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Post by Destiny on Nov 16, 2015 21:07:14 GMT -8
January 10th, 6:04 am
At first, nothing appears to be off. The halls aren't quite filled with people still as it is early in the morning, but something in the broom closet just off the foyer is making a decidedly odd noise. A thump and squeal can occasionally be heard from all the way across the silent hall, but the intermittent silence is even worse than the inhuman squeaks.
Any brave enough to investigate will find, before even opening the door, that a crimson pool is leaking out from the crack beneath the door. Something occasionally wiggles in the pool of blood. A closer look proves that maggots have infested whatever lies behind the door.
A ring of students stands fearfully around the mystery, too afraid to open and discover what lies beyond the door, too curious to leave it alone, and too shocked to report it as they ought.
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Post by Summer Leighton on Nov 16, 2015 21:07:36 GMT -8
This won't stop 'til I say so
Summer didn't know what to do. Nobody was moving. She could tell they were all petrified. Her hands were tingling; she didn't know if it was from anxiety or from the lack of circulation caused by Lyd's and Bri's hands clutching her arms. It wasn't like she wanted to be here; they just happened to be walking by and Lyd pointed out of the group. Of course, curiosity killed the cat and here they were, terrified but transfixed by the wiggling pool of blood.
But no one was doing anything about it.
A few more moments and the feeling of her hands going numb, she had it. If no one was going to open the door or get a professor, then she'll have to do something. Bloody lot of students. Curious, but terrfied. Honestly. No, she was terrified. She wanted to know what was behind the door, but didn't at the same time. Her hands shook when she reached for her wand. Lyd didn't even notice the arm under her hands were moving. Her mouth was opening and closing like a fish.
"Alohomora," she muttered under her breath. Any louder would probably have shocked the group of them and she didn't want a riot on her hands either.
They could hear the lock slide open and the door creaked, ominously opening as slow as a snail. It had opened a few inches before it was suddenly flung open by a large undulating carpet. Summer screeched and backed up, likely knocking over the students behind her. The group of rats, as the carpet turned out to be, scattered, leaving the door wide open, open to the sight of a shrouded decomposed body, impossibly more rats feasting on what appeared to be innards spilling from the abdominal cavity. From the light of the hall, it was barely discernible that the shroud was really a mass of flies.
Summer could hear several students retching behind her as the smell finally hit them. There was a sudden lack of pressure on her left arm, followed by a thunk. Looking down, she noticed Bri had fainted. She couldn't blame her; she was starting to feel lightheaded and her stomach rebelling. A look to her right noted that Lyd wasn't that far behind Bri.
Summer turned back to the sight and gulped. "Oh, dear Merlin." The Reign of Terror from Christmas hadn't ended after all.
Lyrics from "Breathe Carolina" - "Blackout" |
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Post by Milo Witte on Nov 16, 2015 21:08:02 GMT -8
Hmm... What would be for breakfast this beautiful, freezing cold morning here at Hogwarts castle? Perhaps a nice bowl of oats with some hot cinnamon apples and bananas and hmm... Oh, he knew! Wh--Rats. Wait...rats?
Milo paused, his thoughts of buttered wheat toast to go with his oatmeal forgotten, and watched with an air of curiosity as a sea of rats scurried rapidly in his direction. He was about to bend over to inspect as they drew nearer only to realize it might be a good idea to jump out of the way. No, not jump--leap!
And leap he did, stumbling toward the wall upon landing and stopping ever-so-gracefully in a push-up-like position. At least, it was graceful in his head.
Milo promptly pushed himself off the wall and turned so his back was flat against the stone behind him. As soon as the sea of rats vanished around the corner, he pushed himself away from the wall and stood a moment watching where they'd disappeared. Honestly, he hated crossroads. He had two choices here: see where the rats were headed or see where the rats had come from. Deciding the latter seemed the far more interesting of the two, he began to take off at a jog in that direction, not entirely certain what he was looking for. Maybe a smell?
He found the smell before he actually saw the students. Milo's nose wasn't certain what to make of it. It smelled putrid--a mixture of vomit and something far darker. Death. No one could forget the smell of a rotting corpse once he smelled it. It was distinct and putrid on its own without the accompanying vomit. He could already feel his stomach turn in protest and his body pale, becoming colder if that was even possible.
Milo had to stop for a few moments before continuing around the corner, seeing the mass of students standing near an open door.
"Out of the way! Out the way!" he called out as he approached, holding his robe's sleeve to his nose in a vain attempt to mask the smell. Maybe he should be concerned about the passed-out students, but he truly wanted to know what was rotting, especially with all that had happened. His face was grim as he put a hand on a second year's shoulder and told him, "Go get Madam Nakano. And send any other professors or any of the guard you can find." They'd need her for these students' welfare, and the other professors could help clear the scene of students. "You!" he said, noticing the pale, creepy slave of Hebron James standing off watching the scene. "Help him find the guard!"
With that, he pushed his way through the remaining, stepping over a few bodies until he reached the room.
The smell was worse here, far stronger. He gasped as he gagged and brought his other hand to his churning stomach. This was torture, but he had to go in, had to go further. But he couldn't have anyone follow him. His eyes searched for someone to make sure no one did before they settled on Summer. "You! Please keep them out there, ok?" Maybe it wasn't the most professional to call a student "you" but what did it matter at the moment? He didn't care whom he was speaking to. He just needed things done.
As Milo took a couple steps further in, he reached out for the door, pushing it so it was just ajar before going to the far side of the room to crack open the window. Once that was done, he went back to the corpse he'd only seen in his peripheral before. As he approached, he swatted at flies futilely then pulled out his wand and pointed it at the horde. "Evanesco." The flies vanished, though the decaying corpse held several maggots. He grimaced and held his breath as he stepped just a little closer. The face was pale and a little destroyed but not as badly as the shoulder area. But that face. He couldn't forget that face.
"Oh, Hilda," he murmured. "Hilda, what did you get yourself into?"
The deceased Hilda Paxton had been the transfiguration teacher whom had been recently deceased. They'd found a note in her writing in the professor's commons the morning she disappeared. The note had expressed Hilda's desire to resign. The recent string of murders had been too much for her. It looked as though on her way out she had been swept into the midst of it. What remained of the slashed clothing looked like her usual traveling robes, so as much a conclusion would be reasonable, right?
Milo swallowed, mesmerized, as he noticed the eyes were gone. Her mouth looked odd, the way her face cut... Where had this grin been seen before? He looked down as he took another step forward only to meet a squishy sound. His stomach lurched at the sight of the pasty intestines. All seemingly in place and accounted for. And there was something on her skin now that he saw. On her arms and legs. He couldn't make it out from here.
The arithmancy professor pushed his glasses and straightened them, holding onto them as he leaned forward as carefully as possible. "Happy." Her arms read, "Happy," as did her legs. Simply this and nothing more.
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Post by Markus von Wolfram on Nov 16, 2015 21:08:30 GMT -8
As far as night shifts went, this one had turned out to be as typical as typical could get. In fact, it had been downright quiet, and a nice change of pace compared to the past few weeks. Markus had spent most of the night reviewing the files pertaining to the Angel murders and had begun to compare them to the Hogwarts murders. Both killers seemed to kill in the same way and the way the corpses were left out lead the Captain to believe that the serial killer that was on the loose was the same killer residing within the walls of the school. Markus was certain they weren’t dealing with anything human.
He let out a soft sigh and stood, deciding he needed to think, and what better way to do so than to head out on final morning rounds. The shift change would be happening in the next 20 minutes and making sure his crew was doing alright was something the Captain had done since day one. Not only did it help moral but it instilled trust in the lower ranks if said ranks thought their Captain saw them as more than a grunt.
It was during this routine round that Markus came across a small crowed of students gathered around what he figured was a closet or storage room of sorts. That in itself was odd. Most kids that he knew of would still be sleeping or, at the very least, struggling through their morning routines before heading down to breakfast. As he neared the group the smell of decay invaded his sense of smell and he frowned. Please don’t be a corpse, please don’t be a corpse… he repeated the mantra silently to himself as he pushed his way through the group of students, stepping over the bodies of those that had simply passed out.
When he stepped through the door it took a good majority of his will power not to gag. The smell was horrendous. One would think, with as many murder investigations he’d done over the past month that he would have gotten used to the smell. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case. Markus didn’t think this was something he’d ever get used to. His eyes drifted over the professor that was standing near the corpse before focusing on the corpse itself.
Markus recognized the body as that belonging to the Transfiguration professor, or rather, the now former Transfiguration professor. "What happened here professor," he asked, his voice calm and collected as he knelt down for a closer inspection of the wounds that littered the body. The corpse was laid out in a similar way to the one the Death Eater Patrick and he had found during the first investigation; stomach slit open and intestines spilling out over the floor. He reached down and dipped his fingers in the pool of blood. It was tacky but still warm which meant yet again the killer had struck not that long ago.
The sound of footsteps approaching had the Captain turning his attention back to the door to see one of his younger recruits standing there with a pale face. ”Lyle, grab whoever is in the area and do some damage control. Get the students away from here… and get me an owl…” The orders were given in a terse manner and the recruits training thankfully kicked in. ”Yes Captain, men and an owl. Right away…” The kid gave one last lingering look before taking off. Markus then brought his attention back to the body, running a hand through his hair as he did. ”Damn it…”
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Post by Charon Nachtweber on Nov 16, 2015 21:08:59 GMT -8
 The pale eyes watching the tableau held a rare and hungry look. From his position in the still quiet portion of the foyer, Janus was able to watch the unfolding events of the discovery of the body. Of course there was a body, and of course it would be discovered. Had not the killer promised blood and death? Nobody had caught him, so obviously, he was still at large. Dark circles emphasized the icy gaze and pale complexion. Had Hebron been up late researching what manner of darkness was infusing the school? Was the slave sleepless, since the victims so far were the helpless or unaware? But then, not all the victims had been helpless. Professor Burgess was quite capable, and yet he too had been swallowed by death. The dark haired slave had nothing to say about the situation, even if he could talk. Orders were flashed at him to go and get help, and so the slave did as he was bid. Not quickly, mind you, but he still went. The captain of the guard was already making his way, so Janus decided to find his master instead. Surely, the man would be interested in seeing the mess.
Hebron stewed in his study, fretting over the expansive list of things that could be haunting the castle. Was it a vengeful wraith of some sort? Had a murderer entered the castle? The deaths all occurred at night, and all were left to be startlingly discovered. What game was being played? Something Dark was certainly afoot and as the Defense professor, the responsibility to root it out fell upon him. James took a sip of tea and worried around the real problem: Some one or something had broken into his artifact collection. Nothing was taken, per se, but things were out of place. Dark things, old things...things that were dangerous if they tasted blood. A suspicion filled the professor that these certain things HAD tasted blood and that the consequences were clear before them. In fact, the most suspicious thing was- A quiet sound from the door interrupted Hebron's thoughts. Janus entered and rapped out a statement on his chalkboard that erased any of his master's morning plans. Another body, another professor. What to do? Investigate. It seemed like his free time was being consumed by investigation. Hebron lurched out of his chair and rushed to the scene, still clothed in his pajamas and night robe. The scene was horrific and yet, there was a lead. On the inside of the door, faintly carved and coated with blood was a strangely shaped figure, not unlike the letter F or the letter T, over lapping and sinister somehow. He had seen this before, but where? A possibility fluttered up, but it was impossible. Heron shoved the idea aside, unaware that he was talking to himself. "...where? But them? Certainly not...they're dead and couldn't be here even if it was them...so how?...of course...obvious, obvious old fool..."Without even needing to summon them, Hebron had another professor and the captain of the guard. His tenuous and shaky tone when talking to himself disappeared and authority infused him with a manner of confidence. Without even seeing if the students were all cleared away, James made his deduction. "Gentlemen, it appears we have a Death Cult among the students or staff. Someone is responsible for a great deal of Dark wizardry, and must be brought to bay."Behind him, Janus just watched, recording notes on the scene for Hebron's later study. |
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Post by Summer Leighton on Nov 16, 2015 21:09:23 GMT -8
This won't stop 'til I say so
Summer sighed in relief when Professor Witte showed up. Granted, he wasn't the one she'd have chosen, but beggars couldn't be choosers. A student was sent away to find more adults. Joy. Another being less she'd have to worry about. Yes, she was worried. Like it or not, just because she was Slytherin didn't necessarily mean she didn't have a heart or that she didn't care. She was, however unfortunate it was, her sister's sister. Though she could probably pass off her caring nature as something more self-centered.
Pressure on her right side vanished as Lyd gave in and crashed to the floor. Whoops. Amazing what one could forget in such a traumatic time. Thank goodness Ryder wasn't around this area of the castle. She wouldn't have been able to deal with three fainting females. "You! Please keep them out there, ok?" Irony, thy name is Professor Witte. "Aye-Aye, sir," Summer mocked, complete with a salute, followed by a gag. Too much inhale. Ugh. That was a nasty stench. If this kept up, her job would be done for her, the way the students were too nauseated by the smell or dropping like flies. Irony. Thy name is Summer.
Wrapping her scarf over her face, she knelt down and started straightening out the crumpled forms of her friends. "Alright, you heard the man. Stay here. Not that I'd understand why you'd want to go in there in the first place, but no leaving. If you leave, I'll tackle you and it'll be painful." Merlin, the stench wasn't that better through the material. She was going to have to burn these things once the day was through. Somehow. "Just. . . help me make them comfortable." Weak protests started arising, to which she just snapped at them. "No. I don't care. At all. At this point in time, who gives a flying rat's arse who everyone here is. We only have ourselves to keep each other safe now. Think about it." She wasn't sure if she got through to them since they all became distracted by the whirlwind that was the resident Captain of the Imperial Guard and his lackeys.
Things just got real.
The students around her started buzzing but were starting to help each other out for the most part. Several of the lackeys came out after a few minutes in the room. A few started towards them. "Alright, you lot. Let's go." Not that he was helping them any. Summer glared at the obviously new recruit from her kneeling stance. "Right. And go where, pray tell? As you can see, we have quite a few students passed out, others with who knows what kinds of injuries. If you want to be of the best amount of help, I suggest you go find Madame Nakano. Or better yet find us some big, strong men to help bring them to the Infirmary." The boy's face coloured and Summer had a difficult time stifling a laugh at the expression on his face.
"Oh, alright. You boys. You look strong enough to carry us weak damsels. C'mon now. Up and at 'em. As for those injured, best we leave them here until someone more qualified can clear them for removal." She arched a brow at the Imperial Puppy. "Does that suit you?" A grunt and even he bent down to take Lyd away from her. "Watch her head or I'll have your guts for garters. Wear them to my wedding, I will." Glares were such tasteful messengers in the end.
Another two bodies flew past the group and into the room. Summer wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, but with all the bustling and making sure the injured stayed relatively safe, no one was going to notice little mouthy her sneak to the door, right? One only prayed. She started edging closer to the death site and one of the students caught her eyes. Before she could make any sort of gesture to the student, he just rolled his eyes and shrugged before plainly turning his back to her. Nice to have alliances.
She was almost to the door now, just a quick slip inside and stick to the shadows ought to do it. The new DADA professor didn't even wait a beat before announcing his theory to the other adults upon arrival. What in the blazes of all rings of hell was he talking about?
"Death Cult?!?" Oops. Did she say that out loud?
Lyrics from "Breathe Carolina" - "Blackout"
[Note: She's baaaack.] |
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Post by Samael Nachtweber on Nov 16, 2015 21:09:47 GMT -8
"Curiosity killed the cat, Fräulein."
The voice belonged to none other than Lance Ulrich who had stumbled across this simply wonderful batch of students at this fragrant scene near the foyer on his way to relieve the poor bloke up on the seventh floor of the castle. He gave the girl's shoulder a pat and winked. "Now, why don't you go be a good little girl and help your fellow students, hm? Better yet, you could go grab Madam Nakano yourself or go across the foyer to the Great Hall and get the rest of the newly awakened guard to hurry their derrieres over here to help move the injured?" He motioned his head back toward the Great Hall in a quick nod. He was sure the girl wasn't going to take kindly to him giving her orders when she seemed to think she was the alpha female in these parts, but what did he care? She was a child and needed to be put in her place. Besides, he'd been head boy only last year. Surely she at least recognized him as an authority figure.
Now that that was taken care of, Lance walked into the room, none too pleased to be getting his shoes in the puddle of blood and maggots. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made, however. "A death cult, Professor?" Lance mused aloud to announce his presence as he came to stop before the group. He stood at attention as he noticed the Captain and saluted, waiting for permission to stand at ease. This complicated his own hopes of sating his curiosity a bit. Captain von Wolfram would likely have orders for him since he had shown his face, orders which would likely send him away from here and off to help the members of the guard he'd indicated the Slytherin girl should retrieve. A bit disappointing, really, but such was his life of late: a series of disappointments.
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Post by Milo Witte on Nov 16, 2015 21:10:17 GMT -8
"What happened here professor?"
Milo opened his mouth to speak, but the guard went on to give directions to his fellow guards and then another professor came in. James. Professor Hebron James with his creepy little slave with the dark, sullen, and creepy little eyes. He shuddered involuntarily as he looked at the slave then went back to looking at the corpse, which somehow seemed just slightly less creepy at the moment than it had in moments prior and listened to the other professor talk to himself about something Milo wasn't quite grasping from his spot over on the far side of the late Professor Paxton. But then James addressed them all.
"A Death Cult?" Milo said at about the same time as Lance entered the room. He made a slight face. Seemed everyone was trying to keep him from talking today whether intentional or not. But haha! The recruit had to salute. "What makes you say this, Hebron?" he asked. Obviously, there was a great deal of dark magic involved, so he wasn't going to ask that one. It was the death cult part that escaped Milo.
Honestly, how did a string of murders translate to "death cult"? It just seemed odd. He hadn't seen any symbolism at any of the sites he had visited, and he had been there for a few. And he was sure the Captain would have mentioned symbols to the Ancient Runes professor or Dresy had he noticed any during his investigations of the scenes, right? There had been writing and such in blood, but to him, it pointed to a murderer, someone a bit full of himself who wanted to be noticed and recognized for all the murders he had committed yet wasn't quite brave enough (yet?) to reveal himself.
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Post by Rika Lefcourt on Nov 16, 2015 21:10:17 GMT -8
She was just in time for the mentioning of something like a death cult. Death cult? What was going on at this time of the day? It was barely past six in the morning and people were all crowding around this place, staring, gawping like idiots at... She could smell it. Death.
Curious.
Williams had told her about some kind of strange unicorn killing that had happened not long ago, so had Mayumi’s correspondence. Dealing with someone who was killing animals wasn’t really part of her agenda at Hogwarts. Her mission was very clear: find out hints and evidence for the whereabouts of Williams’ daughters. Some lunatic killing unicorns wasn’t connected to this at all.
Still, what she could see through the crowd, which honestly wasn’t much, told her that this wasn’t a unicorn. Rika had never smelled dead unicorn, but somehow the stench that assaulted her somewhat finer sense of smell appeared very human to her.
“Make a hole!” she commanded and pushed her way through the crowd of what seemed to be primarily students. “Come on children, make a hole and then get going. You have other things to do than gawping like a bunch of first years at their first broom!”
When she finally reached the front of the crowd she noticed that the stench had become stronger. “Good morning gentlemen.” As she had done so the past three days ever since her arrival she kept it short and poignant and not necessarily on a very close and personal level. The friendly approach was for when the work of the day was done, when she was off duty, which, in this place, seemed to be somewhat fluid.
“And what do we have here?” She said and sniffed the air. “Ripe. Very ripe.” Not as bad as some corpses she had seen in the Sea of Trees, but still quite advanced. “Though, if I may say so, it’s a death cult when we can prove it’s a death cult. Until then we should keep our minds open to all kinds of possibilities.”
Judging by Williams’ description the whole thing reminded her more of a hunt than whatever would pass as cult activity and, going by her own experience, it took a predator to catch another predator. She would need a closer look at whoever the unlucky victim was, so she moved forward.
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Post by Chase Downing on Nov 16, 2015 21:11:11 GMT -8
Chase had chosen to rise early this morning to patrol. He’d been stationed at Hogwarts for some time now, and generally patrolled at night and in the early morning. He did this so that he could avoid the students. This was not only for his benefit, but the students’ as well. He couldn’t count the number of times he wanted to backhand the little twits. Nearly all of them were insubordinate, unruly, and needed to learn their place in life. Thus it was easier for everyone’s sake that Chase patrolled during times when students weren’t generally as active.
He was just about to finish up his shift and head back to rest when he ran into the commotion in the foyer. One of the younger guard who was rushing by, apparently to alert the rest of the guard, pointed him in the direction of their captain. Chase nodded that he had heard, but said nothing. Chase was not exactly one for words and right now was certainly not the time for them anyway. He remained expressionless, but focused as he approached the captain of the guard. The smell did not affect him whatsoever. He was familiar with the smells of death, having caused them himself on several occasions. What did slightly irritate him were several of the children that still remained in the way. Suppressing the urge to blast them out of his way, he merely pushed through the throng.
As he finally made it to the scene of interest, he stopped just short of his captain. He didn’t bother to push through any further through to actually see the scene. Someone had clearly been murdered again, but if Chase was required to see the scene, he would be instructed to see it. He really had no curiosity about it, and almost didn’t even care. He was simply here following orders, and he would continue to follow them. There were several others gathered around the area, giving their own theories and input. Chase didn’t answer to them however and cared little about what they had to say. He promptly saluted his captain. “Captain, your orders?”
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Post by Markus von Wolfram on Nov 16, 2015 21:15:00 GMT -8
What was it about crime scenes that seemed to drag people out of the proverbial stone work? In what seemed like that past 30 seconds, he had gone from a room with just Professor Witte to a room with Professor Witte, Professor James, one new Transfiguration Professor he didn’t know yet, a student with a mouth on her, two of his guard (Lance and Chase), and one very creepy looking slave. Markus sighed. He could feel a headache coming on already. Unfortunately some sort of scene control needed to be established and thankfully two of his more trusted members of the guard had wandered in.
”Chase, get that student out of here and then take a look at this, same with you Lance…” Something about the way the wounds on the body were laid out bothered the captain. He wasn’t sure what about them did, but his gut was telling him something was something to be found here. He looked up as Professor James began speaking, proclaiming this murder to be the act of a Death Cult. Markus shook his head before standing and heading back to the door to take a look at whatever was scribbled on the door. None of the evidence pointed to a cult of any sort as far as he was concerned. Pointed to a serial killer yes, but not a cult. He was about to say as much when the new Transfiguration Professor entered the room and pretty much spoke his mind.
”I have to agree with Ms… Lefcourt was it? Nothing so far has led us to believe a cult of any sort has been involved. It doesn’t fit the pattern. It’s more than likely that it is a serial killer of some discretion. These symbols here on the door look to be like ruins, very old ones. They mention something about time.” He didn’t elaborate further on what it could mean. It had been a while since he had to read ancient runes, so he was a little rusty, but he understood them to say something about it being deaths time.
”That being said we can’t discount a cult of some sort either. What makes you think this could be a cult professor?” As he asked his question he glanced back to Lance and Chase, hoping they would realize they were free to ask whatever questions they deemed necessary to help the investigation.
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Post by Milo Witte on Nov 16, 2015 21:15:24 GMT -8
"Eviscerated, maggots...symbols...death cult?" Milo was mumbling to himself, trying to piece the things all together.
"Ripe. Very ripe."
"Ripe," Milo repeated, only half-realizing he'd taken the word from the unfamiliar Asian voice. "But...all together? Random. Doesn't make sense. Unicorn foal, first year. Both innocent. Young, innocent... Burgess, Hilda... Both professors. Older, not so innocent." His brows furrowed and he seemed completely gone to the world for a few moments as he pondered the possible connections before he suddenly shook his head and let his eyes fall on the unfamiliar woman. Hilda's replacement.
"Though, if I may say so, it's a death cult when we can prove it's a death cult. Until then we should keep our minds open to all kinds of possibilities."
Sounded opinionated at that. But she was a temporary as far as he understood. Unless she wished to stay on and they didn't find someone better fit for the job. Her opinions were just that: opinions. They weren't some way to convince people she was to be trusted or knowledgeable. They weren't a manipulation device. It wasn't as though she would be the murder.
He smiled a little and chuckled slightly at the retort she had made only to realize there were two more guards in here along with the new professor as Markus spoke and addressed the woman. Well, seemed this had become a party in his mental absence.
"I, too, am very curious how it connects to a Death Cult in your mind, Professor James," Milo interjected. "But wouldn't we better spend our time making connections? He started with the most pure and innocent of pure and innocents: a unicorn foal. Then, he moved up the ladder. Maybe slightly less innocent but still young, still considered pure and naive, untouched by the world: the Hufflepuff. He desecrated her but not the others. Why? And then, he moved onto bigger prey. The innocent weren't enough of a challenge for him, most likely. Correct me if I'm wrong, of course, Captain. Professor Burgess. Professor Paxton. Burgess was hardly touched. Paxton was left to rot. Something against women, girls. Childhood trauma with mother? Perhaps something with their birthdays. I'll need numbers, men!"
Milo paused to look at Professor Lefcourt. "And lady, I beg your pardon," he conceded in a quieter voice before carrying on full speed ahead. "Numbers to do my job! There has to be a connection in their signs, in their birthdays, in their lives--something! Think! Death cult or serial killer aside, there's got to be a pattern here. And the sooner we see it, the sooner we find out how to stop him, how to catch him--" he glanced at Hebron, "--or them--at their own game. Right now it doesn't matter if it's a group or an individual. Methods of killing might help with that, but first, we need to find the connection! Oy, paper!"
Milo brought his hands up in fists near his face as though grabbing at an invisible pair of handles. He needed to write, to calculate. There had to be something, some connection somewhere.
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Post by Charon Nachtweber on Nov 16, 2015 21:15:25 GMT -8
(OOC sorry for the racism. Hebron's an elitist jerk)
More people. Great. Hebron's announcement, as sure as the dawn in his own eyes, went right past these so called investigators and right out the window. Nobody believed him, the expert! This new upstart Transfiguration professor, whatever her name was, dared insinuate that he was close minded about the affair. Meddling yellow skinned female probably had to remind herself which way to point her wand! Honestly! What kind of savages came from the east that they couldn't trust a specialist when they worked with them?!
Waspishly, he reminded everyone around him who exactly they were questioning.
"As it were, gentlemen, I've seen this rune before, and this type of escalating pattern. The murders, according to the cult who calls themselves Fatalis Temporis, are done with a very specific pattern." He tapped the rune that did indeed resemble the letters T and F before continuing.
"Now, having seen this pattern of killings and seen this rune before, perhaps it is a bit of a stretch for your logic and imagination, but as a specialist in Defense against the Dark Arts, I am QUITE certain that what I am seeing here is a resurgence of the Fatalis murders last seen in Greece three years ago! Now, as to the pattern..."
He paused in thought and turned to Janus. "Go get my journal, the green bound one."
Hebron turned back to the group, deliberately avoiding eye contact with the Transfiguration witch who was still alive.
"The pattern involves innocence, strength, cunning, and and age. Two of each sacrifice are required for their rituals. As to why Professor Burgess wasn't mutilated like the rest...well, perhaps our killer was interrupted or wounded in the fight. Perhaps our ever present guard should question the students as to what they may have seen?"
Hebron was not his usually kind and gentle self, but the aura of power was settled over him in his ire and it turned his rather insulting question into a hammer blow of direction.
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Post by Summer Leighton on Nov 16, 2015 21:16:14 GMT -8
This won't stop 'til I say so
"Now, why don't you go be a good little girl and help your fellow students, hm? Better yet, you could go grab Madam Nakano yourself or go across the foyer to the Great Hall and get the rest of the newly awakened guard to hurry their derrieres over here to help move the injured?"
Summer snarled at him openly, despite the fact that she'd probably be able to grab the Healer faster than any of the others. Lance was getting too big for his britches. Just because he graduated last year didn't suddenly give him superior authority over her. He'd have to earn it.
“Come on children, make a hole and then get going. You have other things to do than gawping like a bunch of first years at their first broom!”
And who was this who got off making them sound like helpless little idiots who had nothing better to do at six thirty in the morning. Granted, a majority of that group probably were, but some of them actually turned knowledge into a tool.
”Chase, get that student out of here and then take a look at this, same with you Lance…”
Oh, yes. And how else was she going to save her own sorry arse if she didn't know what was going on. But no. The adults felt quite secure in keeping their bright little futures in the dark, as it were. Summer grumbled as she backed out of the room. Smell was getting to her; that was all. Not like she was actually listening to what Master Superior or Mistress Authority was saying. She'll admit she was listening to the Captain, but only because his son was heading the information group.
Finally out sight, she grabbed two of the lingering students and darted down the hall. "Ring up the rest of the band. Something's up and we need to gather." If they wouldn't let her in on their little secrets, she'd have to comply with their demands quickly so she could spy on them some more. She was sure no one had found Madame Nakano just yet, so it would be up to them. All along the way, she sent Imperial Guards back to the scene of the crime. Easier to blend in with more bodies there, after all.
Lyrics from "Breathe Carolina" - "Blackout"
[Note: So, I guess she'll probably be back in a few more posting rounds. Maybe.] |
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Post by Rika Lefcourt on Nov 16, 2015 21:16:47 GMT -8
“Captain”, she nodded to von Wolfram in reply. She still had to talk with him and show him the letter of his master. Halfway she had been wondering how he would be taking such an interference, but fact was, she had found evidence that his guard had not, so it was really a moot point.
Professor Witte’s raving about numbers was interesting, but to her it was just one approach. Admittedly, she had been doing some reading on criminal investigations and crime scene work during the weeks until this appointment, just to be sure and ready, just in case, and she found the current approaches all too focused on one particular point. At this rate all the different theories would likely get into each other’s way. Witte certainly had a point, but he wasn’t jumping to conclusions anymore, he was apparating to them at record speed.
The hostility in professor James’, or was it professor Hebron, he had such an odd name, voice was clearly audible. Specialists and experts, more often than not, didn’t like their opinion challenged. Still, it seemed to be far too easy for her. Greece was a long way from Britain and there were a lot more potential targets between those two countries. Why suddenly appear here? And how? An entire cult implied several people. Given the measures of security at Hogwarts these days she found it unlikely that a group of people could have infiltrated the place.
No, the rogue rat, for example, had been alone, as far as she could tell. If somebody had infiltrated Hogwarts as a serial killer, then he was also alone. That way he had better chances of remaining undetected. The more people he had, the bigger the risk, not to mention that coordination and communication in a place as crowded as Hogwarts would be an issue. Of course, one could always try to hide in plain sight.
“Or maybe whoever this attacker is knows you and is just toying with you.” It wasn’t the best comeback, but right now Rika didn’t really care. They could all jump to conclusions for all eternity, she would approach this by the book, scientifically. Sniffing the air she tried to find something that their human noses couldn’t, but the smell of the corpse had laid itself across any other hint that may have been there. She crouched close to the body, but made sure that her shoes weren’t touching the coagulated and partly dried blood. “Maybe an old acquaintance from Greece? Have these people ever been caught? And if so, are you sure all of them have been taken in?”
Rika opened her messenger bag. This time she was better prepared than back during her little excursion with Lord Williams himself. She pulled out a small container and unscrewed the lid. Then she began picking up several of the maggots with a pair of tweezers and deposited them in the container. “Or maybe it’s a false flag operation.” Leaving this hanging in the air for a second or two Rika closed the container. “Maggots usually don’t appear until roughly twenty-four hours after death. That’s the earliest time, depending on the species. The flies lay their eggs directly at the food source, the larva eventually hatch and begin feeding right away. So that means our stiff here,” she was borrowing a term she had heard on muggle TV shows, “has been dead for roughly a day, at the very least, probably longer.”
Normally the presence of flies in winter would have been odd, but Hogwarts inside was warm in many places, and there was plenty of food for flies, so it didn’t really surprise her. A vast place like Hogwarts was almost its own little universe for a fly and the population could maintain their normal lifecycle.
“We need to figure out time and cause of death, and gather all the evidence.” And she would have a closer look at the body, after all she had seen a lot of different wounds inflicted on human bodies. Claws, arrows, blunt objects, blades, shrapnel, she had seen them and knew they were all capable of doing quite some damage.
A sudden thought struck her. “And if we’re dealing with a serial killer, or, as you said, a cult, they might be watching right now, or at least be nearby. Such people like to bask in their kills and enjoy the reactions and publicity often connected to their deeds.” Or so the literature had claimed. Why hadn’t she thought about this earlier!
Still this meant one other thing: Finding the rogue rat was going to take longer than hoped and she would be tied up with this for a while.
Rika made her decision. "Captain," she addressed von Wolfram directly. "I will require access to the other cases connected to this incident." That alone would likely have caused a lot of shaking of heads and laughter. In fact, she could feel it building up. So she reached into her jacket and produced the letter from Trevor Williams. "You will find all your explanations here," the young woman said and offered it to the captain of the guard.
A part of her hated being Williams' personal little hound, sniffing for the rogue rat animagus and now getting involved in this mess as well. But another part of her, her natural side, relished in the prospect of a hunt. The rogue rat was good, but he was ultimately human, he could only go to a certain point. This one, on the other hand...
And besides, there was a chance that these cases were connected after all. It was completely paranoid on her part, but her position had forced her into thinking like this. Abduct the daughters of the most powerful man, and then distract everyone with a strange killing spree. It felt somewhat silly to her, but right now it was still an option, until proven otherwise.
"Get a predator to hunt another predator," she muttered to herself, but probably loud enough for some of the other professors to hear.
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