE am I? Outside Blood Murdoch's HOW am I feeling? Flustered, but excited WHO am I with? Harley

Under the clear night sky, Aiden swept along the street that bordered a majority of Hogsmeade's businesses, keeping to the shadows wherever possible, but not worrying to much about whether or not he was seen.

Since the first day he started his new caretaker job at Hogwarts, Aiden had found himself constantly chasing around children, detecting their dungbombs and confiscating their fanged whizbees. Such tasks kept him busy, but rarely struck his emerald green eyes with pure, raw excitement.

Tonight, as he danced through the darkness with Harley by his side, that was just what he felt.

Just after curfew, he had caught a group of students on the third corridor whispering about a pair of girls who had had enough fortitude to venture into Hogsmeade--how they had gotten past Harley's well-practiced nose, he wasn't sure, but after sending the children to bed, he had grabbed his new black cloak and fled out into the moonlit yard.

His heart pumping with the rare onslaught of adrenaline, and his mind mingling with thoughts of his own late night escapades during his school years at the castle, Aiden let his eyes sift over the streets and through shop windows, hungry for the fuel to his excitement. He was pleasantly surprised to see so many faces out and about at such an hour, heightening the challenge, but not too much. Most of the lingering faces were attached to grown bodies, making it easy to differentiate the lonely drunkards from the prime candidates.

Just as he was passing Wiseacre's and taking note that Gramps had already shut down the shop for the night, the outline of two small, feminine silhouettes came into view--one nearly adult-like and the other a hand or two shorter--and swept down the street with a bubbly murmur. He could tell by their bouncing stroll as they approached that they, too, were enjoying themselves--almost too comfortably for Aiden to question their presence. However, as their faces met, the distance between them now only a few hundred feet, he could almost distinguish a flutter of fear as it ran across the smaller girl's face.

Before he had time to confirm his sudden suspicion, the pair of cloaked figures scurried into the nearest shop. Aiden quickened after them, and as he approached the dark red peeling paint, he didn't need the weathered sign above--squeeking playfully in the wind as it swung back and forth--to tell him where he was.

His face now muddled with concern, the man stopped just short of the entrance to the dueling house and pulled out a small picture from the pocket of his jeans that he had gotten from Bart. "Lumos," he whispered as he withdrew his wand. Holding the light to the tattered parchment, his eyes zeroed in on one of the faces, in particular. Soft features, porcelain skin, and a delicate head of deep brown hair characterized the nearly flawless, doll-like face of the girl in the photo; she was one of the targets that he had been asked to look after at the school--a favor to his grandfather, who in turn was helping out an old acquaintance.

As he contemplated whether or not his eyes were playing tricks on him, he let himself into Blood Murdoch's, photo of Hildy Balford-Nettlepot still in hand and Harley trailing at his feet.

“Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness,
and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
- William Shakespeare

 

[Professor Tahiri]

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
Ａｒｔｈｕｒ Ｒａｄｃｌｉｆｆｅ
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

☆═━┈━┈━┈━┈━═☆
Ｈｅａｄ Ａｕｒｏｒ Ｍｉｎｉｓｔｒｙ Ｏｆ Ｍａｇｉｃ
Ｏｒｄｅｒ Ｏｆ Ｍｅｒｌｉｎˌ Ｔｈｉｒｄ Ｃｌａｓｓ
☆═━┈━┈━┈━┈━═☆

Despite it all, I do this job for my children Tamara and William

☯With a loud snap, Arthur Radcliffe, Head Auror at the Ministry, appeared in the streets of Hogsmeade, close to the entrance to the school. He then waited to marshal his arriving Aurors. He looked up at the school, heaving a heavy sigh as he wondered who was the unfortunate victim and what the circumstances behind this incident were. Sighing again, he waited for the rest of the Aurors to arrive.☯

▂▃▅{Out Of Character}▅▃▂

 

[Porcelaine Ivory]

Pop.

Just moments after Arthur had arrived, Bailey had appeared, apparating just behind him and landing in a silent, graceful manner. The wind, icy and cold, stung her exposed skin in a thousand places, like tiny, invisible bees.
Hurriedly, she buckled the clasp on the front of her deep crimson robes, which flowed elegantly past the ground and swept behind her as she took a step forward towards her boss.
This was her first real case since landing the job as an auror, and quite frankly, it scared the bloody hell out of her.
Of course she was ready, of course she was trained, able, and willing to fight. Nevertheless, her heartbeat continued to race against time, pounding deafeningly in her ears in contrast to the silent scenery.
Taking a deep breath and swaddling herself with her robes, she could only managed to ask, in a muted, cautious whisper, "Who was killed?"

 

[Professor Tahiri]

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
Ａｒｔｈｕｒ Ｒａｄｃｌｉｆｆｅ
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

☆═━┈━┈━┈━┈━═☆
Ｈｅａｄ Ａｕｒｏｒ Ｍｉｎｉｓｔｒｙ Ｏｆ Ｍａｇｉｃ
Ｏｒｄｅｒ Ｏｆ Ｍｅｒｌｉｎˌ Ｔｈｉｒｄ Ｃｌａｓｓ
☆═━┈━┈━┈━┈━═☆

Despite it all, I do this job for my children Tamara and William

☯Arthur turned solemnly to Bailey, one of his newest recruits and sighed. "I'm not sure Officer Oliver. The Headmistress was non-specific. She merely requested out immediate presence. We'll be heading up soon. Steel yourself for your first crime scene. Seeing a body can be kind of rough."☯

▂▃▅{Out Of Character}▅▃▂

 

[Bug430]

"Knowledge is Power"

"The best defense is a good offense"

Arnold Cloud
Occupation: Auror
Thoughts: Who died?
Desires:To know who the heck died.

Arnold appeared behind the two Aurors that were already present, one being the head Auror himself, and the other being the beautiful brunette. Arnold stood behind them, waiting for Arthur to answer the woman's question, because he really wanted to know as well. He listened, looking around at Hogsmeade, knowing that he has not been here in quite a long time. Since his last years at Hogwarts actually. Good times they were.

He was honestly afraid to know who was dead, for their family probably knew them in some way, which is when popularity and success are a curse and not a gift. Arnold felt like a familar name was about to come up. He dreaded that moment for sure.

 

[Ronyo Storm]

Kit Maximas

Transfer Auror from the U.S.

Kit's arrival coincided with a few other Aurors and the combined pops sounded more like large boom. Looking around the member of S.W.O.R.D was already setting himself into register, react, and retain mode with his wand hand hovering over his holstered wand at his side. Hearing question being asked to the Head Auror Kit brought up the earlier orders and thought to act while the team still began to regroup.

"Comm...Sir, I can take a team and secure this area and relay the remaining units your way. The two here would do fine, and seeing as the lady here has not seen a dead body yet she may be better use with her nerves still calm. If we make contact with anything suspicious we can send a Patronus to you."  

[Professor Tahiri]

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
Ａｒｔｈｕｒ Ｒａｄｃｌｉｆｆｅ
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

☆═━┈━┈━┈━┈━═☆
Ｈｅａｄ Ａｕｒｏｒ Ｍｉｎｉｓｔｒｙ Ｏｆ Ｍａｇｉｃ
Ｏｒｄｅｒ Ｏｆ Ｍｅｒｌｉｎˌ Ｔｈｉｒｄ Ｃｌａｓｓ
☆═━┈━┈━┈━┈━═☆

Despite it all, I do this job for my children Tamara and William

☯The American Wizard gave Arthur cause to smirk, despite the grievous situation. "Officer Maximus, I understand your point of view. However, Hogsmeade should be alright, especially since we're leaving from the village. I'll need your military experience to track through the woods if it comes to that. And Officer Oliver will need to experience a body sooner or later. It's in the job description. The rest of the Aurors will catch up. Let's get to the scene of the crime."☯

▂▃▅{Out Of Character}... {Fast Forward to Dungeon Chamber 2}▅▃▂

 

[Porcelaine Ivory]

As a few more fellow aurors arrived on the scene, the experience was becoming more and more realistic to Bailey. She wasn't exactly thrilled that other than the fact that their had been a murder, even the Head Auror knew little about the current situation.

As her eyes scanned the side streets and surrounding forest, ready to spot any movement among the shadows, she realized that, as Kit and Arthur worked out the details, her name had come up.

With a small sigh, her eyebrows dipped to relate her annoyance, though she kept her eyes on the perimeter.
"Actually, gentlemen, the problem is that I have seen a body," she explained, gritting her teeth as the blood-filled images hit her for the second time since arriving in Hogsmeade, this time with full force.

Suddenly, it was her fifth year at Hogwarts again. She stood at that same small clearing in the Forbidden Forest where her uncle had taught her how to become an animagus, that same clearing where he had requested her presence that night. However, the chocolate brown eyes that had emerged from the shadows—so similar to hers—had not belonged to Braylon, but a stranger of sorts, though she had been no stranger to him.
Kiernan Deverell. It had been her grandfather, out of Azkaban and in full flaunt of his past murders, including his own wife. He had instigated the fight—the claws, the blood, and finally, the memory charm that would change everything.
With only a slight change of scenery, she was back in the clearing several days later, but this time, she could feel the pull towards him, feel the desire to serve him, to please him. She could also remember the thoughts and false memories he had planted in her head, and the feelings that accompanied them, the same ones that made her long for her mother's death, her uncle's doom.
Another flash and the fight was on, she had succeeded in tricking her family into the forest, and—morphing into the form of a clouded leopard, which gave her the grace of a dancer, strength of a heavyweight, and skill of a soldier—she struck immediately.
Bailey was happy that her memories had fastforwarded so fast, but not that they had managed to stop on one last, lingering detail. It was the end of the battled, the ominous moon high above the forest canopy. Braylon had already restored her memory—her true memory, but it didn't help her any as she writhed on the ground under the force of Kiernan's cruciatus curse, the unthinkable pain causing her to lose her grip, and forcing her back into her human form. Her mother stood frozen, horrified at the scene, but Braylon had stepped in and finished it all.

Shaking her head as she came back to reality, the detailed images fresh in her mind, she suddenly felt that fuel that had pulsed through her that night, that bravery, that determination.

Now, she remembered why she had taken this job, why she had asked for it. She wanted people like Deverell to be put to justice, and more than anything, she didn't want anyone to have to go through the torment, injuries, and trauma that she had been forced to live through.

Only seconds had passed since she had addressed the men, but the flaw in her comment rang perfectly clear in her ears. Keeping her eyes on the forests' edge, she added, "And come to think of it, it isn't a problem." Her matter-of-factly tone as she followed Arthur out of the village was less of a rude remark to her co-workers, and much more of a source of encouragement for herself.

Only she knew what she had lived through, and only she could move past it, and use it to her advantage.

 

[Ronyo Storm]

Kit Maximas

Transfer Auror from the U.S.

Kit nodded to Arthur as he spoke his orders and the wizard soldier took a step back and cast his eyes around the village. He wasn't use to leaving an area un-cordoned off even if it had little to do with the situation. Hogwarts was a large place this was true but from the reports he had read and the history books he had skimmed through there were plenty of hidden passageways and secret rooms that could get a person out of the castle quickly. A village like this could be easy enough to hide in if the murderer had friends or any relations within. The forest did seem a more likely place though, given the stories behind it and the lack of line of sight once you entered it.

Kit turned as the woman to whom Kit had addressed earlier spoke about seeing a body not bothering her. The time, even short, between her first statement and her last was long enough to show she was likely thinking of something. What it was did not concern Kit so long as his team members could function properly in the heat of combat and at the most stressful times. Anything else was better left for down time and leave. As Arthur moved to the castle Kit stepped in line and moved with his team, hand still hovering over his holstered wand.  

[MJ Spooks]

Amata Harlowe
Professor of Mythology // Wandering Hogsmeade Village // Wearing
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spaceAmata entered Hogsmeade village with a smile on her face, flipping her hair over her shoulder. It had been a very long time since she'd been here, but, as she'd be returning to Hogwarts in the Fall, this time as a teacher, she thought she'd stop by and see if things had changed any. And they certainly had. Some things were still the same, the Three Broomsticks was still there, as was Honeydukes and the Shrieking Shack was still sitting up on the hill. But, there were so many new places. She barely recognized the place! Still, it was nice to be back.'What to do first? I could stop by the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer... But then, it's been a while since I had chocolate from Honeydukes... Hm... decisions, decisions...' As she considered her options, she walked slowly, her eyes travelling over the landscape, taking in the newer shops and the general atmosphere of the village. Time was a strange thing. It itself was constant, but the passage of it changed everything else... Part of her missed how things had been so much simpler as a child, and seeing things through her adult eyes certainly changed things. That and the actual differences in the village made her feel like a child, and yet not at the same time. Like herself, and yet a completely different person. It was a strange feeling... She decided to just walk for a bit, take things in. Get a feel for the new Hogsmeade.

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[MJ Spooks]

Amata Harlowe
Professor of Mythology // Wandering Hogsmeade Village // Wearing
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spaceAs she walked the up the street, she noticed a rather sad looking young man, younger even than herself, but certainly an adult. She watched as he bit into his fingers, biting so hard they bled, and pulled out his wand to murmur a quick spell. Concern clouded her face as she approached the young man. 'He looks so distressed...' "Excuse me, are you quite alright?" There was something profoundly lost about him... as though he'd suffered a great tragedy and had no one in the world to help him. It wasn't a feeling Amata knew personally, coming from a very close, very loving and supportive family, but she'd read and researched many a story of souls who had lost something dear enough to them that they felt hopeless. He seemed to fit that description, just by looking at him, and it made her ache.

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[MJ Spooks]

Amata Harlowe
Professor of Mythology // Wandering Hogsmeade Village // Wearing
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spaceAmata watched the wall go up, could actually see the man changing his demeanor due to her presence. He said he was fine, but she wasn't fooled. "You'll have to forgive me if I need convincing. People who are 'very well' don't typically bite into their own fingers until they bleed without noticing. Is something the matter?" She knew she shouldn't pry, that if he said he was alright, he likely didn't want to share, but she couldn't help but want to help him. She'd always been deeply compassionate, and very good at reading people. Her intuition told her there was something troubling him, and she had a compulsion to try to help. Whatever was wrong with him, he was trying to bury it deep, didn't want people to know. But keeping things like that to yourself often ended up doing more harm than good, and if he needed someone to talk to, she was more than happy to oblige.

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(( OOC: ))
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