Forum Thread

Faith grins “Indeed you can’t. Does she always bother you? What even is her connection to you?”

---

Suvansh nodded at Jules' words wistfully. Destiny would be as it's written to be. It won't change however much they try. He didn't make anything off Jules' joke, he was an occlument, but not a good legiliment. He couldn't discern lies easily, especially if out of a very good friend. As he began to foster him a reply, he heard through the school loudspeakers, the loud and booming, yet calm voice of Professor Mcgonagall for everyone to assemble at the Great Hall yet again. Was it about the song? There never had been a day at Hogwarts for him when they had all the students assembled again at the Great Hall at night, not at all on the first day of school! Something wasn't quite right. He lazily got up from his bed, nudged for Jules to come, and went to the Great Hall.

After hearing the PrOpHeCy, he shifted nervously on his seat and glanced at Jules. Their suspicions had been confirmed, they were indeed talking about Patronuses, but the rest of it-
"The Rising Dark Lord Shall too appear in our school."
"There will be unpreventable deaths"
"Now even who emerges victorious I’m no longer sure….." These concerned him greatly. And above it all, he wondered why did Mcgonagall actually think it was a good idea to gather about the ENTIRE school to hear this prophecy. Cause if anything, the students were just scared now. Nervous whispering was rampant around, even though there was more of curious questioning from the younger students about what a patronus is. Everyone surely had heard the verse about deaths right? He had to talk to Mcgonagall about it. He couldn't resist himself. He glanced at Jules as if wanting him to come with him, and got up from his seat and approached the end of the Hall, where they were proceeding to take away the Sorting Hat. "Professor?" he addressed to the Headmistress, "We need to talk- we need to find out who all in the school have a patronus as mentioned in the song, and we need to monitor, who could be the Rising Dark Lord! I want to help, professor, please." He might've been getting ahead of himself, as always, especially how the teachers would obviously not want to endanger students, and wouldn't want him "helping" them, but they did bring them together to hear the development. And if the years under fear of Voldemort had shown them anything, it was that teachers needed to trust the students. As an afterthought, he added, "My patronus is a dove, if you were wondering." He thought about telling her about Jules' patronus being a bear, but decided it was on him if he wanted to tell her that right now.

---

Pouting and whining, Jules rolled out of bed and straightened out his uniform. The moment that he stepped outside the dorm room, he fell easily into the model head boy gently reassuring other Hufflepuffs and assuaging their worries. Pushing his own misgivings and worries, letting his sense of duty take over and let the mantle of responsibility push himself forward. He would have time to contemplate the reason for such an odd announcement later, for now the others came first. It was especially hard as some of the first years were beside themselves with panic but with calm murmurs and softer smiles, it was easily to at least corral the rest into waddling behind him like lost ducklings.

It took a lot more than that to calm the young ones when the newest song was belted out for all to hear

Kneeling by each first year and gently making sure that each one was assured and sent back to the Hufflepuff common rooms with a prefect, Jules knees pulsed with pain as he waved to the final first year who was led out of the Great Hall. With the youngest and most vulnerable of them tucked into the warmth of their common room, he set his mind to the next most important task; receiving instructions from the Headmistress. A part of him nagged to talk with the other juniors, the urge to protect those younger than him rearing its head, but he forced them down in order to join Suvansh to talk with McGonagall. "Headmistress." He greeted with a shallow bow. "The Hufflepuffs first years have been sent back to the common rooms. They seemed understandably shaken up and I fear that many will be unable to rest very well." His report was short and succinct, leaving out no detail yet the snappy nature of it made it easy to listen to, staying objective and to the point. No mention was made of himself.

Perhaps it was because he was still indecisive but the thought of being involved in such a high stakes prophecy was nerve wracking. All he had ever wanted was to lay low and quietly disappear once he graduated. Being named as head boy threw a little wrench in those plans as now he had the eyes of the entire Hufflepuff house and the faculty on him. It would make quietly leaving a little harder but it wouldn't be impossible. Associating with something as big as the revival of a new dark lord was sure to shine an unwanted spotlight on him. But on the other hand, Jules felt a sense of duty to at least try. A bear patronus clearly applied to him and it would be foolish to not at least try.

---

Professor McGonagall looks just as worried as she once did when Voldemort tried breaching Hogwarts to find Harry Potter those ten years ago. “Very well, Suvansh. Do the best you can to find out who’s patronus has been included in the prophecy, then find a suitable time to gather and meet me in my study. Jules, thank you for reassuring the students. Perhaps you could help Suvansh? I fear the time has come where students will have to be escorted to classes once more. If many incidents occur consistently, we may have to shut the school down. Quidditch for now on…….” McGonagall sighs and pauses, thinking. “I’ll let it go on for now. No point striking so much fear into them now…not when…” She nods curtly to them, before turning to the rest still waiting in the Great Hall. “You are dismissed. Go straight to your common rooms or dormitories, please. It’s getting late. Classes will resume as usual, and I expect all of you to do your best. Exams are still going to take place.”


(Jules, Suvansh, you guys can assume a few days have passed, and you have rounded up the students, just indicate it in the posts you make. The rest of you, interact, go to class and do whatever you wish. Just respond if Suvansh or Jules talks to you about your patronus.)

---

Soleil ignored all the whispers as she went to her normal morning class. Per usual, she was half skipping, half dancing down the hallway. People were talking about the prophecy, and she honestly did not want to get involved in any of that. She wanted to survive her final year, that was her only goal. She was reasonably safe as well, as she was sure no one but her knew what her patronus was. If they chose to gather the prophecy people, or what ever it was they were going to be called, they would do it without their leopard.

Rey went back to the slytherin room, extremely salty from all the patronus talk from everyone else. Seriously, was he the only one in the year who can't seem to cast a patronus? Entering the slytherin room, he opened up his suitcase. "Capacious extremis" he muttered, and jumped into the suitcase.

The suitcase, now with it's insides much larger than it's exterior due to the extension spell, served Rey as his own private room, just like the room of requirement thing he heard from the others. There was everything he needed there. Food, water, a bed, books, and a empty space, filled with scorch marks which he used to practice his new spells. It didn't have a toilet though, so he had to leave to suitcase to do his business. It had "almost" everything, making the suitcase his go-to hideout to spend all his free time in, much to the other slytherins disappointment, who had spent hours searching for him after his multiple disappearances.

Sitting down, he grabbed a book: "A beginners guide to Patronuses", a book he had read 5 times already, and went to work.

---

"Yes, she does." Dimitri hesitated, before saying, "She's..well, let's just say that our parents knew each other."

He was silent on the way back to the Slytherin dormitory.


As the days went on, Dimitri did his best to keep a low profile. Jennifer wasn't particularly nasty to him, something that, secretly, relived him greatly. He did as well as any third year, though he pushed his limits, often being foud fallen asleep in the Slytherin common room with a textbook, or up early practicing spells. He made no effort to make friends, and did his best to push the Prophecy from his mind. Though, he did check out a book on Patronuses...

---

Emika was studying for both normal classes and her own studies of magic. Specifically, the Patronus charm. To cast the charm, it was more than just a simple movement of the wand and an incantation. The Patronus was made up of happiness, specifically a happy memory. That was what she was focused on; summoning a happy memory. She was currently meditating in the dorms on her bed, her darling pet, a green tree python named Emerald, slithering around her in a slow circle. Emika combed through her mind palace, ignoring the second occupant for the time being, in search of a happy memory. There were moments of pride, depression, anger, but so far no truly happy. Frowning, Emika realized she needed to go to before. Before her deal. Before her... With this, she found a memory of pure happiness; the last birthday she'd celebrated with her parents... She turned 8 at that birthday, and her parents pampered her on it... But despite her proud feelings, there was familial love, happiness in the form of spending time with the ones you loved...
A voice called out to Emika. "Emika. Are you alright?" Opening her eyes, Emika saw the source of the voice. Emerald was looking at her with concern. She realized she had started to cry, tears falling down her cheeks. Wiping them away, Emika reassured her python, "I am fine, Emerald. Jussst... reminissscing." She stroked Emerald's head to soothe her pet. At least something had come out of this moment of research...

---

“I see…” she replies. Faith goes to find Dimitri after a few days, lifting up the snake in her hands. “Will Sparkles cheer you up?” She asks politely, making sure she doesn’t disturb anyone. “Or maybe you need a blanket, and hot cocoa.”

---

This time, Dimitri was expecting Faith. "Why would I need cheering up?" he started to say, but sighed. "Sure, I'll hold your snake." Dimitri was used to all kinds of animals, and snakes were no exception. He closed his book on Patronuses and started to put it away.

---

Sterling had been researching Patronuses for a few days, keeping up with her classes, and trying to relax. It wasn't easy trying to relax at all

---

Faith’s smile splits into a really really wide grin- not unlike the Cheshire Cat. She places the reticulated python
onto Dimitri, before hissing out in Parseltongue “ Be nice to him okay, Sparkles? Don’t bite him.” She then turns to Dimitri. “I’d assume you know how to hold a python. Besides, it’s pretty obvious you need cheering up. You’ve been very tired, and obviously avoiding what’s-her-name-again. Or at least you’re attempting to. Hey wait— is that a book on patronuses?”

---

Sterling stopped by at the library where she could be at peace for just a little while. She needed to know more about Patronuses, what she learned from the helpful Ravenclaw student was not enough. She sat down and grabbed her favorite book of all time on magical creatures, and started reading.

---

Dimitri chuckled dryly, "You don't hold back, do ya?" He sighed. "I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. Her name's Jennifer, by the way. And if you didn't notice, she's been giving me trouble." He quickly stuffed the book in his bag. "What? No, it isn't.."

---

“No I don’t. And I did notice, that’s why I said you were trying to avoid Jennifer, because you managed to fail quite spectacularly. But on the other hand, I can’t seem to find a good reason as to why she would want to bother you so. And of course you’re overworking, that’s why you can’t sleep yet. For goodness sake, you’re being more hardworking than a Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw combined!” She sniggers at Dimitri’s attempt to hide the book. “I should have made myself clearer. That is indeed a book on patronuses. So you’re considering the prophecy?”

---

"We've got a lot of bad history, I'm afraid. Goes beyond just Hogwarts." He was silent for a minute. "I have to push my limits, Faith. If I don't, I'll fall below my own goals and I'll be ruined. And..fine, yes, I am."

---

Having learned what she wanted, Sterling walked out of the library with no destination in mind. "It looks hard to conjure, what if I can't conjure a patronus?" Sterling asked herself as she walked through the hallways. "What if my Patronus is one of the prophecy animals? I don't think I'm ready to find out."

"Sterling, stop worrying too much." She continued talking to herself. "Stay calm, you don't have a patronus yet and it hopefully won't be a prophecy animal, that would be bad."

---

Rey leapted out of his suitcase, now a smoking mess, having used the Reducto curse on "a beginners guide to patronuses" Yet again, he still couldn't cast a patronus. Coughing out smoke, he ran to the bathroom to wash up.

---

Just outside of Hogwarts, is a chariot slowly approaching the main entrance. A lone figure silently sits in the chariot. Her head is slightly bent, as if to protect her face from the blinding sun. Dark green eyes peek out from underneath her mess of windblown hair and gaze out at her surroundings. Even though she's seen it seven times, she couldn't help but stare in astonishment. Hogwarts was truly a magnificent place. Every time felt like the first.

"You're late" was the only words her chauffeur exchanged with her. Cass couldn't help but smirk at this. Better late than never she responded silently. Her parents were rightfully angry when they found out that she missed the train, fortunately, they were able to organize another means of travel. She left with the promise of improving her skills in spellcasting. The reminder makes her visibly wince. This was a promise she'd likely break.

Cass catches the eyes of a few students as she strolled into Hogwarts. Most of them gave her curious looks, while a few ignored her. She did her best not to draw attention to herself. Instead she kept her head low, trying to hide her flushed face. How could I end up being late? Hopefully I didn't miss anything important... She pauses only to draw a hand over her hair, smoothing it down and making her look much more presentable. With newfound confidence she strides down the hallway and moves towards the Hufflepuff common room.

In the library, Mickey is reading a large unknown book, "Hm, interesting." He said.