Disclaimer: This information is provided as a guide so that you can further enjoy the SS School RPG. This information is subject to changes as more information about the characters is revealed in the story. Also, please remember that some of this information may not be known to your character "IC".
| House Point Totals | |
|---|---|
| Gryffindor | 1528 |
| Ravenclaw | 1303 |
| Slytherin | 1290 |
| Hufflepuff | 438 |
The first of September 2103 began as any other start of term day for the young witches and wizards attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Their trunks were loaded onto the Hogwarts Express, they said goodbye to their families on Platform 9¾, the trolley lady pushed her wares up and down the train corridor, and the first years glided across the Black Lake towards the castle in eager anticipation of their Sorting. Unbeknownst to all, the “headmaster” was scouring the Forbidden Forest looking for one final piece to an important mission: the Resurrection Stone. With the Stone found and the remaining hallows in the hands of his most trusted followers who had laid a stronghold at the Ministry of Magic, he returned to the castle ready to bring not only Hogwarts but the entire wizarding world to its knees… for the Greater Good
Students were given a rude awakening as soon as they arrived at school. At the start-of-term feast, some were curious to find that Headmaster Trent's usual seat stood empty on the staff dais, leading to inevitable questions. Before they had the chance to voice these questions to anyone but each other, however, the man himself strode in and took his place, though something seemed a little… off - more 'off' than last term, even. The exact nature of that something quickly became apparent, when Malachi Trent's face melted away - Polyjuice Potion style - to reveal someone very different currently in command of the school, just as a menacing crowd of followers trooped into the Great Hall.
The stranger in Trent's place - and who had clearly been masquerading as the headmaster for some time - introduced himself as Headmaster Rosier, and his organisation as the Neo-Alliance, not hesitating to inform the students that they were all disposable should anyone consider resistance against his takeover of the school. With the students in varying states of shock, fear, and outrage, liable to outbursts, it soon became clear the Neo-Alliance meant business. He revealed that prefects were to be replaced by another group, and all students were instructed to fill in the forms that appeared on the house tables. These forms required students to provide their blood heritage, family details, and their stance on muggle upliftment.
Upon returning to their common rooms, students found their dormitories and belongings ransacked, any and all mirrors confiscated and fireplaces sealed. All communication with the outside world was stopped, surveillance upped, and owls unceremoniously birdnapped. Hogwarts had been turned into a prison.
Matters only became more dire as term got underway. The prefects' replacement turned out to be a revival of the once infamous Inquisitorial Squad - first seen during Dolores Umbridge's reign of Hogwarts - now reinstalled to spy and report on anything the cult deemed a violation under the new regime. More Neo-Alliance followers arrived at Hogwarts, taking up residence around the castle in makeshift living spaces as the school becomes their headquarters. Muggle-borns were singled out for cruel and unfair treatment in lessons and around the school. Even the professors did not escape torment; Muggle Studies professor, Finneas Schmoe, suffered the Cruciatus Curse for attempting to defy the new curriculum, and Professor Cassiopeia Kitridge met the same response.
Lucien Rosier received a visit from his sister, Alphonsine, part of a group of key Neo-Alliance members who had infiltrated the Ministry of Magic. Alphonsine revealed that the Ministry had been successfully brought under Neo-Alliance control, with Minister Hollingberry in the palm of their collective hand. In order to convince parents and the public that all was well at the school, Lucien instructed that a message be sent out by the Minister, and this was swiftly accomplished in a Wizarding Wireless Network broadcast; Minister Hollingberry announced a 'new, rigorous and refined curriculum' which would usher in a new era, and that all communications with the school had been suspended so that students could focus on their studies.
Alphonsine delivered the Cloak of Invisibility to Lucien, along with the Elder Wand, to join with the Resurrection Stone he had recovered in the Forbidden Forest on the night of the feast - all three Deathly Hallows gathered at last. However, Alphonsine also informed her brother that she had had to kill their childhood friend, a key Neo-Alliance member, in order to obtain the wand that he had been ready to keep for himself. Deeply troubled by what this meant, and by the belief of what he would have to do in order to officially win the Elder Wand from his sister, Lucien told Alphonsine they would work it out. She would retain official ownership of the wand, while he kept it in his possession.
The students themselves were not idle. Slytherin fifth year, Nemesis Upstead, appealed directly to Rosier and apparently willingly joined the Neo-Alliance as an extra set of eyes (though this wouldn't be revealed until a fateful Potions lesson several months later). A group of students - Bernadette Grantham, Phoebe James, Aboli Song, Mamie Turov, Bella Connolly, Kale Trent, Kinsay James, and Ivy Grimm - were discovered lingering with intent in a corridor of Hogwarts portraits after a failed attempt to get a message out of the castle (or an impromptu dance party, depending on who you asked) and ordered to take down the majority of the Hogwarts portraits. When some of the group did not immediately obey, Lucien Rosier appeared and ordered the muggle-borns be killed for their defiance, and the others made to watch, but Professor Recard was able to step in and come to their rescue. Evidently not satisfied with the results when Professor Recard took over the punishment of these students, Rosier later revealed to the History of Magic professor the exact whereabouts of the actual headmaster, Malachi Trent: trapped in an enchanted mirror. Rosier made it crystal clear that Recard or any of the staff could be put in their own mirror prisons if it became easier to simply remove them from the equation.
Shortly after the failed attempts at getting help during the disastrous Care of Magical Creatures field trip to the Welsh Dragon Reserve, matters went from bad to worse. Lucien Rosier summoned everyone in the castle (or at least those who had any will to live) to the courtyard in the early hours of the morning. There, he announced that, as a direct result of the attempts made to alert the outside world of the situation at Hogwarts, the majority of the students would be moved to new living quarters - the group consisted of those with anything other than pureblood heritage, reported troublemakers from the field trip, and those who continued to defy or anger Rosier and his Neo-Alliance friends through their own alliances or actions. For his part, Professor Williamson received a dose of the Cruciatus Curse and promptly collapsed, before being dragged off to be locked away with the students.
These new living quarters turned out to be a room, dank and dreary and downright depressing, set deep in the very lowest dungeons of the castle, with guards posted at the door for constant surveillance. None of the occupants were allowed their wands other than for classes, and were separated from what little remained of their peers in the rest of the school, other than for lessons or closely supervised walks around the premises. After being caught trying to slip bags of helpful commodities along to the students being kept in the Room, Professor Varma was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse, along with Ashley Fox, the second year muggle-born student who had agreed to help. It was clear that any resistance was futile; the Inquisitorial Squad had eyes everywhere.
After the events on the field trip and in the courtyard, Rosier informed Nemesis Upstead that it was time to give themselves over properly to the Neo-Alliance and drop the double agent act, or join their siblings and peers in the Room. They chose the former option, and were given a place in the Inquisitorial Squad, with permission to use the Cruciatus Curse if necessary. Not long after came the fateful Potions lesson in which Upstead revealed their status as a member of the Squad and the Neo-Alliance, and four students - Ashley Fox, Moose Stover, Kale Trent, and Minjae Yoon - were apparently vanished into puffs of smoke by Lucien Rosier, in return for their 'disrespect' and defiance when they openly spoke out against them. As a direct result of this lesson, Potions Mistress Professor Varma also joined those housed in the Room.
On the evening of 9th May 2104, an explosion was heard across the grounds. This was the sign the staff had been waiting for; help had arrived. Far to the south of Hogwarts, there had been a rallying cry after a tussle at the Ministry of Magic, and an army set to fight against the Neo-Alliance had arrived at the school to make their stand on the grounds, and fight to reach the imprisoned children. Professors Schmoe, Peralta, and Recard ran straight to the Room, knocking out the guards and freeing the students inside while the rest of the Neo-Alliance followers were busy meeting the army on the grounds. Staff and students alike rushed to the Spare Office on the sixth floor to shelter in a safe place, and soon the Heads of Houses brought their students from the common rooms to join them. Those students old enough to fight were free to join the battle.
The action started at the winged boars, the entrance gates to the school. Those outside of Hogwarts who had heard Minister Hollingberry's Wizarding Wireless Network announcement, calling the wizarding community to take up wands and fight alongside the resurrected Order of the Phoenix against the Neo-Alliance, marched upon the gates. In a concentrated effort, the impromptu army blasted through and gained access to the school, some Neo-Alliance sympathisers slipping in this way at the same time. Ministry workers, determined family and friends of Hogwarts students and staff, the Order of the Phoenix, and the Minister for Magic made up the bulk of the group. Here the battle began, the Neo-Alliance followers flooding out of the school to meet them. Many on the side of the Order broke through and split off to other areas to keep pushing forwards, while others continued to fight by the gates, neutralising as many of the Neo-Alliance as they could. Grae Fairfield and Daisy Swann were both hit by killing curses, one of which was sent by Edward Blaze Jr. Lars Svensson, once a Hogwarts professor, met the same end here. Professor Williamson made his appearance, having arrived from the Room (after evidently taking a detour to rescue some of his creatures first), and helped injured fighters to safety.
On the stone bridge, Ministry infiltrator Simone Krafft led the defence of Neo-Alliance members - fifth year Slytherin Nemesis Upstead among them - against those who had heeded the Minister’s call to arms and sought another point of entry into the castle. Auror Genevieve James, with backup from fellow Hogwarts alumni Caleb Newell and Peneleope Grimm, attempted to arrest Krafft, while sixth year Gryffindor Louise Bones attempted a stealth attack on Upstead, casting Flipendo from behind one of the stone pillars lining the bridge. Bones’ attempts served as a catalyst to an onslaught of spells cast from Krafft and those under her command, as well as retaliation from Upstead in the form of serpent Fiendfyre. Hogwarts Divination professor Cassiopeia Kitridge pleaded with Upstead to return inside and was struck by a Cruciatus Curse cast by one of the Neo-Alliance sympathizers, while Newell was struck down by a Killing Curse from Krafft. Further reinforcements arrived to push back against the Neo-Alliance, including Potions Mistress Shreya Varma. Auror James worked at restraining the Fiendfyre, and Accidents and Catastrophes’ employee Chloe Adara used Bombarda on the stone to amass piles of rubble and hinder Neo-Alliance movements.
In the midst of the flying Unforgivables, Bombardas, and Stunning Spells on the bridge, Upstead used a Levitation Charm on a pile of concentrated debris and slammed it into Krafft, who had just been struck by a Stunning Spell from Varma. The resulting momentum sent Simone Krafft over the side of her bridge, and to certain death; Upstead followed, leaping off the bridge and disappearing from sight. Kurumi Rasting arrived to take Newell’s body from the bridge and, with the assistance of Bones, was able to do so. Former Hogwarts staff, Nessarose Glendower, Paul Myers, and Leobald Kitridge were also among the resistance, successfully restraining several Neo-Alliance members and making it possible for James to finally get the Fiendfyre under control. During the exchange of wandfire and explosions, Cassiopeia Kitridge was struck down by a Killing Curse sent by a Neo-Alliance follower, dying in front of her husband and former colleagues. Seventh year Ravenclaw Valencia Phillips’ Incarcerous spells assisted with those moving bodies of the deceased and unconscious off the bridge and to safety, so that field healers could bring them to the Great Hall. In a last ditch effort to stop Neo-Alliance members’ advancement, Rasting and James manipulated water from the lake below the bridge to summon a massive tidal wave, incapacitating the remaining Neo-Alliance members and neutralising the battle at this location.
Across the grounds, the battle was being waged upon the wooden bridge as well. Former Headmistress, Anastasia Truebridge, arrived at the school to fight, trailing a branch of the army behind her - the army of Neo-Alliance followers, that is. A horde of protective parents, now on the school-side of the bridge, dueled the Neo-Alliance faithful and tried to hold them off. Speaking of hordes, it wasn't long before a secret weapon of the Neo-Alliance was revealed, and a wave of inferi - including missing outspoken Ministry of Magic workers, Milo Jordan and Nero Nykto - staggered onto and across the bridge to join the fray. They grabbed another Order-aligned Josephina Hadley-Nairne, and pulled the former professor over the side of the bridge to her death. This in spite of the best attempts of those such as Professor Aguilar, who arrived after having helped shepherd young Hogwarts students to safety, and then joined the efforts to fight the inferi off with fire. Zoryn Spinnet was caught by the reanimated corpses too, but pulled to safety by Quentin Alvey. Ex-professor Airey Flamsteed, also Order-aligned, took care of most of the inferi with his Anti-Gravity Charm, causing the walking dead to pile together, and burn together.
Spells (and beaters bats) continued to fly on the wooden bridge, and injuries were in abundance. Nemesis Upstead arrived, joining with Truebridge and her Neo-Alliance followers. Within moments, however, a duel had broken out between the two; in a moment of distraction, a spell broke through Truebridge's defences and hit the weakened bridge, causing it to split. Caught in the planks by one of her gorgeous designer heels, Truebridge almost fell with the bridge, but was helped by Nemesis Upstead… helped along to her demise, that is, as Upstead promptly dropped her to her death. Then it was curtains for the wooden bridge, the entire structure collapsing into the ravine below, bringing not only Former Headmistress Anastasia Reina Bunbury Truebridge with it, but Order-aligned Anakin Amstern, half of the Neo-Alliance followers who had been present, and all but a handful of inferi.
The fighters aligned with the Order who broke through to the castle had reclaimed the Great Hall. Here, healers and volunteers, such as former professor Carmine Beryl, triaged and treated the injured brought to them. The deceased who had been recovered lay across one side of the room. It was several hours before the battle spread to the Entrance Hall, threatening the safety of those in the adjacent room; as well as pushing through to find the students and staff, fighters aligned with the Order had the task of defending the Great Hall, and those who required a path to it. The dozen inferi who escaped the carnage of the wooden bridge had shambled their way to the Entrance Hall, continuing their fight against those who threatened the Neo-Alliance. Several Hogwarts students made an appearance in this skirmish. Seventh years Noah Nam, Gryffindor, and Aboli Song, Slytherin, along with sixth year Ravenclaw Avalon Sinclair, all threw themselves into the fray, fighting back vehemently against the Neo-Alliance who had caused them so much suffering all year. Fifth year Gryffindor Bernadette Grantham also made a brief appearance before blinking out of sight, escorted from the scene by a similarly disillusioned student. Former Hogwarts professor, Julian Primeaux, was Obliviated by Neo-Alliance sympathiser Dara Vitvinina, before being hit squarely with a Killing Curse. In the midst of the chaos, the last of the inferi were brought down by the combined efforts and fire spells of those who had fought. The threat of the undead was no more.
Meanwhile, professors Carton, Peralta, Schmoe, and Flamsteed worked tirelessly to usher evacuated students into the spare office; this was intended to be a safe room for students away from the battle raging outside and in the corridors of the castle. Professor Recard was briefly trapped on the Neo-Alliance side of the door while escorting her Slytherin students to the office. The four students - Ashley Fox, Moose Stover, Kale Trent, and Minjae Yoon - who had been seemingly vanished into oblivion by Rosier, reappeared seeming much the worse for wear, after being freed from mirror prisons by an explosion that rocked the headmaster's office. While peers comforted one another, Professor Schmoe took the lead and instructed all capable students to begin putting up protective barriers around the room… and not a moment too soon. Members of the Neo-Alliance had followed the caravan of fleeing Hogwarts students and began taunting those shut inside the office. The scramble to secure the space continued, but soon realisation dawned that they may have only succeeded in trapping themselves. Fifth year Gryffindor Phoebe James was the first to point out the various doors within the space and, with Professor Schmoe’s consent, to attempt to unlock them.
With a small group of students focusing on the doors, the rest continued to fortify the space with protective charms… but to no avail. Neo-Alliance members soon overpowered the enchantments en masse. Flooding into the room, students and staff matched the sinister laughter and maniacal cheers with force and a flourish of spells. Professor Carton, Ivy Grimm, Violet Blackthorne, Claudine Blaze, and Heathcliff Jones conjured birds and sent them pecking at hands and eyes; Christian Culloden’s Everte Statum hindered advances; a Flipendo Maxima cast by Fiona Jenovick incapacitated several attackers; Professor Recard fought her way into the room and through Neo-Alliance members just in time to save Tadhg O'Neill and trapped a few attackers in an impenetrable golden bubble. A desperate Bombarda from the wand of Atlas Flamsteed revealed not an exit but a deep closet. Morgan McCarthy quickly pointed out that this could be used to shelter those unable to fight, such as Margaret Turov, who had been struck by several Stunning Spells before she was revived by a peer. As time wore on, the threat of the Neo-Alliance in this area of the castle was eventually neutralised. Yolanda Luna’s quick casting had Neo-Alliance members puking up slugs, Phoebe James transfigured several into capybaras, and Curtis Fuller bound and gagged a handful with a well placed Incarcerous. By the time the Minister for Magic’s patronus arrived at the spare office, students and professors had achieved the upper hand through fierce battling to protect the future of the wizarding world, and each other.
In the early hours of 10th May 2104, Minister for Magic Charles Hollingberry faced off against Neo-Alliance leader Lucien Rosier, in the courtyard of Hogwarts, the latter still with the Elder Wand in his possession. While Hollingberry attempted to appeal to Rosier’s emotions through empathy, the time for negotiations and audiences was long gone. Rosier struck first with an onslaught of aggressive magic; Hollingberry’s Metamorphmagus abilities shielded him by way of dragonscale at first, but one of Rosier’s spells sliced the Minister across the chest. To buy himself time to cast the necessary protective barrier around the Courtyard, keeping both friend and foe clear of the danger zone, Hollingberry animated the stone eagles and gargoyles surrounding the area to attack the leader of the Neo-Alliance. Rosier made quick work of the stone distractions, which served only to antagonize an already raging spirit, but Hollingberry successfully sealed off the area and unleashed more transfiguration and earth magic spells upon him.
One of Rosier's Severing Charms was deflected back at him, slicing open the cult leader’s pocket and dislodging the mirror in which Malachi Trent had been imprisoned. As the mirror shattered, Trent was released from his enchanted prison, but lay unconscious on the cold stone ground. Rosier, still with the upper hand in the duel, deflected other spells from the soft hearted Minister and struck the man with a Cruciatus Curse, which had Hollingberry briefly incapaciated, writhing in agony. Still, Hollingberry managed to speak; his words, a reminder of Rosier’s sister Alphonsine, was a distraction that favored the Minister and aided him in breaking free of the Unforgivable Cast upon him - that, and the fact that Lucien Rosier was not, in fact, the true master of the Elder Wand.
Surrendering to the truth that there was no reasoning with Rosier, and that his own passive efforts would mean an unfavourable end, Hollingberry rose. The Minister threw his remaining strength into a powerful Knockback Jinx, sending Rosier hurtling backwards against one of the burning pillars of the courtyard, gravely injuring him. The architecture, already weakened from previous battles, and now the duel between Hollingberry and Rosier, lost its remaining integrity from the impact. The pillar gave way in a deadly fall of stone, toppling onto Lucien Rosier, and ending his life. Hollingberry retrieved the Elder Wand from its discarded position in front of the rubble now burying Rosier, and, as the true Master of the Elder Wand, used it to produce three silver opossum patronuses to send out the word. Lucien Rosier was defeated. The war was over. The Minister for Magic then lost consciousness, slumping to the ground alongside the true Hogwarts headmaster.
With the Third Wizarding War over, families were reunited and lessons resumed for the remainder of the term for those who elected to remain at Hogwarts.The End of Term feast, a truly somber soiree, saw not the return of Malachi Trent but the arrival of one Healer Poppy. She had been assigned by the Hogwarts Board of Governors to participate in school life, and would, it seemed, be returning in September to help facilitate community healing at Hogwarts in the coming term. Gryffindor won the House Cup and the term officially came to its end, as all boarded the Hogwarts Express returned home for a much needed summer vacation.
We'd like to pause to honor the fallen among The Battle of Neo-Alliance vs. Order at Hogwarts. We ask everyone reading this to please take a moment of silence in memory of those who had lost their lives on Hogwarts grounds. No matter which side one's alliance lies, the loss life in itself a tragedy.
Anakin Amstern
Grae Fairfield
Milo Jordan
Professor Cassiopeia Kitridge (Morgan)
Simone Krafft
Mollywobbles the ferret
Former Professor & Head of House Josephina Naire (Hadley)
Former Prefect Caleb Newell
Nero Nykto
Former Professor Julien Primeaux
Headmaster Lucien Rosier
Former Professor Lars Svensson
Former Prefect Daisy Swann
Tank the Beetle
Former Headmistress, Head of House, and Professor Anastasia Truebridge (Bunbury)