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Tweak says, "You, you bought this."

michael corner is reluctantly growing up (mlcorner) wrote in pandorarpg,
@ 2011-12-21 19:02:00

Entry tags:

!status: complete, ^date: november 08 2003, character: alicia spinnet, character: angelina johnson, character: ernie macmillan, character: george weasley, character: hermione granger, character: justin finch-fletchley, character: michael corner, character: ron weasley, character: seamus finnigan

dumbledore's army, unite!
Characters: Dumbledore's Army
Setting: Rook Cottage, 8 November 2003, 6:30pm
Rating: PG, for dark theme discussion and a little violence
Summary: Time to bring back the ole DA gang for a little mystery solving action!

Michael felt a bit nervous for this meeting, maybe because he'd been arranging things for it in the journals so he was sort of the person people were looking to to have all the information now and he hadn't exactly meant for that to be the case. Especially when he had absolutely no information at all concerning these 'nightmares.' Except that he did now have all of Lavender's information, which was bad enough, because he didn't know all that much about it yet he was supposed to tell everyone about what she'd uncovered during the meeting. Why had he volunteered to present it for her again? Oh yeah, because he was too sodding nice, that's why.

Once everyone had arrived and finished their initial 'hello's' and 'how do you do's' and so on, they settled down in Luna's slightly too small living space with quite a fair amount of snacks and drinks to last through the night if need be. If this amount was going to show up each time (if they were going to have more meetings like this) they might need to find a slightly larger place to hold them, because Luna apparently had not expected so many people to attend. It may not have been the original DA, but it was a good number of them. Everyone seemed to look toward Michael at this point which made him uncomfortable to say the least. He'd never been the leader of anything before and while he didn't mind being the center of attention, in this situation he didn't feel like he had enough information or experience with these 'nightmares' to really be at the helm. Hopefully they were just thinking of him as the secretary and not the leader so with this in mind, he cleared his throat and said, "Well alright. I suppose I call this first renewed Dumbledore's Army meeting into order. We should probably get started."

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The Murders

mlcorner
2011-12-27 03:18 am UTC (link)

"Er, right," Michael said after Ron had left the room. He figured it was time to divert people's attention from the punch, so he should probably bring up what Lavender had asked him to tell everyone about Bianca. It was a bit difficult seeing as most of it was based on divination and he didn't particularly believe in it, but he tried his best.

"So Ron mentioned focusing on the murderer and er, Lavender had a theory that I promised I would mention for her. I know that we shouldn't be pointing fingers, but this really bothered her and I didn't want to let it go by unsaid. She said that Bianca Dunstan was having visions about the same woman, Pandora Zurlo, that everyone else was having the 'nightmares' about. Bianca told her this herself.

"And I know this is all Divination and I don't know much about it nor put much stalk in it but a few people do, and the visions plus the readings that both of them had done said something about deception, duality and the unknown like maybe the murderer could be doing this without really knowing about it." Michael cut off for a moment, not having really said that Lavender had accused Bianca of being that murderer. He sighed. "Lavender is worried that Bianca is someone to be concerned about, because of her visions. 'Because no one has visions without reason' she says. So, I said I would tell you lot."

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The Murders

ernsthename
2011-12-27 03:44 am UTC (link)

"Hmmm," Ernie said, finally settling back into some sort of normal having performed a simple charm to reduce the swelling. "I don't put that much stock in divination either," he said with a shrug. "But I suppose that is besides the point. I would propose that none of us can be too careful." He felt as if he was starting to sound like one of their former professors, as he could've sworn he had the words 'constant vigilance' on the tip of his tongue.

"It's just that it seems to me that once whoever it may be--whether it is Pandora Zurlo or a follower or something like that--has it in her mind to off someone, she just does. Regardless of the skill or condition her target. I hadn't heard from anyone who has survived an encounter--we're not even 100% sure if these deaths are truly linked." He was still in a spot of denial when it came to the linkage just since it gave him at least some measure of hope--to not face imminent death. "But I agree though, that we should look into protective measures for those who can be targeted."

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The Murders

basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-27 04:01 am UTC (link)

Justin, already upset at the attack on his best mate, grew angry as it sounded like Bianca was being offered as a possible suspect. Justin normally did not get angry - he would often run and hide before showing anger - but after first Zach and now this, he was nearing the end of his rope from watching his friends being wronged in front of him.

"Bianca is not involved in this," he insisted, standing up to face Michael. At heart he knew the words weren't his, but he was just too upset, particularly since Lavender wasn't even there to make the accusation herself. "She's my friend - our friend! She wouldn't hurt a fly! So don't tell me you even consider it, it's the most ridiculous thing in the world!"

He then turned on Ernie. "And what kind of protective measures do you think would help? I certainly couldn't keep you locked up at home, so what can we even do? Can't even keep you bloody safe from getting hit at a DA meeting!"

Having said his piece, he flopped back down, arms crossed over his chest in an almost petulant fashion. "Maybe we should all just move to Canada or something. I hear Montreal is nice this time of year."

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The Murders

ernsthename
2011-12-27 05:12 am UTC (link)

"Hold on," Ernie backtracked quickly, having realized that he's missed one of the more pertinent pieces of the conversation. The second Bianca was mentioned, he saw her as a target, not a potential perpetrator. She didn't have that in her. His mind was already halfway thinking of solutions that involve the protection of people as vulnerable as she was. "There's simply--it simply can't be that she'd do such a thing." He paused for a moment though.

He sighed at the obvious lack of logic there, he had initially felt too emotional at the distress that Justin was experiencing. "But what if she were put under the Imperius Curse? Or something similar?" He, as many of those who as children heard whisperings about the war from adults knew that there were many of those who have had their autonomy forcefully taken from them at some point.

"I'm alright, Justin. It was a bit of a surprise," Ernie said. "Remember, it's not only on you who happens to be responsible for my well-being." He smiled a bit sadly at the whole matter. He felt bad that there was no guarantee for his safety, or for anyone's safety for that matter. "And I'm not running away," he added with a sigh. "As much as I'd love to at times. Who's to say that it'd stop this?"

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The Murders

mlcorner
2011-12-27 05:20 am UTC (link)

Michael sighed. He knew that it was going to go over this way but he had to say it. "I'm not accusing anyone of anything, Justin. I'm only relaying the facts that they both gave - or y'know, what they consider to be facts. They did their readings together and both saw similar things in them and Bianca is having visions rather than nightmares which is different from what everyone else is experiencing. So even disregarding what Lavender considers about her being dangerous, we do have to take into account that it's odd that she's having visions about Pandora.

"But yes, that's what Lavender was referring to. Not just Bianca though, which is what I was taking out of it, because I don't know Bianca nor did I meet her to get any sort of feel for whether she might be a threat or not, that was Lavender, but... well anyone could be under the Imperius Curse. Or maybe even some other magic we don't know of, because these memories aren't exactly magic we've seen before either. We could be dealing with a whole new amount of control that we don't quite understand, so we have to be on guard. And maybe come up with some sort of code or safe word for the lot of us just in case?"

Michael shrugged at Ernie's previous comment about the links between the murders. "Well, I think you lot in the DMLE would know more than us about them being linked, though seeing that the Prophet says that all the cases are being investigated as one case now, it sounds like they are linked in some manner. They were all having nightmares, so that sounds like a rather strong link."

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The Murders

ernsthename
2011-12-29 02:37 am UTC (link)

"I suppose it didn't appear to me that Bianca was under the Imperius Curse yesterday during the party--she was very much herself." Reaction to the breast cupcakes and all... "But it doesn't exclude a unique level of skill, or possession, or something that we won't or can't fathom. I suppose that the ingenuity of dark wizards and witches keeps many of us employed." He paused and considered the idea of a password or passcode. "I think in a way using it alone can lull one into a false sense of security, but perhaps if we can keep in mind to pair that with a personal anecdote or something to help confirm identity. But even then--I guess what I'm saying is that there's no sure-fire way to prevent anything, really."

"You are right, Michael. There are claims regarding the nightmares and spots being witnessed with the recent cases. But it may be coincidence or a copy-cat for all we know. It's the death of Zurlo and Harry that are investigated as one."

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The Murders

mlcorner
2011-12-29 04:41 am UTC (link)

"Alright, look Ernie and Justin. Don't get stuck on the Bianca part of this, okay? The important part that we need to be focusing on here is that we need to be vigilant toward everyone we care about now, just in case. And even then, there's no guarantee we're going to see any differences even if they are possessed or under Imperius. The whole point in many previous cases of that curse having been used was that we weren't supposed to notice that the person was under the spell - he or she was supposed to act like they normally did before so no one knew.

"We don't know how many people could be working with Pandora now, or could be forced to work with her, so we have to be careful and look out for each other. But I do think that the fact that Bianca is having visions instead of nightmares is something of a curiosity - not that it might be a negative thing necessarily, but maybe something that could possibly help us in some way." Michael took a breath, taking a look at Justin for a moment. He knew that Ernie was being diplomatic about this, but Justin was more short-tempered today, maybe because of what happened yesterday at the party.

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The Murders

basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-29 04:54 am UTC (link)

"Sure, let's all forget that we're suspecting friends who aren't here of being involved in the murder of innocent people."

He pouted even further and looked aside at Ernie. He'd hoped his best mate would have stood up as he had, but he was being more 'reasonable' than Justin. Bugger reason, Bianca was their friend, and she deserved their support just like the rest of them. Just because she wasn't in the DA didn't mean she deserved it any less.

"Of course it's something that could help us, you-" he winced, unwilling to say anything overly mean to his friend, no matter what had been said. "Corner. But that's not what Lavender said to you, is it."

It wasn't a question. He knew he'd have to talk to Lavender herself to get some truth out.

"There's no need to defend her, she's not even here to make the accusations herself. You're just passing on the news. It doesn't matter anyway. You lot just decide it all, I'll sit here being my usual self."

Useless layabout.

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The Murders

mlcorner
2011-12-29 07:13 am UTC (link)

"That's not what I meant either, Justin! Merlin, do you think that I condone spreading hurtful shite around about people? I seem to recall defending you yesterday for the very same sodding thing by putting my fist into someone's face!" Michael was nothing if not loyal to his friends - and he counted Justin among them - but he wasn't going to ignore facts when they presented themselves. "I already told you, I don't think Bianca is possessed or any of that shite. But I do think that we need to start keeping an eye out for that sort of thing - and keep a look out for each other - because it is possible and could very well be happening!"

Michael groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. "I volunteered to pass on the information that Lavender had found because she couldn't be here herself. If she could have been, she would have said all this on her own. It's not an accusation, Justin, it's a concern. There are facts that don't match up with everyone else, whether you like it or not, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking Bianca about that. No one else has mentioned having visions of Pandora the first night, so it is certainly important that we find out why Bianca would have them while the rest of us only had dreams or visions about our worst fears."

He hated this. He really did. Michael didn't like arguing with friends (mostly because it rarely ever happened and when it did, he would turn it into a joke and dissolve it as quickly as possible) but he wouldn't back down just because his friends were disagreeing with him. Lavender may have been emotional when she first brought up Bianca's possible involvement, but the facts she presented were real and they did need to look into the discrepancies and find out why she was seeing Pandora before the rest of them.

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The Murders

ernsthename
2011-12-29 09:44 pm UTC (link)

"I guess what he's saying, Justin, is that we can't tell if anyone or everyone is as we think they are--or as we want to think of them. We just need to be careful, even among people we don't--can't fathom being against us. I wouldn't get terribly offended if you were a bit more cautious around me if it would ensure your safety," Ernie said, more to Justin than to anyone else. It didn't or shouldn't take a genius to remind him or anyone of what such times were like.

"What you're saying happened to Bianca is certainly anomalous, so it would be a good idea to investigate this carefully. No one else that we know of has had visions of Pandora that first night, but we should try to find out whether anyone else experienced this. Thanks for relaying this to us from Lavender, Michael. It's not easy being the messenger of some unsavory news." He was still struggling with the news. Like Justin, he knew Bianca from Hogwarts and considered her the best sort of person. But he tried his best to be objective--he knew what he needed was more information, to piece together and come up with his own conclusions. "I can try investigating a bit further at work." He also considered when he would next have time to speak to Bianca.

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