InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "take me to your leader"

January Dorny (snow_in_summer) wrote in beyondthepages,
@ 2010-05-22 17:24:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2023 10, firenze, january dorny

RP: Her New Slytherin
Characters: January, Firenze
Time/Date: Evening, October 22, 2023
Location: Staff lounge
Warnings/Rating: None
Summary: Jan thinks about the formerly deceased in her house
Status: Complete

January was a lot of things, and at the moment, she was significantly less than impressed. She'd lived through that year when the Death Eaters had taken over Hogwarts. She'd been shuffled out with the rest of the Slytherins, but she'd been there while the battle had raged in the castle.

The man responsible was alive once more, and of course he was in her house. She was accustomed to taking a lot of shit for her house; while house prejudices had dimmed, they hadn't died. But this ... she didn't think there'd ever be a day when she'd have to deal with this. His history, sure. Who didn't have to deal with that, but ... the wizard himself?

They'd all gotten the news yesterday, and of course she'd been held back to discuss procedures. Mostly the procedures involved telling Albus of anything questionable, or suspected of being questionable.

Bracing her elbows on the table, Jan gazed down into her tea as she ran her fingers through her hair, the heels of her hands resting against her temples.

This was going to be a long, long couple of years.

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starspeaker
2010-05-23 05:11 am UTC (link)

He had been out and about in the grounds, speaking to some of the centaurs in the forest, as well as communing with the other creatures and gazing at the stars to try and find meaning in all of this chaos. It seemed there had been a sudden influx in activity among the world of the living, and the world of the dead, really, in a similar way.

This whole rebirth aspect that the world had taken on still felt unnatural to him, and he hoped that it ceased too. He wasn't sure how he felt about the people who had been torn from the reality they knew to exist in this one, and them remaining here even after the situation had been resolved, though he supposed that wasn't his to question. What would be, would be, and this was how the stars had chosen to play out the game, and who was he to question that.

His journey back through the castle took him past the staff lounge, and he found that he could use a cup of tea. Easing his way into the lounge, he nodded his head to January, offering her a warm smile. "Merry meet," though after taking in her appearance he determined that perhaps she had not been having a good evening. "I apologize if I am intruding. I will only be a moment."

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snow_in_summer
2010-05-23 05:20 am UTC (link)

The clipping of his hooves against the floor hadn't really registered until his bulky form joined her in the room.

"Not an intrusion," she assured him. She always felt the oddest urge to pet him when she saw him, and she shook her head at herself. Well, hell. There were a few people she wanted to pet when she saw them; why should he be exempt?

"I'd have stuck to my quarters if I hadn't been open to interruptions," she continued with a faint smile. "How's your evening?"

She was a little curious what he thought of everything, but she also wasn't inclined to poke and prod at him. He'd been part of the war though, and she wanted to know how he really felt about Tom being here. What he thought would happen.

Or if he'd had any prophecies lately. That was unkind though, and she mentally apologized to Lily for thinking it.

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starspeaker
2010-05-23 07:38 am UTC (link)

"Cloudy," he said in response to her question, easing his way over to the counter to prepare tea, something he'd only really developed a taste for while working in the castle. Sybil Trelawney had been quite fond of tea leaf reading, and while he had not seen a great deal of merit, he had come to find he rather liked the taste of the tea. "Not in the sense that the skies are overcast, merely in the sense that the paths the stars are leading us on are unclear at the moment."

He stared at the teacup for a moment, unsure if he should voice his thoughts before deciding, "To be honest, I was searching them to see if the Ministry had been wise in its decision to allow the boy to continue his schooling her. I should have known before I began that it was a foolish question to ask."

He looked back up at her. "How are the students adjusting?"

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snow_in_summer
2010-05-23 07:46 am UTC (link)

"Too soon to say," Jan admitted. "The Head Girl is the only one who has expressed concern so far, though I imagine as time wears on and people realize we really aren't joking, we'll hear more and more. As word spreads, as he settles in. I can only hope that, knowing what we know about how his mind works, we're able to see things for what they are and not be fooled."

The professors knew. The students might know, but she doubted they'd understand. "I'm not sure, in times like these, he'll be able to get the same toe-holds he did before, but that doesn't mean he won't try."

She was kind of amused, and intrigued, that he'd consulted the skies over this. She couldn't imagine anyone thought it was a good idea to have him here, but even she had to grudgingly admit it was the just thing to do. Otherwise, they were setting a dangerous precedent as far as laws of imprisonment went.

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starspeaker
2010-05-23 10:30 am UTC (link)

"He was a very persuasive individual while in school," Firenze reflected darkly. "We mostly observed from the sanctity of the forest, as this was during a time when humans and centaurs did not interact at all, not even the little they do now. Though..." he grit his teeth together. "He did approach once. He wasn't a fool, and he did not try again once he was originally dismissed, but he was crafty..." Firenze shook his head. "If we had not already been so mistrustful of humans, I imagine that some of us would have fallen for his ploys."

He sighed heavily, resting his hands on the counter briefly. He was so conflicted. "I do not deny that the Ministry's hands were tied on this issue, but I cannot help but feel they made a very troublesome judgement. Imprisonment may not be wise, but to place him back in the school..." He looked up at the ceiling. "If he is innocent, the students will turn him into a monster. If he is a monster, the students will be unprepared for it."

The kettle alerted him it was finished boiling, and he removed it from the heat, pouring hot water into his tea leaves. "It is not my place to question these things. I shouldn't speak of them. I'm sorry. You must be having a similar reaction."

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snow_in_summer
2010-05-23 10:59 am UTC (link)

"That's ... the story we're getting from people who knew him, or ... knew about him. The original trickster," Jan quipped archly before she shifted her weight, leaning back in the chair.

"It ... there was no good answer in the situation," she agreed. "If they executed him flat out they'd have had people protesting, saying he could have changed, it could have been different this time. If he'd been put to Azkaban, it sets the wrong sort of precedent. That anyone who comes back who was in prison who might actually be redeemable, should be chuckled into jail. I ... think he could have stood as an exception to that. He was a fucking monster, pardon my French. I don't think anyone who didn't have their head up their arse would have blinked twice at him being put away for life, and then some."

Jan sighed. She was certainly miss ranty-pants tonight. "Well. They did appoint Dumbledore to babysit him. And the others that are going to need it. The impetuous sorts with more brawn and boldness than brains." She could think of a few Gryffindors that were likely to get themselves into a mess over this, one way or another. "So I suppose we'll see. When you know the script, you can try to find out where it deviates and where it paraphrases, right? We know what he did the first time, so it's a matter of ensuring he doesn't do it again."

She smirked. "I know. Go on, Jan. Tell us how you really feel."

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starspeaker
2010-05-24 02:55 am UTC (link)

"Private tutoring, I believe, would have suited him far better than this school. Would have created far less unease," he shook his head. "But perhaps I am wrong. We can only hope that about our own judgments," he finished fixing his tea, moving over to the table where she was resting. He didn't need to sit, but he thought it more comfortable and polite to be closer in proximity if they were having a conversation.

He did smile slightly at her final comment, holding up one hand to deter any attempt to apologize for speaking her feelings. "It is important to have these thoughts vocalized, I believe. As Professors, we will need the constant reminders of how innocent and unassuming he appeared during his school years, as it will be much of the same now. We are lucky, to know that it is a ruse to be aware of - he was using the name Lord Voldemort even now." He took a sip of his tea.

"I wish it did not have to be this way," he muttered after a moment. "That judgments did not have to be placed on him this way, that we did not have to be wary. It is truly an unfortunate occurrence that this has happened, and I can only hope the path we're following will lead us forward, rather than backwards to repeat old mistakes."

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snow_in_summer
2010-05-24 03:15 am UTC (link)

Jan shook her head. "Yes and no on the tutoring. Given the picture the books paint, he could've had his tutor wrapped around his little finger and been far less observable than if he'd been brought here. No. As uneasy as it makes us all, here under Dumbledore's eye is the best place he could be if they weren't going to pitch him into prison."

Jan smiled up to him as he waved off her apology. She agreed, of course. If they dropped their guard, they were opening themselves up. Maybe nothing would happen, but maybe everything would.

"I just hope that since ... blood status isn't quite as emphasized as it was in his time, he won't be able to get together a set of followers." She tried not to think about the existing set of followers he already had outside, but even then ... they'd followed him when they'd thought he was a pureblood. Now that it was out he had a Muggle father, maybe some of them wouldn't be so quick to fall into line.

Hell, maybe they'd send in something and off him. One could hope, right? Maybe some of them wanted revenge for being tricked for so long. She didn't know, couldn't pretend she had any sort of real clue. "I know," she agreed. "But when the dead started coming back, I think we all knew this was a possibility."

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starspeaker
2010-05-24 04:07 am UTC (link)

"Mmm," he nodded his head thoughtfully. It was a valid point. Perhaps with more eyes on him, Tom would be less likely to do anything foolish that would land him in trouble. Particularly when the eyes were so watchful and aware of his past misdoings. Perhaps it would be enough to make him change, or at least consider his actions a bit more thoroughly.

"At least not more than he has already gathered," Firenze said, his jaw setting somewhat uncomfortably. "I was rather hoping that the revelation that he was not all he represented himself to be while living, and the fact that he had ultimately been defeated by a school age teen would be enough for what remaining supporters he had to fall back into routine, but he had barely been returned 12 hours and already his mark littered the heavens." He sighed. "Certainly not as widespread as he had once been, but... enough voices and awareness that I hope the Ministry took strong notice."

Though of course they did. Harry Potter was in charge there, and Firenze had never known the man not to take a threat seriously.

"I'll be honest," he said to her returning dead comment. "I rather hoped there was no enough living spirit within him for there to be anything left to return to their world. I am sorry to have been mistaken."

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snow_in_summer
2010-05-24 04:39 am UTC (link)

Jan nodded. She'd heard about the Marks as well, though she hadn't seen any personally; they'd gotten rid of the one in Hogsmeade fairly quickly. "I'm sure they did. It hit the papers and given the fact that one of the marks was located near the Potter's home ... I'm sure the Aurors are all over it."

She wasn't sure what they could do about it, exactly, but she was certain they knew about it.

"I heard that's what the deal was. That he'd torn his soul up and really couldn't be returned. Though I guess whatever's bringing everyone back transcends that. Though maybe that's why he's this young; maybe his soul's intact at this point."

Jan smirked. "I can't help but wonder if there's a way to stop this. If it's at all possible to ... I suppose not reverse it since some good people came back too, but to stop it. Or figure out how far back it can go. What if the founders start popping up? Or Merlin himself, for all that."

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starspeaker
2010-05-24 05:53 am UTC (link)

He pinched the brow of his nose briefly in frustration. "If the founders begin arriving here, we will truly know that things have gotten out of hand. It is frustrating, to say the least, to know what an imbalance this is causing and be powerless to do anything to stop it."

His expression turned stoic. "I recognize there are good people getting a second chance at life. I cannot help but feel that... we would almost be better off finding a way to reverse the magic entirely, but I know that what will be will be, and we cannot change what has already happened. I just worry about what price we will pay for it when the universe has to right itself again."

He sighed, "Suppose we can hope that it will happen gradually, over time, minor changes we may not be apparent of." He shook his head. "Our world is illequipted to fight another war so soon."

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snow_in_summer
2010-05-24 06:11 am UTC (link)

"Because people arriving from eighty, a hundred years ago isn't out of hand?" Jan smirked slightly before she shook her head. She understood though, the difference between a century and a millennium. If magic could reach that far back, where did it stop? Could it stop? What if it turned into something else, something darker, something twisted on the way?

Not that bringing back Voldemort wasn't dark and twisted enough.

Jan rubbed at her forehead before she pushed up to her feet. "It ... would magically be for the best to have it reversed. For the dead to go back to being dead. But you try that argument with the reunited families," she said softly. It wasn't a challenge or disagreement, and she trusted the centaur was able to discern that. It was simply a statement of fact. If you asked Harry or Neville if they'd want their mothers dead again. If you asked the Dumbledores if they'd like to be torn apart again.

They were alive now; they wouldn't want to be reversed. "Going to head up and see about grading some papers. It was good talking to you." She smiled. "You should hang around inside more often."

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starspeaker
2010-05-24 07:15 am UTC (link)

He nodded, a smile crossing his face showing he conceded her point. "At the very least, those who have returned thus far have some connection to the war. Ariana being a catalyst for Albus Dumbledore, Tom Riddle... and most of the returnees that have been observed have connections to the same war. At least... this way the magic feels as though it is contained to something. If the founders were to return... this argument would prove to be invalid."

He nodded his head to her statement about the reunited families. It was truth. This is why things could not be changed at this point. Perhaps Tom Riddle was the balance for that, was the world attempting to stabilize itself. He could only hope.

He smiled, nodding his head to her departure. "May the morning bring you peace of mind, January," he said with a nod of his head.

His eyes drifted up to the ceiling briefly, as if he could see stars through them. He wished he could discern the answers to these questions. Perhaps they would never know the reasons this had happened.

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