InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "That's problematic."

Natalie Bower // APRIL (tamegiggles) wrote in beyondthepages,
@ 2010-04-03 23:08:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2023 09, january dorny, torrence mulciber

RP: Giggle
Characters: Tory, open
Time/Date: Late evening / night, September 3
Location: Hogwarts corridors
Warnings/Rating: PG for mild violence
Summary: Tory returns from the dead
Status: Closed, complete

He'd lost track of the fight hours ago, but he wasn't going to admit that outright. Somewhere along the way lines had blurred in his brain, and - aside from the obvious faces he caught a glimpse of in the light from stray spells, or torches that had not yet been extinguished - Tory wasn't really sure which of those he was standing alongside of were enemies, and which were allies. The man he was standing back to back with at the moment, was he just as likely to turn on him in a moment as he was to defend him from someone else?

Too many people were in the same boat. He didn't like this. He hated this disorganization. Damn Potter for always throwing a wrench into carefully laid plans. This wasn't supposed to be how it turned out. This wasn't how this final battle was supposed to go down.

Oh, Tory knew that the Dark Lord had it under control, and would come out the victor in this little skirmish, but they'd lose a lot of good fighters along the way, and a lot of morale that they'd worked so hard to beat down might be built back up at this point, which was a real shame.

---

He blinked, and the whole scene changed. He was in the same hallway - or at least he thought he was. It had been years since he'd been at Hogwarts, and he knew the castle was prone to tricks. Maybe it had started transporting people, or creating the illusion of solitude for a group of people, or...

... No. He didn't have a clue why, in the middle of the most crucial battle of the Death Eater's domination of the wizarding world, he suddenly found himself completely alone.

Deciding the best course of action was to get to cover, and either locate the battle or get the hell out of dodge, Mulciber began easing his way down the hallway in the direction that he thought the Entrance Way was.

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snow_in_summer
2010-04-04 07:27 am UTC (link)

January wasn't often prone to roaming the halls at night, but she was still adjusting to life back in the castle. She'd spent most of the summer deep in various tombs and catacombs, reading over runes other had already read. It was simply the experience of the matter, the ability to view them all first hand that had kept her there longer than she'd meant to stay.

So she'd been playing a hell of a lot of catchup since her return the day before the start of term. She'd seen Bellatrix's return, seen the Potter girl fall, and sat in on the discussions regarding what to do.

There wasn't honestly much to do. Ensure they had wands. Brush up on their defense spells. Remind the kids during lectures of the dangers of ...

... encountering strangers in the hall. Jan inhaled slowly. Friend, or foe? Death Eater or Order member? "Oi," she called out. For all she knew, it was Quoft stalking the halls.

Lifting her wand, she illuminated the tip to cast some light on the castle's guest.

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tamegiggles
2010-04-04 08:04 am UTC (link)

He heard the voice, and cursed himself for being less than subtle in his attempts to slip out of the castle, turning halfway at the sound of the voice. His grip on his wand tightened, and even though he wasn't certain what was going on, he was pretty sure that he was going to have to fight his way out of this one.

'Course, maybe he was wrong about that. Maybe he was charming enough to pull himself out of this situation too. But he doubted it. He wasn't clear enough on the facts of what the hell was going on to have any idea what lies to spin.

"Oi," he called back in a friendly tone. "Thought the game was marco - polo?"

From what he could see, she was a rather pretty younger blond. He wouldn't underestimate it, but the fact that she wasn't familiar to him might be to his advantage. He turned around more fully, tilting his head slightly in greeting. "Don't suppose you could tell me what's going on?" he offered.

Maybe, just maybe, he could squeak by this without too much difficulty.

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snow_in_summer
2010-04-04 08:08 am UTC (link)

If he didn't know what was going on, that stood to reason he was a returned deceased or whatever the hell they were calling them. Her eyes swept over him, and she'd admit she didn't recognize him - from in person or in pictures. So if he was part of the war, perhaps he wasn't a big player?

Or perhaps he'd been damn good at hiding.

"Suppose I could," she offered. They were close to the entrance hall, which was bad. She wasn't fantastic at subtle defense spells, which was also bad. This was a promising situation, wasn't it? She recalled Steven regaling her with his encounter with Fenrir, and Jan wondered if she was about to wind up in about the same place.

"Suppose you could give me your name first, and we'll go from there."

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tamegiggles
2010-04-04 08:26 am UTC (link)

"Tory," he said, when she asked for his name. It was a copout - honest, so he didn't give anything away if she was some kind of reader that way, and useful because - to the public, or anyone he'd be considering an enemy in this case - the names that were known were surnames. Avery, Mulciber, Snape... half the time, they weren't assigned first names in the articles about them. Sometimes, Tory was confused for his father because of it.

But in these sorts of situations, it worked out really well for him.

"My name - it's Tory. Are you a professor here?" Maybe he could distract her from the lack of last name, play it off like he was just slow and had forgotten. He'd make up a last name if it was necessary to. "This is Hogwarts, right? I attended, back when I was a kid. Haven't... been here in years..." he trailed off, pretending to be vaguely curious. "There was a... fight?"

He'd go with honesty for now. See how far it would take him. Whether she'd let him bolt. He didn't really want to kill anyone before he knew what he was dealing with.

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snow_in_summer
2010-04-04 08:38 am UTC (link)

Tory, who very suspiciously didn't give a last name. She should alert a few of the other professors - Katie was the first one that sprang to mind - and Jan nodded slightly. "All right," she said. "I'm a profsesor, yes. January Dorny, over Ancient Runes. There was a fight here twenty five years ago," she continued.

Aurors, would be good. Did they have any on patrol tonight? She thought surely they must, and surely one of them would wind his or her way to the entrance hall sooner or later.

While she wasn't keen on letting him escape, she was less keen on the idea of becoming a casualty. Lily Luna had gotten off light, as far as she was concerned. Death Eaters were killers, and if this guy wasn't inclined to fully identify himself ... she was suspicious.

"In that fight, twenty five years ago, Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord. So if that's the fight you're referring to, and it's more recent than a quarter of a century in your mind, I'll guess that you died in the war and popped back to life here. Apparently, that's the wizard world's flavor of the week."

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tamegiggles
2010-04-04 08:54 am UTC (link)

He thought Dorny rang a bell, but January didn't, and he frowned and nodded his head, not having to feign being completely lost at all. A battle 25 years ago? But that would make him... that was utter nonsense, what was the joke and where was the punchline, and could he speak to someone smart, please?

And then she said the Dark Lord had fallen. His reaction was an instinctive sneer that he knew gave him away entirely - but really, she'd been suspicious already, and he couldn't help himself. "Potter, defeat the Dark Lord? Ludicrous," he said, and he brandished his wand at her quickly, hoping to catch her off guard.

What he wanted to do at this point was just to bind and / or silence her to keep her from giving away his position. If he was successful... well. He'd decide what to do from there.

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snow_in_summer
2010-04-04 09:05 am UTC (link)

She'd had her wand out and when he started to move she started to cast a shield. He was quicker though, and Jan staggered back a little. Well, he'd answered a couple of questions anyway.

Squinting and blinking, she lifted her free hand to her throat. It felt ... blocked? But she could breathe. Reasoning it was some sort of silence spell, she scowled and attempted to cast a stunner at him. Half-blinded and voiceless though, it was weak and who knew where she'd actually wound hitting?

Flicking her wand once more, she pulled up her patronus and sent the charm creature skittering along the halls to bring aid. If she was lucky, Katie would meet it first and be here before the bloke got out - but Jan doubted that.

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tamegiggles
2010-04-04 09:28 am UTC (link)

He watched the patronus skitter off and cursed inwardly at the time that it took from him, but was thankful at least that that was all she had at her disposal at the moment. He had an opportunity to escape.

Oh, how he longed to throw that in her face. To risk it in a slow swagger towards her, causing her fear as he loomed over her, perhaps cursing her with something painful, or perhaps going with his old standby - the imperious curse. He was half tempted to bring her along with him wherever he went - and if she followed him, he'd consider it - but at the moment, there were just too many variables to risk it, and he needed to get out and figure out what the fuck she'd been talking about, the Dark Lord defeated by Harry Potter 25 years ago.

So he smirked again, dark and dangerous, and murmured a soft, "I'll be seeing you soon, January Dorny," before turning on his heel and fleeing quickly in the direction he was pretty sure the Entrance Hall was.

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