Caught in the act [Cont. from Prof Pye, Aladren CR] on Cascade Hall

Selina and Anon

September 25, 2015 11:47 PM

Caught in the act [Cont. from Prof Pye, Aladren CR] by Selina and Anon

Selina tried not to think what might have happened if Professor Pye hadn’t set his students that particular assignment. She was glad that they had a likely suspect, and was trying to focus on that, rather than the fact that they only did through lucky coincidence.

It had been agreed that trying to scan the gardens was a waste of time - there were far too many critters lurking out there to be able to pick out one. Besides which, it probably knew that territory pretty well and would be good at evading them. Instead, a snaring charm had been placed around the school. Any creature other than the prairie elves that ventured in would find itself quite free and unimpeded. At least, until it tried to leave again, at which point it would find itself trapped on the spot it had ventured to. Although Selina had asked for the spell to trigger an alarm in her office, all the staff were under instructions to stun the creature if they found it, and the students had been warned that they might come across it, that it might try taunting them with their secrets and that they were to fetch a Professor immediately. Now, she supposed, there was little to do but wait, and hope they were vaguely correct.

*

There was just one more thing he wanted to say. Not that it was the last issue left in the school by any means - teenagers were such a rich source of lies and angst - but this was a good one. One to end on before the endless summer. It was going to be lonely, all those weeks with no one to play with.

It had been a hard choice, whether to use this boy or the wolf as his grand finale, but the moon phases had helped him decide. Besides, at least the wizarding world had some laws for dealing with people like that. This…. this was new.

He snuck into the school, inhaling deeply as he went, the rich scent of all that deceit. All the little lies that had soaked the stones for years, about why classes had been missed or homework had not been done, all the way up to big juicy morsels like this.

He had thought about using the Astronomy Room as a fitting setting but it was so out of the way, with few students venturing there. In the end, he had decided to go back to where he’d begun it all. A rudimentary couple of stars and a moon accompanied his message.

’Not from round here’ doesn’t come close.

Satisfied, he turned to leave. He shook himself. Tried again, although the panic had set in from the first moment that he’d found himself unable to move. He’d been trapped.

*

Selina dragged herself out of bed and into some clothes. The dawn light was creeping through the window. It seemed their visitor was cutting this one fine, and that - in spite of being raised by the alarm spell - she might only just be the first one on the scene.

It was a strange sight that greeted her. Firstly, the creature itself was peculiar, like a rather large, overgrown monkey, but with with a face more like a house-elf - pointed ears, wide eyes. It tried once again to squirm away as she came nearer, but could make no progress. It might have looked comical, floundering against nothing, if it hadn’t been giving her such a headache all term. As she closed the distance, it seemed to resign itself to its fate, settling instead for turning those large lamp-like eyes on her.

“At last, it’s over,” the Satori mocked. In spite of knowing its tricks it was alarming to hear it talk to her in her own voice. “Except there’s still the students. They’re still angry and hurt and they might not forgive me.”

“Who were you writing about in the Gardens?” Selina asked it. “Who broke the statute of secrecy?”

“I don’t want them to fight with each other, or to hate me or the school,” the Satori continued, “Sometimes,” it said in a perfect imitation of her most exasperated tone, “I think it’d just be easier to obliviate the lot of them.”

“I’m sure most teachers have thought that or worse. You can see in my mind that I only idly think that - I never really mean it. And you know that I’m going to knock you out and send you off to a research facility. It could be a nice one or it could be one with big pointy sticks,” she said, trying to conceal the doubt she felt about that being a real possibility. “Who were you referring to that broke the statue of secrecy?”

“And who in Crotalus is jealous? And was it my third year girls that were talked about? What does this one mean,” he nodded at the latest rumour, “And who’s gay?”

Certainly her curiosity had idled over all these matters. She could pretend it was for concern for the students, for wanting to know their problems and to help, to stop fights breaking out in her house, but really part of her had been as bad as the rest of them, wanting to know for knowing’s sake what everyone kept hidden. She heard footsteps of someone approaching.

“One more chance…”

“And would you look at the young staff! I hope I was better at hiding my hangovers when I was their age…”

With a roll of her eyes, Selina stunned the creature.

13 Selina and Anon Caught in the act [Cont. from Prof Pye, Aladren CR] 26 Selina and Anon 1 5

DH Skies

September 25, 2015 11:47 PM

[Later that day] Wrapping things up by DH Skies

The unconscious Satori had been bundled into a cage and was awaiting collection at the edge of the grounds. By the time that had been handled, breakfast was done and it was time for classes. Selina had sent a memo out to all first period teachers, asking for students to convene at eleven in the Cascade Hall. At the start of the lunch period, she stood to address them.

“For those of you who didn’t witness the capture of the Satori, I’m pleased to report that our suspicions were correct and it will shortly be removed by a research team. It is possible we will get it back in the future, but rest assured that it will only be once we have sufficient measures to control it, and to make sure it doesn’t interfere in student life again.

“I could tell you what an exciting discovery this is, and that you should be pleased for the prestige it will bring to the school in having identified and captured a new sub-species, but I doubt many of you will care,” there were, she thought, one or two Aladrens who might forgive any personal pain if it was for the good of science, but she thought they were few and far between, even in that house, “Not when it was at the cost of your secrets and your private feelings being dragged into the open for scrutiny by everyone else. That wasn’t nice. And the scientific importance of the Satori does nothing to change that fact.

“We’re sorry that that happened,” Selina had never been able to stand adults who couldn’t bring themselves to apologise to children. Adults could be wrong and she didn’t trust any who had forgotten that. Even if, in this case, it was no personal fault of anyone. “We hope that you will do your best to support each other - to show kindness and understanding where your friends have confided in you, and to gracefully forget what others never wanted you to know.

“We have one remaining concern, which we have been working out how to deal with. The last secret to be revealed in the gardens implied something of a more serious nature. We understand that accidents happen. Sometimes, the truth gets out. If that person wishes to approach any staff member to discuss what has happened, we will do our best to support them, and help them to put things right without punishment. The research team taking the Satori have signed a contract agreeing that any disclosures it makes about Sonora staff or students will be treated with confidentiality. However, if it discloses to them that wizarding law has been broken, they will be compelled to act, and it will be harder for us to help you,” the last part, perhaps, was stretching the truth. A government enforcement squad was not, under any circumstances, going to break down the door and seize a student. It would go through her and Mortimer, one way or the other. She would just rather it was because the student in question told them than because someone else did. “The Satori is capable of mimicking voices very exactly,” of course, she had no idea whether that required a proximity to the person or whether the creature even had a long term memory for the things it had learnt.

“Our doors are open to that person, along with anyone else who wishes to discuss what has happened to them. It would be nice to draw a line under these matters before our concert next Friday. I’m looking forward to seeing this term out on a positive note, with the performances you’ve worked so hard to prepare for us, and then seeing you all off for what I hope will be a calm and restful summer break. Let’s look forward to those things, and to a fresh school year in September. Thank you for your time, enjoy your lunch.”

13 DH Skies [Later that day] Wrapping things up 26 DH Skies 0 5

Clark Dill

September 26, 2015 11:40 PM

Fight or flight by Clark Dill

Clark was up early as he usually was. He had always been a morning person - Dad theorized it might an alien thing because humans, especially human teenagers, generally were more inclined to stay up late and get up late but Clark was the exact opposite. He no longer wandered about like a zombie after eight thirty or crashed unconscious on the floor at 9:01 pm, but he was often asleep in bed well before curfew began, depending on his library duties.

And as Ben Franklin (another secret alien perhaps?) advised, Clark was as early to rise as he was early to bed. Few were the days when he was not waiting for breakfast when the Cascade Hall opened.

On this particular day, Clark's morning began as it did most days with a quick shower and slipping out of the dorm with as little interaction with Oliver as possible. He considered it a good omen if he was gone before his roommate even woke up.

Later, he couldn't recall which omen he'd encountered that particular morning, but given what happened in front of the Hall, he reasoned that he must not have woken early enough that day. In truth, his memory of that whole morning was a bit sketchy.

He recalled his first indication that something was amiss was that he'd heard Professor Skies talking to herself. Then, he'd rounded the corner just in time to see her stun a monkey thing he'd later learn was a newly discovered subspecies of Satori. And as amazing as that was, what the Satori had scratched on the Cascade Hall door had blown all other thought from Clark's mind and he wasn't able to, even in recollection, separate the terror of that moment from the scientific discovery.

It was significant to note now that his Dad was beyond frugal. Most of their furniture came from yard sales or curbsides with placards that read 'Free' or '$15 dollars or best offer' - Dad usually offered $5, and people who just wanted the battered shelf or whatever off their driveway would often go for it. Such furniture was never in good condition, and Dad had a whole arsenal of spells he used to fix them up and make them look - well, not new, but at least sturdy and not horribly scratched and dinged.

On that morning, in front of Professor Skies, the unconscious Satori, and he didn't know who else might have come along, Clark had gone white as a sheet. With his greatest fear realized - his boggart had a new form he suspected - he went into Fight or Flight. His panicking brain remembered the Transfiguration board and his failure to erase it before people saw it. People could not see this. They must not.

Every spell Clark had ever seen his Dad use to repair the scratches and dents on their second- or third- hand furniture flew now at the Hall door. That was Fight. Flight took hold when the message was obliterated enough that it was no longer legible. He spent his morning classes huddled under a desk in the Astronomy classroom.

When no secret governmental agents found him and hauled him away to be experimented upon, he emerged in time to slink off to the Hall for lunch. He'd missed breakfast and his stomach would not suffer a second skipped meal (he had that much in common with fully human teenagers). He wasn't sure what kind or reception to expect after his panicked attack on the door earlier, but as he arrived the staff were addressing everyone with the details of what had been going on all year.

It didn't make everything better. He would grant that it helped. That it was a new species was actually pretty cool.

But it didn't change the fact that Clark's origins had been advertised publicly and he'd reacted in a way that was clearly indicative that *he* had been the subject - and worse, he had done so with witnesses present. He eyed Professor Skies nervously as she had been the only one he knew for sure had seen his outburst, but he hadn't looked around to see who else might have been a hungry early riser.

Professor Skies though - at least right now, in front of the whole school - seemed more concerned about whomever had broken the statute of secrecy. But then, he knew wizarding folk, and particularly the Sonora staff who had battled not one but two invasions, were both aware of and keen to deny the existence of an alien threat.

He wondered if her offer of amnesty applied equally to him after he had endangered the entire school his first year when his biological father's people had tried to find him. Of course, she didn't know who had done that while she must have a pretty good idea who 'wasn't from around here' now. She didn't need him to volunteer his identity.

Somebody said something closer to him than he was expecting and he visibly jumped. He didn't yelp, which he was pretty proud about, but his voice was higher pitched than it should have been when he asked, "What?"

1 Clark Dill Fight or flight 277 Clark Dill 0 5

John Umland

September 28, 2015 11:01 AM

The desert makes flight a little impractical. by John Umland

When Professor Skies urged the student body to enjoy its first truly nerve-free lunch in months, John obediently filled a bowl with soup. He stirred the soup to cool it, his eyes on the bowl as though this were his main interest in life. He had no idea what kind of soup it was. His mind raced as he stirred.

One of the first points it landed on was also one of the most pointless: a vague feeling of satisfaction. He had not suspected a new sub-species of Satori, but he had considered ‘magical creature with thought-sensing abilities’. He had suspected a disgruntled prairie elf and considered several plans for observing and narrowing down the candidates before he realized he had no idea what he’d do if he actually caught it. He knew the words to erase chunks of something’s memory and as much of the theory of how it worked as Julian’s Charms books thought newly-minted adults needed to, but his magical abilities didn't quite match his level of knowledge yet and he wasn’t going to practice high-level spells on a fellow intelligent being this year unless he really had no other choice. He had wanted to shut a gossipy elf up (all right, and maybe beat it up too, but that was irrelevant), not give it an aneurysm.

It was not a disgruntled prairie elf, though. It was something new altogether. A new, apparently sapient – he had spent a lot of time thinking about what traits the person writing on the walls would have to have over the past year, even picking up new skills himself as he tested out his theories – species had appeared in his school. The scientist in him couldn’t help joining up with the moralist to argue with the pragmatist who kind of wanted to try to sneak out, find it, and convince himself it wasn't really intelligent before it could leave school grounds. This was amazing, far more than Professor Skies had even hinted at in that somewhat patronizing speech – which was, of course, the most important part of the day of all, at least for him.

That wasn’t nice aside, she’d hit what his books made him think were all the right notes: My doors are open. I understand. Right now, for a very limited time, I can help you, but only if you tell me everything. We can fix this together. And the bad thing, at least from his perspective, was that it was working. He knew she was lying to him, he couldn’t believe a seven-year-old would believe the rubbish about the possibility of getting off scot-free, but his nerves were nearly shot and he was desperate for a way out and he wanted to believe her so much that she was starting to look like an option he should consider even though he knew what she was doing. If she could get into his head this easily just by addressing the school, did he really have the slightest chance of handling himself if anyone started to suspect him specifically?

Right now, though, was not the time to take any options that didn't involve sandwiches, because this was not the place to do anything. He forced a few bites of his soup – carrot, it turned out, with ginger and lemon; not bad – down and actually felt a little better. He looked around, trying to gauge the mood of the table, and was surprised to see Clark.

“Hey,” he said. “Where were you this morning?”

Clark jumped, and his tone suggested John had just denounced him to the entire table. John blinked. What on earth would....

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Just wondering if you’re all right. You weren’t in class,” he observed pointlessly, as Clark presumably knew he hadn’t been in class and was far sicker than he looked if he did not know it. Illness was, after all, the only reason John could imagine for Clark missing a class, and he was annoyed with Brockert and Skies for dragging a sick man out of bed for this. They might well suspect Clark, and anyone who knew him at all would know he was probably one of that small group of students intelligent enough to find the discovery of a new species interesting, but all of it could have waited until he was on his feet, couldn’t it? John had figured he'd take his notes by the hospital wing after classes anyway and would have informed Clark about the new creature and the possibility of Sonora getting it back for study himself. For one thing, that was the sort of thing they were both interested in, and for another, cheerily discussing the possibility of a science club interview with the research team made John look less like someone worried about what might come out of that thing's mouth while it was in the lab.

16 John Umland The desert makes flight a little impractical. 285 John Umland 0 5

Clark Dill

October 09, 2015 5:01 PM

I did notice that by Clark Dill

Particularly now with Science Club, and their potions experiments, Clark was pretty sure John Umland was his closest friend at Sonora. What he wasn't sure of was whether that made it better or worse that John was the person who was sitting with him right now, with the Satori's latest engraving still shaking him to the core. He did not doubt that he must look sick. He felt ill. It was entirely psychological, but the physical manifestations of a sweaty brow, shaking hands, and probably pale skin (as a blonde, he was always pale, but he suspected he was particularly so today) were no less real and evident.

"Not feeling so hot today," he admitted as an excuse for his absence from class. It wasn't even a lie, though certainly not the whole truth. "Figured I should try to eat something though." Putting actions to words, he began filling his plate with the available varieties of comfort food. Mac and cheese (Kraft would have been better, but the elves' variety would have to do), bread with butter, some chicken nuggets, a glass of milk . . . he would have liked some Ritz crackers but he thought he might be out of luck for those.

"So," he said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as a brand new subspecies on the grounds deserved, but not entirely pulling it off, "a new kind of Satori. How long do you think it's been here? Just this year, or has its kind been lurking in the Gardens for ages and nobody knew? And, um," he hesitated briefly, wondering if he should just let it go, but John didn't seem to be eyeing him up weird or anything, so he kind of needed to know what the rest of the school knew about him. "Did anyone else - I mean, did anyone see it?" He vainly hoped John missed the slip-up there.

1 Clark Dill I did notice that 277 Clark Dill 0 5

John

October 12, 2015 8:38 AM

Great minds think alike. by John

John nodded sympathetically when Clark admitted he did not feel well. His plate suggested he was the one regularly performing Beater exercises, but he did not look well at all. Well, illness did affect different people different ways. John lost all interest in food when he was ill, but that didn’t mean everyone did, plus Mom and Julian always insisted that it was important for him to eat when he was sick whether he felt like it or not. Clark could just be a better patient than John generally was. As Clark was superior to him in most other respects, John didn’t think Clark accepting medical advice more gracefully than John did was much of a stretch.

“I’ll make you copies of my notes and bring them around later,” he promised, then remembered that Clark had probably seen enough of his normal notes for that prospect to be less than comforting. His handwriting was not an issue, but his system of abbreviations was pretty arbitrary, the pages became cluttered with notes and questions to himself and diagrams, sometimes related to the main subject and sometimes not, that he drew when bored in class, and parts of the notes lapsed into the pseudo-shorthand he'd made up with friends when they all went through a cryptography phase. His mother claimed his notes on switching theory, something she knew very well, reminded her of the first time she'd tried to read Merovingian script. John had been secretly pleased. “I made sure they were - legible - after I saw you were out,” he added reassuringly.

He quickly shoved another spoonful of his soup into his mouth when he realized Clark was talking about the Satori, both to cover any flinch and to give himself a second to think.

He could, he suppose, make a great show of concern for Clark’s health and talking later, but that would both be weird and, he thought, ineffective. Discussion was inevitable – if he didn’t get dragged off by guys who’d taken far too many fashion tips from Stalin the second after Pye released them from Defense this evening, he expected he’d talk to everyone he knew about it before morning, not to mention be asked to eat crow over how he'd spent all year insisting that they shouldn’t believe a word of any of it at least once – so it was best to go ahead and talk about it. It would be better to try his primary cover story out not only on a good-natured friend, but one who was sick. If he said something that even Clark seemed to think was off, then it was something he should make a note to never, ever say again as long as he lived. He shook his head ‘no’ as he swallowed.

“I didn’t,” he said to the last question. “I stayed in the library too long this morning,” he added with a small frown of frustration. “Did you see it?" he asked, not really noticing the 'else' but knowing Clark was another early riser and a seemingly natural one at that. "Any of its behavior before they knocked it out?“ He didn’t care much about the message, that was bound to be something vague and almost certainly nothing that would have interested him even if he’d known the full story, but its behavior would have interested him even if he hadn’t needed to know it right now. “I assume it does something besides write on walls. Wonder if it said anything to Skies?” John couldn't imagine their Transfiguration teacher having shameful (and most of the secrets did seem like things people were ashamed of; the one against him had been different, but John was someone who had spent a lot of time thinking about violently assaulting the Satori and that might have inspired it to take what it could get) secrets, but he knew that she must have some life outside of the one he saw, one that could easily contain things she'd prefer to hide at Sonora.

16 John Great minds think alike. 285 John 0 5