InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Yes, my child?"

Callum Quoft (Caretaker) (grim_sentinel) wrote in beyondthepages,
@ 2010-05-23 07:08:00

Entry tags:

!jade, 2023 10, albus dumbledore, callum quoft

RP: More Riddling Reactions
Characters: Callum Quoft, poking a Dumbledore
Time/Date: Mid-morning, October 23, 2023
Location: Outside the Dumbledore quarters.
Warnings/Rating: NA
Summary: Quoft would normally just go to the Headmaster, but he feels he needs to share his concerns with everyone possible.
Status: Ongoing

Quoft had not sat idly by twiddling his thumbs and commenting on the weather when the returned dead had first been placed back in the school. He didn't like the idea, he thought it would lead to trouble, and he had been right. They'd put the Death Eater kid back in Slytherin pretty as one would please without nary a thought to what sort of precedents they might be setting.

He'd made a fuss. It was his job. He took "caretaker" to extremes when the need was there and thought himself more of a sentinel.

Quoft had been assured that precautions were in place, that the boy had changed/would change/was never that bad to begin with and had aided in Voldemort's downfall.

Fine. They were all batshit insane, but Quoft could deal with a young Death Eater as well as any other professor could if the time came.

But this? This.

Quoft was ready to raise Hell and brimstone and all be damned who stood in his way.

Which led him to where the Dumbledores were staying.

Quoft's expression twitched as he attempted to begin this meeting with something less than a scowl. If anything, the scowl only deepened.

Giving up on that, Quoft stood a little straighter and knocked thrice on the portrait.

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dumbleydore
2010-05-23 07:41 pm UTC (link)

Albus was sitting in one of the armchairs in the small apartment, reading a rather frivolous crime novel whose ending he'd worked out about two chapters ago. He was rather amused by the characters themselves though so he was content to let the prose carry him onwards through all the convolutions and inevitable red herrings.

There was another reason he was content to sit and read and the knock that came at the door was just that reason. He'd gone out yesterday to meet the wandmaker but he'd made the determination to remain in today. This knock was hardly the first that had come at his door after the flurry of letters he'd received from the Ministry and the arrival of a certain student yesterday. It was as well that Ariana was off somewhere in the castle, possibly with Abe but possibly pestering a teacher or student of three. The conversations this morning had been quite grim so far.

He got to his feet and walked over to the door, opening it to reveal another face he didn't know but had been told the identity of. Callum Quoft. Caretaker. Durmstrang alumni. How interesting.

"Good morning, Mr Quoft," he said with a small smile. "Do come in and have a seat? May I offer you some tea? Lemon sherbet?"

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grim_sentinel
2010-05-24 12:27 am UTC (link)

Callum hadn't been exactly sure what to expect with Dumbledore. He'd never had a direct encounter with the man while he was alive and now that he was returned Callum hadn't yet made it a point to come see him. Like every professor or similar who came to Hogwarts fresh and new, Dumbledore didn't sit with Quoft quite right.

He'd heard enough to have at least a pint of respect for the other wizard, though. Despite quirks he'd heard about, Dumbledore seemed to be at least somewhat sensible.

Callum's eyebrow arced upward and he nodded shortly. "I'll take a spot."

He'd pass on the sherbet.

"This isn't a social call, so you're aware," he added, just for clarity's sake. Best to be up front with it.

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dumbleydore
2010-05-24 12:45 am UTC (link)

Albus smiled and summoned a house elf and sent the little creature off for tea. He could have been ostentatious and done it himself in the little kitchen they'd been provided with but he rather liked the tea the house elves provided. Once the elf returned, he poured the tea for both and left the caretaker to finish it as he preferred. For himself he simply added a lump of sugar and little lemon.

"I rather expected it wasn't," he said, his eyes twinkling at the man's blunt attitude. Caretakers at Hogwarts did tend to be unique individuals but Albus had always valued their services. They had a knowledge of the castle that few others did. "My morning has been full of unsocial visitations."

He sipped at his tea and the twinkle in his eyes faded and he became serious. "How may I assist you, Mr Quoft?"

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grim_sentinel
2010-05-24 01:06 am UTC (link)

Callum nodded a short hello to the house elf that came and went. He saw a lot of them in caring for the castle, and he always tried to remain on good terms with the bunch. He didn't fancy cold tea or too hot a fire in his office. House elves had ways of letting a bloke know they were displeased.

"Riddle," Callum said simply, turning his attention back to Albus. "Topic's likely been beaten to death, but I'd like to give it a few more blows for good measure."

He held himself back for a moment, though, to sip his tea. He'd gather a little information before flying off the handle too quickly.

"What's your opinion of this, Mr. Dumbledore?"

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dumbleydore
2010-05-24 01:35 am UTC (link)

Albus wasn't surprised at the reason Quoft was here. It was the same reason for his other visitors today and he was sure the boy would prompt many other visits this afternoon and in the weeks to come. He hadn't quite decided on his precise course with Riddle but he intended to meet with the boy shortly.

"Not at all," Albus said mildly. "I would value your input." He meant that most sincerely. If Riddle got up a similar sort of mischief as he had in his Fifth Year then Quoft's help and knowledge of the castle could well be invaluable.

He was silent at the question that had been asked of him as he gathered his thoughts. "I am uneasy. I have read the histories, I have had my suspicions confirmed regarding a certain series of incidents in Tom's Fifth Year and I have my own memories and opinions of the boy. I am... pleased, if guardedly pleased, that the Wizengamot have given me leave to keep as close an eye on him as I would wish. I have always been the first to believe that no one is without redemption and yet..."

He sipped at his tea, his expression troubled. "And yet I find it hard to believe that Tom Riddle will grasp the chance he has been given to make something different of himself. I worry about the students who will be exposed to him and how they may be affected. I would wish to have no more Myrtle Glumwiddles haunting the castle."

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grim_sentinel
2010-05-24 04:56 am UTC (link)

Callum's forehead wrinkled as his scowl deepened. "There are a lot more reasons than one or two Myrtles to not have the boy here."

Redemption and second chances were one thing, but redemption at the cost of destroying a nice little chunk of security they'd managed to reclaim at Hogwarts over the past twenty years was something that left a bitter taste in Callum's mouth.

"You've seen the papers." He had no doubt about that. Dumbledore seemed the type who wouldn't miss too many steps. "There's folk about who're interested in his future. And we've stuck what amounts to Death Eater bait right in the middle of the school."

It rankled every fiber of his being.

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dumbleydore
2010-05-24 07:22 am UTC (link)

"Hmmm, I have seen them," Albus said as he sipped his tea, his thought turning over a mile a minute in his mind. Quoft had a point, more than a point really. For a moment a sense of frustration flowed through him. He had a sense... no, a certainty that he should know these people stirring up trouble, know them well and know how to counter them. Right now all he could base his actions on is what was written in the books and newspapers and he was sure that at least some of the story was missing.

It occurred to him that what he really needed to do was have a very long conversation with one Severus Snape. According to his reading, he might well find many of his answers with that man. But that didn't help him right now in trying to assuage the concerns of the Hogwarts caretaker. Not to mention his own concerns.

"I can and will confine him to the castle for now just as I can and will intercept his mail, both in and out," he said firmly. "He will not be able to communicate with the Death Eaters and they will not be able to communicate with him. That is not a solution but it will buy me some time to put other measures in place."

He wondered if he could get away with actually placing some sort of monitoring charm on the boy then decided that he might do so anyway though he'd have to be subtle given the boy's ability, which he knew well. He wanted to know where Tom Riddle was at any time of the day.

"Is the girls' bathroom on the second floor still in use? The one poor Myrtle haunts?" Now that was something Filius had told him about and thankful for it he was. It answered many questions he'd had about events during that dreadful year but for now it was something he needed to keep an eye on. He would have to pay a visit to Myrtle. A dreary, miserable girl if ever there was one but she did not deserve what was done to her.

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grim_sentinel
2010-05-24 08:33 am UTC (link)

"It's flooded more often than not," Callum warned. "But it's still as in use as it can be."

He'd had a few attempts at making the bathroom more usable. It had worked about as well as reasoning with Peeves. Peeves, at least, he could hurl spells at without anyone turning too cross an eye on him.

"What sort of measures are you considering? If it's anything I can lend a hand at..." Callum took a sip of his tea, allowing his words to trail off.

He'd be willing to help with anything. Even, putting the boy down if worse came to worse. Though he didn't expect even for a second that anyone would condone that plan.

Which was why he was here, wasn't it? If Callum had his way, he'd corner the boy the first chance he got and do away with him. There were too many dark memories about his family influencing any actions to do anything on his own.

He would have to settle for helping the likes of Dumbledore whenever he could.

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dumbleydore
2010-05-25 03:24 am UTC (link)

Albus nodded as he considered the best of handling this. If they simply closed the bathroom off then the message would be simple yet blunt... and might well prompt Tom to find an alternate way in. Albus wasn't so foolish as to think there wasn't a second way into the Chamber. It had been created by Salazar Slytherin after all. Not a man who would ignore the need for a back door.

"I am not certain how widely the information has been disseminated but that bathroom contains the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," he explained. "Unfortunately, it requires being a Parselmouth in order to enter, the roster of which currently stands at Tom Riddle and Harry Potter. If Tom gets in there, there is nothing I or anyone else here can do to prise him out. So... I would rather he not enter in the first place."

He looked over at Quoft. "Do you believe Myrtle would be helpful if Tom were to make the attempt or has she become difficult over the years?" He paused and sighed. "More difficult."

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grim_sentinel
2010-05-27 09:28 am UTC (link)

Callum's scowl was going to become a permanent feature if he wasn't careful. Chamber of Secrets? A place only Riddle and Harry Potter could get into? It wasn't what he wanted to hear when he'd made his way through the castle to call on Dumbledore.

"Myrtle's swayed by sweet talk and one off-coloured comment sends her wailing into the first bend in the loo she can find," Callum replied, scratching the side of his face. "We could get the ghosts to patrol. Can they get inside the chamber, you think?"

The ghosts often didn't have cause to go outside of their normal haunts, but as long as it was technically inside the castle, Callum didn't see why they couldn't float through the floor and give it a look to make sure the Riddle boy wasn't slithering about.

"Some of them'd be a touch tougher to charm than a professor or a prefect on duty."

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