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Post by Nicholas Gawain Lannsman on Feb 11, 2008 8:05:29 GMT -5
"What were those things, sir?"
"Is everyone alright?"
Nicholas nodded and waved his hands, trying toquiet everyone down. "Yes, yes. Everyone is alright and in the care of some of St.Mungo's finest. Professor Longbottom went directly to there through the Floo network and they came back faster than you can blink. Everyone is alright, thank Heavens."
"What about those...those things Nick?"
"Are they dead?"
"Are there any more?"
Nicholas waited for them to hush a small degree. "There's nothing else attacking the castle right now. As far as we know, there might be something lurking about the halls, but I severely doubt it was some large scale, plotted assault of the castle. In any case, I'll be seeing to it that there is some sort of increased security of sorts and patrols through the castle. Shellivia was part of the ministry hunting down things far more foul than these critters. If there is anything to be worried about, she'll find it."
"Is there anything we can do?"
"I feel so useless..."
Nicholas thought about it for a few moments. "I'll see about talking to the Headmistress about if any students from seventh year can join a volunteer patrol group with me. I'll give those students a thorough test of their abilities and then we'll see. Some sixth years, maybe. I guess we'll see how much you were paying attention in DADA and Care of magical creatures now won't we?"
Some students chuckles a bit.
"Don't worry. This will be taken care of. None of you have to be concerned, it's our responsibility to watch over you. It's our fault that we weren't able to prevent more of the damage." he finished.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Feb 11, 2008 8:41:54 GMT -5
After some time had passed since she went upstairs, Lilianne came back down with the older girl.
She was now wearing a fresh set of clothes, and all the blood, tears, dirt and food had been washed from all over her. The only signs left that she had been involved in the attacks were the nasty rashes all over her face and arms, and her gloomy mood. She was still clutching Dinsdale against her chest, and she held her schoolbag in her other hand.
The older girl guided her up to an empty couch where they both sat together as Nicholas was still reassuring the students, and the girl started carefully untangling Lilianne's hair with a brush.
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Feb 11, 2008 11:10:12 GMT -5
Stevie loved the house he was in. His head of house was the DADA teacher. Everyone supported each other, yet had a sense of humor. Legends came from here, most often. Stevie didn't doubt that there were legends coming elsewhere, but it seemed as if Gryffindor was the 'house to be'.
But Stevie could be in any of the other three houses, and his mood would not change in the slightest. The Slytherines were probably joking about the ugly appearance of the animals. The Hufflepuffs were probably focusing on calming down. And the Ravenclaws were probably trying to find out what these things were. By now, Stevie noticed, everyone was in the common room, crowding around Nick. Or, at least, it seemed so from the commotion.
He contemplated going up to his bed and just sleeping. He also contemplated on playing his guitar, or just waiting up there. But he liked the fire, and he was close enough to a window that it didn't matter. So, he had enough things to stare at in his stunned, statuesque silence.
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Post by Nicholas Gawain Lannsman on Feb 11, 2008 13:51:00 GMT -5
Nicholas smiled when Lilianne made her way back down. Things seemed to be under control enough. He answered the questions as best as he could, trying to keep everyoneès spirits up but with a few warnings to be cautions and to wait until further notice.
He kept a measured calm and supportive, paternal smile to the students, as though they too were like his children. His green eyed gaze finally fell upon Stevie. The young man was usually rather rambunctious, a tad much to control when under the influence of sugar, but spirited and good willed. Now,he sat at the couch almost as broken as Lilianne. Not able to let it slip, he finished with his last question and looked to Stevie.
''Stevie, are you going to be alright?'' he asked, gently. His gaze was concerned.
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Feb 11, 2008 14:09:15 GMT -5
Lilianne looked up when Nicholas adressed Stevie. She had been worrying about him, but she was so tired and emotionnaly shaken that even simply talking was straining at this point. She was glad Nicholas questionned him for her.
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Feb 11, 2008 14:10:39 GMT -5
Stevie didn't move at all for a few seconds. Then, he simply moved a shoulder, no more than a twitch, but it was somewhat a shrug. He couldn't find the breath or the effort to talk anywhere within him, only that little bit of a shrug. He was surprised at himself. Maybe it was because of the crowd, maybe it was because he was tired. He didn't know.
He looked like a mess. His hair was covering his face, but that was only the way he landed on the couch. He felt no need to try to get it out. His eyes looked like they lost all of their natural glow to them, and he kept a straight face. This was not like Stevie, and he knew that the students would be talking about this, and pretty soon the whole school would know. Stevie didn't care. He didn't care about much right now.
(... I need an avatar >>)
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Feb 11, 2008 14:23:28 GMT -5
Lilianne stared at Stevie, looking very worried, though she winced slightly a couple of times as the older girl caught some bad knots in her hair.
"Woops, sorry. Man, your hair's really tangled, honey! I better be careful or I'll tear it all off from your head!" She joked in a low voice.
Lilianne ignored the girl and spoke up in a weak, troubled voice.
"Did you get hurt, Stevie?"
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Feb 11, 2008 14:24:41 GMT -5
Stevie shook his head slowly, more hair ending up in his face. It was just his luck, the way his luck's been going.
(Ugh. Really bad post. *is sick ._.*)
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Feb 11, 2008 15:37:46 GMT -5
Lilianne looked up to Nicholas, feeling at lost.
She could only hope that Stevie was simply tired from all of the night's scary events, like many other students.
She though that maybe a night's rest was all that was needed for Stevie to go back to his usual, hyper self.
That would at least make one of us that feels better, she though gloomily, as she didn't see much hope for herself, not unless the night's events could be magically erased.
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Post by Nicholas Gawain Lannsman on Feb 11, 2008 17:44:05 GMT -5
Why did they have to see such things at such a young age. They're children. Poor boy must be traumatized at seeing all this. They all are.
Nicholas sighed slowly and looked to the Gryffindors before speaking again.
"Now listen here, all of you. What happened this evening was something not seen in Hogwarts history for a long time. These beasts came here, probably unwittingly and wreaked havoc among those innocent people. I know that you're afraid. I'm not going to lie; I'm absolutely terrified. Not for myself-"
He looked at his children and at students. "For them. For you. And you. And those people injured tonight. But, we could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. What we can do is learn from this. History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
He gave them a smile. "We'll get through this. All of us, including those people downstairs. And we'll get to the bottom of this. Until any official motions are taken care of, we still have each other for help, support and friendship. That includes the other Houses. We're all in this together."
He looked to Stevie and the rest of the students. "You should all be getting your rest. It's been a long and tiring night, and you all need you're beauty sleep. Seriously, you all look like garden gnomes dragged though a landfill." he added, trying to lighten the mood. His gaze wandered to Lilianne.
"Ready, dear?"
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Post by Lilianne Wesker on Feb 11, 2008 17:59:15 GMT -5
"Yes, Sir." Said Lilianne as she got up, putting Dinsdale in his favorite spot inside the hood of her cloak, and then picking up her bag. She turned to the girl who had been helping her out. "Thank you."
"Anytime, dear, you just tell me if you need anything!" the girl said, smiling warmly.
Lilianne walked over to Stevie. She made a motion to touch his shoulder, but refrained at the last second.
"Good night, Stevie... I'll see you later..."
As Lilianne was seeing Stevie, the older girl walked over to Nicholas, and adressed him in a low voice.
"Sir, if you're taking her back to the hospital wing, you might want to have the doctors check her out. She's bruised all over. It doesn't look serious, but some of those cuts looked like they stung a lot when I helped her clean up. She's so upset, I'm not even sure she realizes she's physically hurt..."
The girl raised an eyebrow, taking a step back before she went on. "You might want to get them to take a look at that, too", she said, pointing at Nicholas' forehead.
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Post by Stevie Copeland on Feb 11, 2008 18:07:34 GMT -5
Stevie knew his Head of House was a good speaker. Excellent, he would say without a second thought. But still, he said nothing about it not being other people's faults, and he shouldn't have had to. He had no idea that Stevie felt this way, he wasn't a mind reader.
Stevie trudged upstairs, first, to his bed. He doubted he'd get any sleep, like the past several nights, only nodding at Lilianne, unable to smile.
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Post by Nicholas Gawain Lannsman on Feb 11, 2008 18:40:47 GMT -5
Nicholas nodded somewhat at the girl's mention of his injury and Lilianne's. "I think it might be wise. I wasn't worried so much about myself, and the adrenaline is more or less gone from the two of us. Besides, there were others who needed the attention more than we did. But thank you for your help."
He ushered his children up as he stood, both sticking close to his legs as much as possible without tripping him. Nicholas looked to Lilianne. "Come on now. We need to get going."
"We'll come along too!"
Nicholas turned to a group of older students. There was Gavin Woodward, along with Nicole Wood, Fred Weasley and a few other older students. They seemed determined and unflinching. Together they moved towards Nicholas and Lilianne.
"We're going to escort you to the Hospital Wing, Sir." Gavin said.
"Gavin, all of you, it's too dangerous-"
"And let you go alone with three people under your protection, two of which don't know magic and yourself injured? I think it's more dangerous for them if you went on your own." Fred said, driving on.
"In a large group like this, we can safely come back, we know the dangers." Nicole added, before Nicholas could respond.
The words seemed to drive home and he stood, frowning for a good handful of moments. They were going with or without his permission. And they were right.
Nicholas conceded with a nod. "Alright. Come on."
As they began to move, Fred couldn't help but ask.
"So, does that mean we get extra marks?"
"No."
"Just checking."
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