From the Ashes

Who: Gerard and Mikey
Where: Mikey's office
When: Wednesday 23rd, late evening, after lights out/patrol
What: Brotherly chat about goings-on


This whole 'enforcing school rules' thing was not nearly as fun as it was cracked up to be, and it wasn't exactly cracked up to be the most super cool fun job ever. The only good part of being co-head of Gryffindor, from what Gerard could tell, was getting to give points every now and then. Fuck yeah, Gerard was enjoying the hell out of that  -- he'd given 20 retroactive points to Slytherin today to Prim for keeping a cool head under pressure, and she'd actually smiled at him. A facial expression out of Prim! Gerard was the coolest ever. But he also had to take points, and that sort of sucked, especially since he usually had to take them from his own house. Boris MacGregor was such a weenie, and if Gerard ever caught him goading second years to try and 'climb the Whomping Willow, it's a rite of passage in the name of bravery, no really,' Gerard was going to take way more than points, that was for fucking sure.

He sighed and rubbed at his eyes, nodding to the exhausted-looking Ravenclaw prefect that was out on her own patrol, and then continued up the staircase. The kids were all acting weirder than normal these days, or so it seemed. Maybe it was just that he was paying more attention now that his responsibilities had shifted slightly, but still... They were all so twitchy, and hormones were flying left and right and upside down, like drunken hippogryffs in heat. The school was full of teenagers, fine, that wasn't so abnormal, but Gerard didn't remember it being this bad. The Gryffindors were all tied up in knots, and there was way more shouting and deeds of incredibly stupid derring-do than usual going on, in his expert opinion.

He'd seen Mikey's office light glowing in the darkness as he'd flown patrol, and hey, what the hell. If Mikey was up, Gerard was totally going to crash his grading party, or whatever was going on. Co-heads of house meant that Gerard didn't have to dither about this shit on his own, right?

Knocking perfunctorily on the door, he shoved his head in the room. "Hey, Mikey--" He paused, and then grinned gleefully. "Dude, are you a-fucking-sleep?" Hiiilaarious, and also total payback for all the times Mikey had made fun of him for passing out on his comics and getting backwards-inked Batmans all over his face.

Who: All staff and teaching assistants are invited
When: The night of Thursday the 24th, after the great caroling expedition
Where The ballroom
What: Staff Christmas Party

The swimming pool has been frozen for skating and other icy ventures. There is a small ski ramp that the headmaster had installed for the occasion after seeing a Muggle moving photograph depicting the joys of sliding down a mountain on enormous wooden shoes. He's dubious, but the Muggles seemed to be having a good time, and he thought it might lead to further bonding.

There is light, fluffy snow falling over the newly-made ice rink, and over the holiday tree from the Forbidden Forest also enjoying the party in one corner of the room. The decor is red-and-white striped peppermint, with Chilly Icicles and other delicious candy treats scattered throughout the ballroom. Among the refreshments provided are egg nog, hot cocoa, cookies baked with love and inexperience by the younger students, and enthusiastically flaming plum puddings. Beware the fruit cake; the trasgu cooks mixed up a few of the ingredients when collecting the necessary assortment of candied fruits.

There is a green shadow on the ceiling in the far corner that looks suspiciously like mistletoe. Schechter has given up on trying to control the stuff. It's a harmless tradition, after all, and everyone here is an adult.

Stockings are on the wall and the kids are in bed. Have an awesome time.

Who: Frank, Patrick & Mikey
Where: A corridor somewhere
When: Tuesday evening, December 22nd
What: Innocent strolling and mistletoe investigation

Mikey rubbed at a chocolate stain on his wrist and sighed. That was absolutely the last time he was taking part in a cooking lesson. He was pretty sure he still had flour in his hair, there were definitely icing stains on his elbows, and his robe cuffs were singed thanks to one of the makeshift-ovens malfunctioning.

Still, the weird spell on the blackboard hadn't blown up in their faces, which was definitely something to be grateful for. In fact it had been exactly as they'd left it when he checked in on the room after the lesson had ended.

Which was why he was on a quest for Patrick. He needed someone to talk it over with, maybe someone to drag back down with him, even, and he didn't think Patrick would mind him tagging along.

The only problem was, Patrick wasn't in his quarters. But that wasn't too big a deal. Mikey hadn't checked the staff room yet and honestly, anyone with any sense would probably be hiding in there lest Schechter appeared to hand out more 'holiday spirit' tasks.

That being said, the Staff Room was still a little snowy these days and maybe rather an obvious hideout place, all things considered, so that might throw a spanner in things. Nevermind.

Who: Gerard and Gabe
Where: The corridor outside the library, immediately after this conversation
When: Early afternoon, Thursday, December 24th
What: In which Gerard and Gabe are both in bad moods


Gerard was a little unnerved by how empty the corridors were right now. Normally at this time of day he'd be lurking around the Great Hall, watching the students go back and forth -- it was a good way to keep an eye out for shifts in the currents of the school, to observe the sometimes hilarious patterns of the teenaged population. But most of the students had gone home for the holiday, and the ones remaining had no set schedule. Gerard was at loose ends.

He'd pretty much been kicked out of the common room that morning by the Gryffindor kids that had stayed -- he'd told Mikey he'd make a terrible head of house, Gerard thought grumpily, barely resisting the urge to stomp down the hall. He had some semblance of stealth and dignity left somewhere; he wasn't going to stomp. But Bob was doing some mysterious experiment in the Hospital Wing and Gerard had been informed he couldn't participate for reasons of Healer-patient confidentiality. Which sucked a lot, especially since there seemed to be an awful lot of explosions involved in whatever it was Bob was doing. Gerard was valiantly not investigating, but it wasn't exactly improving his mood to be excluded, even for a good reason.

He'd patrolled around the grounds for a bit, watching a snowball fight and an extremely disorganized Quidditch match, and Frank doing something really mysterious with a planter that seemed to require a lot of explosions -- everyone was getting to explode shit except Gerard.

It'd been a shitty couple of days, and Gerard had just wanted to relax and watch the epic trainwreck that was Peaches and Byron and Geoffrey's odd interhouse threesome, or to listen to Bob explain the implications and variations on the Aperio charm, or to blow something up. He could have asked Frank if he needed a hand -- but Frank already thought Gerard was a complete nutter without Gerard flying down out of nowhere and begging to explode things.

Fuck it, he'd thought. He'd go pester William and see if they'd gotten any new medical journals in. Maybe see if he wanted to duck out of the library for some coffee and talk over all the shit that'd been going down. Besides, Gerard was getting a little worried about William, to be honest. He'd looked sort of peaked lately, and, well, everyone was stressed at the moment, but Gerard wasn't entirely sure William was over the whole Veelification ordeal, or that cursed knife from way back when, come to think of it. He rounded a corner, pondering the best way to pry William out of his library stronghold and into the staff room where there was caffeine and biscuits, and then skidded to an abrupt halt, startled. Gabe Saporta was leaning with his back against the closed door to the library, head bowed, looking like... well, like someone had stabbed him.

"Hey," Gerard said, approaching warily, fighting the urge to snap his wand into his hand just in case there had been actual stabbing going on. There was no blood, but this was fucking Hogwarts -- you never knew. "Are you... is everything alright?"

[left beneath the miniature holiday tree in the staff lounge (although not too close, because the angel on top has a sword and isn't afraid to use it) for Nate Novarro, from his Staff Secret Santa]





Note attached:

To Mr Novarro, with warmest wishes for the holiday season.

I purchased this device from an antiques shop in Belfast. It was invented by a Squib during the European Inquisition of the 15th century to measure magical energies produced during the casting of spells by witches and wizards. There was not much call for such a thing even then, so it was never popularized and apparently very few remain extant. I thought you might find it of interest in your studies; or at the very least, as a reminder that the unknown may yet be quantified, and all that is wondrous still lies within the realm of discovery.

Happy Christmas.

Who: Audrey, Adam, Z, and Nate
Where: random icy corridor
When: Tuesday 22 December
What: evil mutant mistletoe! (and ice skating)

Tuesdays without Gryffindor/Slytherin 5th years were fast becoming Audrey's favourite kind of Tuesday. She was headed up to the owlery after breakfast, blissfully enjoying the freedom of not hearing William and Ellsworth bickering, and so was completely taken by surprise when she rounded a corner and her feet shot out from underneath her.

Laughter rang out as soon as she hit the ground, from a group of students who appeared to be using the hallway for ice skating. Just because the gods frowned upon Slytherins, Ellsworth was there and laughing the hardest. Audrey rolled her eyes and used a low-hanging portrait to pull herself back upright.

"All right, professor?" One of the Hufflepuffs, Susannah something, called out. Audrey flapped a hand at her.

"Yes, fine. How long has this ice been here?" She asked the group at large. Several shrugs went around. "Okay, easier question, how long have you lot been sliding around on it?"

"We just found it this morning." A Gryffindor prefect said. He looked a bit sheepish to be caught skating around in the corridor like a firstie in socks. "Prim did a spell for detecting dark magic, she said we should be safe."

Prim nodded firmly when Audrey glanced her way. She had to admit, it was more likely this was the same malfunctioning charm still causing snowdrifts in the staff room than some sort of evil plot. And it did look like an awful amount of fun.

"Yes, all right, don't let me ruin it." Audrey said. "Still, least you could do was put up a sign or something." She edged carefully back around the corner to whisk up some kind of warning.

Who: Z and Greta
Where: Equipment sheds by the Quidditch Pitch
When: 23 December, late in the morning
What: Mysterious Goings-On in the Broom Shed

Greta hadn't figured out yet whether the rattling cupboard in her office contained a pair of restless Bludgers or something more ominous, but she definitely wasn't planning to figure it out on her own. She'd already found a Snitch hiding under her desk that morning, and it had nearly taken one of her fingers off before she'd managed to trap it under a teapot and wrestle it into safe confinement.

She was still investigating her desk for other potential hazards when the referee's whistle that had been quietly hanging by the door suddenly lifted itself into the air and let out a series of sharp, piercing shrieks.

"Intruder in the broom shed," it cried, "alert, alert, intruder -" Greta hit it with a Silencing spell as quickly as she could and jogged out of her office, heading for the equipment sheds to investigate.

Mr Beckett,

If you could stop by the hospital wing sometime in the next few days, I have something I wish to discuss with you regarding the blood tests I took last month as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Healer R. Bryar

Where: Ryan's office
When: Tuesday evening, 22 December
What: Ryan meets his new TA

Ryan was pacing restlessly. He stooped, waving his wand over a messy pile of books to straighten their edges together neatly before sighing ruefully. How could his desk have gotten so messy over just a few months of his starting the position? One day he'd have to go through and sort everything the Muggle way, which he wasn't looking forward to. That day wasn't today.

"Better make some tea for Miss Berg," he thought, and tore into a new packet of tea, breathing deeply as he set the kettle on to boil. Gazing around his room and the stacks of essays he'd yet to mark, he admitted to himself that he probably did need an assistant. And if it had to be anyone, well -- Miss Berg was competent enough, and at least they'd have a chance to become acquainted before he got her a gift for the Secret Santa present exchagne.

Who: William and Victoria
Where: The castle library
When: Afternoon of Tuesday, 22 December
What: Library inspection, er, orientation

It was Tuesday afternoon by the time that Victoria forced herself to visit the library. It wasn't that she was afraid of the library; there was no reason to be. It was more that she'd spent many (relatively) happy hours in the library as a student, especially in her final years at Hogwarts. Having heard about how things had gone at Hogwarts during the last war, and having seen the state of other parts of the school, Victoria was reluctant to see what the war had done to her old sanctuary.

Victoria made her way up to the fourth floor from the dungeons, slowly walking down the corridor and past the long landscape painting. In her hand was a list of tasks she had to complete: books she had to review and check out, journals to request, and a reminder to file her signature so her students could read books in the Restricted Section. She pushed the library door open with the other hand, and peered briefly inside before stepping all the way into the chamber.

December 24th

Spencer,

Please come to the library at your earlier convenience; your expertise is required. You might wish to announce yourself at the door as well, particularly if you are a traditionalist or if Mikey accompanies you or of a superstitious nature. There are wards on the door in case you forget, so please don't be alarmed by the chorus of handbells that may arise should you enter without declaring yourself beforehand.

Sincerely,
William

Who: Greta and Victoria
Where: The front lawn of the castle
When: Afternoon of Saturday, December 19
What: Two new teachers arrive at the school

Victoria had chosen to floo up to Hogsmeade and walk up to the school from the train station, her bag of gear over her shoulder. She'd learnt to travel light in her years working as a cursebreaker; the vagabond lifestyle didn't lend itself to an excess of material possessions, even if she could shrink most of them down and stuff them in an enchanted bag designed to hold them all. Much of what was in the bag now was the books she'd been studying to prepare her lessons for the various classes according to the old Ministy curriculum. Victoria had heard the library was open, but without seeing it herself, she didn't have much confidence in the state of things.

Trudging around the lake, she caught sight of a lone figure on a broom headed towards the front of the castle. Assuming it was another professor coming back from a trip home, she raised her arm and offered a wide wave the way she would have to a Quidditcher on the pitch. The broom rider would certainly arrive before Victoria did. She picked up the pace. It was bloody well cold, even with a warmth-charmed cloak and gloves, and, for all that Victoria might not care to admit it, it would be nice to have company when she went in.

Who: Gerard and Spencer
Where: The Forbidden Forest
When: December 20th, early enough to be grumpy.
What: Christmas Tree Hunting.

"No offense," Spencer said, as they trudged along the crisp, snow-covered ground to the first stretch of trees. "It's just that, you know, the Forbidden Forest has a bad rap, don't you think? I haven't seen anything scarier than Jon's Hippogriffs out here, and, I mean. Baby twin Hippogriffs." He gave Gerard a meaningful look, because Spencer was a mature adult, and he'd stopped getting starry eyes over the baby Hippogriffs quite some time ago. Really.

"Anyway," he added, "you've been coming out here with me for months and we haven't seen anything." He scratched his chin. "I'm starting to feel cheated. Maybe we're just not going in far enough or whatever? But basically, I still think this is Schechter punishing me for the whole fireworks thing." He nodded just once, decisively. That had been the original point of an argument that had gone on rather longer than he'd meant it to, and he smiled sheepishly at Gerard.

The first few trees loomed up in front of them, unexpected as the Forbidden Forest always managed to be, and Spencer breathed in. All arguments aside, the forest was always a little frightening. Spencer and Gerard were on a mission, though, to spread holiday cheer. If that meant trying to coax a few particularly grumpy pine trees out of the forest, well. Spencer was a professional.

WHO: Gabe and William
WHERE: The library
WHAT: Conversing. One on one. Hey, this is a big step for them.
WHEN: 24th December. Shortly after William intellectually broke up with Gabe by owl.

( Gabe's windowledge was hot owl real-estate. )

December 24th, 2009

Professor Saporta,

I would like to thank you personally for taking the time to aid my research into non-toxic Dark magic warding potions. Your expertise has been invaluable, and I appreciate all of the suggestions you've made to guide my area of study. You have been very generous with your time, but I realize you have a busy schedule and little spare time to devote to the extracurricular projects of others. At this time, I plan to continue my research in partnership with another staff member so as to not presume further upon your goodwill. Thank you again for your munificent assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,
William Beckett, Hogwarts Librarian

[Owl to Professor Way]

Professor Way,

I'm sure you have noticed the current absence of a Head of House for Gryffindor. It is a situation I would like to remedy before the spring term, and as the sole member of the teaching staff originating from that House and most qualified to take on the additional responsibility, I would like to offer you at least an interim position as Gryffindor's Head. You have the skills, discipline and knowledge to be a great asset, both to that House and to the school.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will also be sending a similar query to Auror Way, as he has more time available and is in a strong position of leadership. You do not have to respond immediately, but I would appreciate a decision by the first of January.

Sincerely,
Headmaster Schechter



[Owl to Auror Way]

Auror Way,

I am in the process of selecting a Head of House for Gryffindor. Normally that position would go to a member of the teaching staff, but you are in a unique position of leadership and experience that I feel would benefit the students and set an example for the entire school.

I am also extending an offer to Professor Way, as he has had more experience working one-on-one with the students and is more familiar to them as an authority figure. I believe both of you would make a fine Head of House, and would welcome either of you to the position. Please let me know of your decision by the first of January so that we can make any necessary arrangements before the spring term.

Sincerely,
Headmaster Schechter

WHO: Brendon & Adam & anyone else who wants to go caroling
WHERE: The entrance hall of the castle and Hogsmeade village
WHAT: Caroling and the spreading of CHEER to all and sundry.
WHEN: Christmas Eve (Thursday, Dec. 24)

Adam hadn't bothered to attend any kind of dress rehearsal for caroling. Especially since Professor Urie's idea of caroling seemed to involve costumes and sequins and this was not Mardi Gras, it was caroling. Also, Urie's owl had said something about the dress part of dress rehearsal.

Urie could wear all the dresses he wanted, but Adam wanted no part of that. It was too cold for dresses, besides.

He arrived in the entrance hall a bit earlier than intended, but since he and Urie were in charge of this whole thing, it was just as well. He sat down on the steps to wait for more people to arrive so they could head off caroling.

Who: Bob and Mikey, way too many littles, and eventually a Gerard
When: Tuesday afternoon, December 22nd
Where: A secondary kitchen in the lower levels
What: Adventures in baking!

Tying one of the musty-smelling aprons he'd found in a drawer around his waist, Bob tried to work out how the hell Brian had talked him into doing this... insane experiment. Activity. Thing. Bob was pretty sure it had involved Brian talking about keeping the holidays fun for the lower years while plying Bob with firewhiskey. Sneaky bastard.

Oh well, at least Brian had been able to discover this room down the hall from the main kitchens. It was, apparently, a holdover from the archaic times yore when all young witches were required to take a home economics course as a part of their education. Neither Bob nor Brian had been aware of that little tidbit of history before, which was probably a good thing. Apparently the course and room had been so forgotten to memory that not even the occupiers had managed to find the dusty little classroom. "Right, you lot. First things first. All of you must know basic cleaning charms, right? Grab an apron from the bottom left drawers in your stations and start cleaning," he told the students who were milling about the room.

A curly-topped third year started to groan loudly, though he quickly ceased when Bob's eyes snapped onto him. "I wouldn't complain if I were you. Either we clean this room and use it, or we use the main castle kitchens and risk angering the trasgus—as well as the rest of the school if any of you happen to do something to endanger the survival of dinner," Bob told him. The kid muttered an apology and quickly pulled on an apron.

Seriously. This was not in Bob's job description.

Who: Z and Gerard and a pack of other unfortunate older students
When: December 20th
Where: The Forbidden Forest
What: Gathering Fuel for the Yule Bonfire

Gerard still had a lot of misgivings about this plan. Surely the professors could be the ones to go searching through the Forbidden Forest for the appropriate fuel for a bonfire, but when he'd approached Schechter about it, the Headmaster had just flapped a hand absently and told Gerard that the holiday magic would prevail and that the innocence of the students was an absolute necessity. And then he'd gone sprinting off after that damned wooden reindeer again, hat flapping in the breeze. Yes, terribly reassuring, Gerard didn't think.

Now he had to lead a pack of teenagers through a Class-Q Magical Forest in search of untouched Yule timbers, and hope he didn't lose any of them to winter nixies, or hoarspiders, or Merlin knew what else. Peachy.

He stamped his feet in the snow sullenly and took another drag of his cigarette. He'd posted the notice to the student House Boards last night, and if no one showed up, he was just going to assume he was on his own for wood-collecting duties and enlist one of the nixies to help do his bidding. He was reasonably sure he could tame one if he just got enough hawthorne berries. That didn't sound half bad, actually. Surely nixies were relatively innocent, in the long run.

But no, there the students were now, tromping towards him through the snow, looking like sodden, unhappy crows in their school robes. As Gerard peered at them and scented the breeze, he abruptly felt much, much better about the proceedings. Maybe this evening wasn't going to be complete crap after all.

"Z!" he called excitedly, waving his lit cigarette like a beacon. "How in Hades did you get roped into this mess? I thought you had better sense than that."

Who: Everyone is invited to attend
When: December 20th - December 21st
Where: The Great Hall, Entrance Hall, and Courtyard
What: Yule Vigil

On the longest night of the year, all lights in the castle will be doused with the exception of one main bonfire in the Great Hall, which will burn throughout the night. The vigil is a time for reflection on the past year, preparing to face the new year to come. Those who keep it will not sleep until after they watch the sunrise.

Since this is an all-night event, feel free to start multiple threads and jump around as you wish. It's a good time for telling stories, remembering lost friends, making amends, setting new goals, and resolving to change for the better. No one is required to attend or to stay for the entire night if they do not wish to do so.

The bonfire is in the Great Hall, but the doors are open to the Entrance Hall, which will spill enough light outside that people can mingle there. The Entrance Hall is an easier place to have more animated conversations without disturbing the solemnity of those gathered in the Great Hall to reflect in the firelight. The Courtyard is lit by the moon and stars, and is a good place to go for those who feel the desire to commune with nature, or who need a breath of fresh air.