This feast was the first one Avalon arrived to without feeling absolutely starved. The train ride usually made her feel hungry, but she had eaten so many cookies with Bernie that she wasn't famished for a change. Which was good, considering the fact that Headmaster Trent was unusually late. Looked like his strange behavior would indeed be continuing this term.

"Hey you two," Avalon said with wave to Irithel and Ashley. It made her happy to see them. She felt a connection to the second years, maybe because they all went through the weird possessed thing last term together. Ingrid got a wave as well.

Speaking of waving, so many new first years! Avalon beamed as the younger kids joined their table. "Welcome to Ravenclaw! I'm Avalon." She extended her hand to both girls — Eden and Quinn, if she remembered correctly from their sorting.

The sixth year tried not to chuckle at their remarks about the headmaster. She very much agreed with everything they were saying, although she'd never say it out loud in the Great Hall. You never knew who could be listening. Ah, to be young and bold again.

Avalon jumped a bit as the doors to Great Hall banged open. Finally, the man of the hour. She watched, narrow-eyed, as he smugly took his seat up front. But then........

What in Merlin?

The Headmaster was......melting. Literally melting. Avalon made a move to stand up, completely shocked and confused by the unfolding situation. Was she being possessed again? Was this really happening? The shocked looks on her classmates' faces both relieved her and concerned her—no, she wasn't imagining things. But the Headmaster was changing into a different person, before their very eyes.

Who WAS he?

"Hi Avalon. I'm Eden, pleasure to meet you as well." Eden did her smile-when-you-meet-new people thing. Going smoothly. All of her housemates seemed nice.

At first, Eden hadn't wanted to pry. Let Ashley have her secrets, whatever, clearly the girl had some personal issues with the headmaster. But then Ingrid also seemed to not be overly fond of him. Or Irithel.

And... WAS THAT HIM? The positively evil looking...man? creature?...with the bubbling skin? And sinister smirk? "Um, guys, why is our headmaster...so...villainous?" Was it a wizarding thing to help them build character? Some of her happy excitement for the impending school year waned and was replaced with...not fear. Or, you know, maybe a little fear. Eden tried to keep a straight face. Probably failed. She turned to see how Quinn was doing, and felt for his white-faced-self. Scooted a little closer. For him. Not her. Okay. And watched as the headmaster...transformed.

Let us imagine that, earlier, long before the invasion, Quinn shook the hand of Avalon, greeted her with the warmest welcome he could muster, and enjoyed her greatly.

But, alas, back to the much more terrible present.

Quinn felt the smallest bit of comfort from Eden's scooting a bit closer, but it was trampled underfoot when these neo-very-intimidating-people came and dispersed throughout the Great Hall along the staff and house tables. Quinn gripped Eden's hand under the table, and his breathing began to quicken. "W-we're gonna be alright, right? This is just... just some... prank, or... something, right?"

Ashley looked at Eden worriedly. "That's not the headmaster. They might have killed the real one or tied him up or something." She felt bad for his kids. And now people were marching in. "This might be a hostage situation. You know what to do in one of those, right?" And then... Quinn. "This isn't a prank. This is just Hogwarts. We'll find a way out. Just don't make them mad in the meantime." Her brain was already coming up with several plans. Codes, rooms, people, plans, lies. She took a deep breath, and clutched her wand even tighter. It was time to diffuse the mood over here.

"Sure?" Eden replied to the slightly older (but decidedly more experienced) girl's question about knowing what to do. Was Eden is mortal danger? Possibly. Was she also...feeling weirdly alive and curious as to how all of this would unfold? Well, yes. It was unfortunate that she had no training on how to use her wand. Nope, only the small knife her brother had given her as a going away present and her not yet fully formed brain. She was basically toast, but oddly enough she had faith in her own resilience. She wasn't sure about Quinn, but liked to think he'd do okay.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she felt a presence behind her, a little to the left, as mysterious figures marched in. This was real. What the hell, Hogwarts?

Remain calm, she reminded herself.

As he made his way very very quickly to the Ravenclaw table, Coby did try to spot Emma and his brother in their respective tables. But the (terrifying looking) adults were making it difficult to spot anyone so the fifth year sank to his seat feeling both frightened and like a failure.

Benzi had said this might happen, one of the years, something like this COULD happen and he'd need to look after the little ones and right now Coby was afraid he wouldn't be able to look after his own bladder, let alone two second years. What use was being able to push up a weight against all of these really mean looking people??

Once he was done staring miserably at the table and trying to swallow down the fear, he nodded towards Avalon and the sea of young ones he'd sat down next to. Was this karma? "Hi," he whispered, his voice hoarse, and that's when he noticed that the man sitting in the headmaster's seat was NOT, in fact, the headmaster.

What.. what happened to Headmaster Trent??????????????

Not a prank. Hostage situation. Quinn's worst fears about magic were confirmed—it was dangerous, and he shouldn't be around it, should he? He propped his head up with his free hand, closing his eyes. You're not here, Quinn. You're not here, you're not at home, you're not anywhere, you don't exist, you're just floating above it, you're floating away from it...

Quinn jumped hard when the boy (Coby) sat near him, thinking it was one of those scary people, but he relaxed a bit (but not much) when he realized it was just another student. He clenched the front of his robe, over his heart. He felt like he couldn't breathe. "I... I-I..." want to go home. Those words wouldn't help anyone right now, would they? "Should w-we..." do something? Ash's words came back to him. Don't make them mad. He shut up for the time being, staring at the table, picturing himself anywhere but where he was.

It always made her smile whenever she heard that other people didn’t like quidditch and this was no exception. The more Quinn talked; the more Ingrid figured she’d get along with her new house mate. Ingrid was about to clap back at Irithel and Ashley when the large doors finally opened. Ingrid’s eyes instantly moved towards them anyway but the way they thudded against the wall made her raise eyebrows, slightly confused at the dramatic entrance of the late Headmaster. After all, she’d somewhat stuck up for him but a moment ago. Would she live to regret it? She hoped not because being proven wrong was not something this little Ravenclaw particularly enjoyed although the smile on his face made her feel…uncomfortable and what on earth was going on with his skin? It was as if there were beetles crawling underneath his skin, changing how he looked right in front of her very eyes! Was anyone else seeing this or was it just a trick? A prank?

What was going on? Why were there…strangers in the hall? Were there new professors at the school? Instinctively, Ingrid’s hand instantly went to where her wand but she stopped herself. They were going to be fine. Weren’t they? They were at Hogwarts. The professors would never hurt them, no, she was sure about that one. “I…don’t know Quinn. I don’t think…Is that even Headmaster Trent?” because right now, it didn’t even look like him anymore. Briefly, her eyes went to the older students near by as she attempted to gage the situation but they seemed to have as much of an idea of she did. Her eyes then quickly moved to Ashley, her words so blunt that she couldn’t help but bite back. “Shut up Ashley! You don’t even know what’s going on! You’ve been here for just as long as I have, her voice stern and hard as she eyed her fellow second year. Didn’t she know that whatever was happening, because something seemed to be judging from the expression on some of the teachers faces, being all doom and gloom wouldn’t help anyone.

Ivy had quickly found a seat upon entering the Great Hall, pausing only to take a quick couple of pictures of the hall and the enchanted ceiling from the doorway. She hadn't brought her camera with her to the feast during her first year, and she'd forgotten it last term, so she'd been determined to keep it with her this year. It would be nice to get a few photos of the feast, y'know? It was always an important part of the term.

She didn't take any during the Sorting Ceremony though, 'cause that seemed like it would be rude or something. Also because she didn't know anyone who was getting sorted super well, so maybe they wouldn't like it. But maybe next year when her brother was finally old enough, she would! Mum and Dad would probably love that.

But for now, she was trying to be discreet with her photography, so she was also mostly just listening to the conversations of the students around her and not engaging in it herself yet. It also helped to keep her focused, looking around to see what might make a good photo besides the magical sky above them.

The Ravenclaw did note that the Headmaster wasn't at his chair like usual, which was weird, but he'd been weird most of the previous term, so maybe that was normal now. Or maybe he just took a long time getting ready now too. Who knew?

Either way, Ivy didn't think too much of it since she was focused on other things - until the Headmaster did, finally, show up, the doors of the Great Hall slamming against the wall. Merlin's beard! What...

...What was going on? Who were these creepy people with the Headmaster???

Or...the Not!Headmaster? Because his skin was bubbling and melting and...he was an imposter?

All of his behavior last term suddenly made sense, at least insofar as why he had seemed so off last term. Because it wasn't Headmaster Trent.

But then where was the real Trent? And why were these people here?

Ivy had stuffed her camera in her robes as she was quickly trying to process the scene and all the questions that flooded her mind. She fidgeted nervously and kept her hands in her lap, trying to anticipate if or when she might need to draw her wand. This whole situation seemed like the sorta thing her Auror mum and the Headmaster - the real one - had tried to prepare her for, but, um... It was one thing learning about all the tips and tricks and guidelines in class or at home, and another thing entirely to be in a...well, an actual potentially dangerous situation like this. So she couldn't really recall much of anything in this moment, outside of keeping her wand close and not trying to act like a reckless hero.

Y'know, like a couple of those Gryffindors over there.

Ivy watched them with wide eyes, hoping nothing bad was about to happen and trying to avoid looking at the scary mean-looking people.

Ash rolled her eyes. "I've been here long enough to know there are intruders in here preventing us from leaving. Seems like a hostage situation to me. I'm not even panicking, so no need to tell me about how pessimistic I am." Honestly, about 30 seconds was enough to tell what was going on. The headmaster was fake, and they were not free to leave. Easy peasy. Lemon squeezy. Or whatever. She looked closely at the headmaster, trying to see if she could recognize him. This was so unsurprising. Honestly, Ash thought they would have all gotten kidnapped from the train, the way her luck was.

This was REALLY not good. It hadn't been good before, with the scary people, but now that the headmaster was nowhere to be seen this was just.. it really wasn't good. NOT GOOD. Swallowing thickly, the fifth year tried in vain to shove down a panic. Panic wouldn't do here. Everyone else seemed scared enough without him adding onto it.

He started the search around the hall for his friends and his family, squinting at the blurry faces in the distance. Oh. Right. Glasses. He had those now. Pulling his pair from his robe, three things became very clear almost at once. One, everything was clearer. Because glasses. Obviously. Two, some Gryffindor was going to make a scene and Coby had a feeling it would be really bad for the rest of them. Three, most importantly, the scary people with the wands had markings, some of them, that looked suspiciously like those who had been to Azkaban. He'd know. Q and Benzi talked about them a lot. They were really, really bad people.

Coby breathed, slowly, and tried to think what his mum would do. Or Benzi. They'd... they'd listen. Understand what was going on. Keep a low profile. Yes. Okay. He'll do that. Double checking that his wand was still in his holster - always a good thing to make sure of, even if he couldn't imagine it being anywhere else - Coby finally tuned in to the conversation around him.

"Uh.. please don't cause any more panic," Coby stage whispered around him, not wanting to attract the attention of the adults around them. "Let's just.. uhm, we'll just wait and see what they want. Jumping to conclusions isn't helping." The fact that his knees were still throbbing from the shove he'd received in the entrance hall pointed to the fact that they probably didn't want anything good. But making first years even more afraid was bad too. That Coby was certain of.

Another year, another start of term feast. Catherine didn't mind those, she even enjoyed watching the first years be sorted into their houses. And this term two of her cousins were being sorted, although she knew neither of them would end up in her house.

What she wasn't expecting, however, was Dawn to be sorted into Slytherin. Her eyebrows shot up but the rest of her expression remained unaltered. That would cause a small riot in the Rastrick household once the news got there, she was certain. And River was a Gryffindor. Hm, okay. Catherine wasn't quite impressed by that, given the amount of former lions their family had.

After the sorting was done, there was little else this Ravenclaw could do as she waited for the Headmaster's speech and food to appear - as she was unlikely to start socialising at this point - so in a truly stereotypical Ravenclaw fashion, Catherine pulled out a book from her bag and continued the reading she had been doing in the train.

She could still overhear those that were chatting away at the eagle table, and couldn't help but roll her eyes at certain comments. Her annoyance wasn't enough for her to shift her gaze or to frown at those speaking nonsense, though.

The sudden entrance of the Headmaster did make her lift her head and watch him take his seat. The girl was unfazed by his sinister smile as he had been acting off all year last year, so she just put it to him being his 'new self'.

As she went back to her reading, she completely missed the man's transformation and only looked back up when a new commotion started to take place. When she looked back at the headmaster's spot, Trent wasn't there anymore. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen. Strange. She didn't normally zone out that much while reading in the Great Hall - who could even do that, really? - so that hadn't been enough time for him to disappear again, surely?

The entrance of more people - stranger, unknown people for that matter - made her sit up straighter and put her book away. Something was definitely off, and this time it wasn't Trent being his 'new self'. Actually Trent was no-self at all anymore, from what she could tell, and the way her schoolmates were freaking out, something really bad had just happened to him.

Catherine could've asked the person sitting next to her what had just happened to the Headmaster, but she chose to just watch for now. Her book back in her bag and her hand hovering near her wand, just in case. Her eyes now on the other members of staff to either see if something happened to them too or if they'd give them instructions as to what to do next.

Holy Merlin's Pants. So. Many. Small. People.

Ilya had reached his house table with a judging look on his face, but his robes were neatly and handsomely--shall he add--wrapped around his body, making sure not to come in accidental contact with any booger-producing or candy-sticky fingers (i.e. the 11's and 12's). Being a first-year ran out of style since he became a 2nd year, to be honest.

He had picked a seat next to Coby, and all was fine and dandy until... strangers made their way into the hall and seemed to stand behind their professors. Ilya's fair eyebrows furrowed in confusion and upset. What was this exactly? It didn't seem that the staff were aware of what was going on either which was even scarier. Coby was scared too and for some reason, Ilya wanted to blame the boy for his own nerves being jittery under his smart and dashing appearance. He totally should've sat next to Cathy. Or Bernie--Well, actually, he would rather be as far away from a Gryffindor as possible at this crucial event. The fuss they were going to make, whew, he could foresee it...

He clutched his bag closer, his eyes slowly changing colours from calm blue to a darker shade, so dark it must've looked unnatural. He was prepared to flee the moment things went chaotic and they would because look where they go to school, and he was NOT intending to leave his expensive, designer bag behind.

At the end of Headmaster Rosier's speech, a large pile of parchment appears. Take one and get it filled out with any of the many quills made available. No need to hand it in, just get it done and it will do the rest.

OOC: Please make a post here with this form filled out.

Quinn had absolutely no idea what was going on. He just learned a year ago that magic existed, he wasn't into the politics of the wizarding world. However, the new Headmaster made it evidently clear that this wasn't a game, and this group was planning a takeover—and not just of the school, Quinn assumed. This was, in a sense, absolutely terrible.

Quinn eyed the papers on the table in front of him, thinking of what the man said: It's in your best interest to fill it out thoroughly. With a shaky hand, he took one along with a quill. He scanned over the questions. "U-uh..." he said to no one in particular, "...if my mom's a squib, a-and my dad's a muggle, that does make me a half-blood, right? Blood status is confusing, a-and I don't want to get it wrong... A-and, what does it mean by 'muggle upliftment'..?" Quinn could sense that there was something off about these questions, but the not knowing made him extremely uncomfortable. Something so much bigger than him was going on here, and he knew virtually nothing about the threat looming over him.

Oh. No. Ash fell silent as a speech was made. These evil-smelling creeps weren't fooling around. She paled slightly, but said nothing. Look what happened to those gryffindors.

Name: Ashley Fox
Age: 12
Year: 2
House: Ravenclaw
Date of Birth: may 3
Blood Heritage: half-blood?

Parent/Guardian(s) name(s): none
Parent/Guardian(s) occupation(s): none
Do your parents work at the ministry: No
Do your parents support muggle upliftment: I don't know. They're both dead.

When was the last time you supported muggle upliftment?
I don't know what that means.

It was a lie. Half of this stuff was a lie. Ashley was not stupid. She knew that putting the truth on that paper would put her, her family, and her friends in danger. And she couldn't have that. She knew what was happening. This was a takeover. By horrible people. And she could die either way. There was no way she was writing "I am a muggle-born and I support muggles". That wasn't safe. Instead, Ash chose quiet rebellion, drawing a phoenix on her kneecap in pen. Please everyone be safe. She didn't touch the food. She looked over at Quinn. "They mean are your parents muggles or wizards? And Muggle upliftment is when you like muggles, I think." Something in her eyes was begging him to choose his answer wisely.

Eden's heart pounded in her chest so hard she felt it in her ears as she listened to the speech and read the form. She didn't understand who these villains were or their motives, but she was very aware of her vulnerability and didn't like it. She was alone in this new world, and the only practical magic she had been able to practice before the start of term was a few unhelpful potions. It took a lot out if her to maintain a calm exterior.

I can't tell the truth on this, the first year quickly realized. She would need to at least give false family names to protect her brother - and parents, she supposed, but they were already imprisoned. At first, lying about her blood status seemed like a smart idea...yet easily disproven, right? She didn't know and needed to hurry.

Name: Eden Tilly
Age: 11
Year: 1
House: Ravenclaw
Date of Birth: 11.11.2091
Blood Heritage: Unknown

Parent/Guardian(s) name(s): Alexis Tilly (dead) , ward of state
Parent/Guardian(s) occupation(s): not applicable
Do your parents work at the ministry: not applicable
Do your parents support muggle upliftment: not applicable

When was the last time you supported muggle upliftment?: Never

---

The paper vanished as soon as she lifted her quill. Eden shamelessly made herself a plate of food and looked around to see what everyone else was doing. Her leg bounced uncontrollably under the table; she did not want to draw attention to herself but her nervous energy needed to go somewhere. She felt a pang of twisted excitement in her stomach for already rebelling (albeit minutely) against these sinister people.

Much to her dismay, it seemed that the pessimistic ideals of Ashley seemed to have actually been closer to the truth and Ingrid was non to thrilled about it. Case and point, the grimace on her face as she reached out and grabbed one of the pieces of parchment that had suddenly appeared on their table.

Rubbing her eyes, Ingrid shot another glance down the table to where her brother and sister were and then over to her other brother (Adam) who was…WHAT?! Why was he SHOUTING at one of these strangers?! It wasn’t often that she’d wished she was born slightly dumber but at this moment in time, Ingrid Starling Luck wished more than anything else that the intelligence had been shared a little more equally between herself and her twin because he just so stupid. Blinking away the tears that she’d unsuccessfully tried to rub away, she snatched at a quill and scribbled down whatever it was that they wanted to know without much thought for what she was really putting down and threw away the quill and parchment in a fit of rage at her twin.

SPOILER!!:

Name: Ingrid Starling Luck
Age: 12
Year: Second Year
House: Ravenclaw
Date of Birth: 30th November 2090
Blood Heritage: Half-Blood

Parent/Guardian(s) name(s): George Luck
Parent/Guardian(s) occupation(s): Shop owner
Do your parents work at the ministry: No
Do your parents support muggle upliftment: I don’t know what this means. Sorry.

When was the last time you supported muggle upliftment? See the answer to the question above.

She really hoped that her letter didn’t come off as cheeky or whatever but figured it was best left as was because she really didn’t quite understand the last two questions. Eyes red, palms sweaty, the second year Ravenclaw couldn’t even face the thought of eating at least until she had hugged all of her siblings again so instead, she proceeded to simply sip at the water in her goblet as her eyes did laps of the great hall, only sparing a moments thought now for the first years around her.

A shiver went up Avalon's spine as the pieces finally clicked into place. Trent's weird behavior the last term was because it wasn't actually Trent at all. What did that mean for the rest of the staff in the school? Her mind raced with possibilities. Were the professors polyjuiced too? Where was the real Headmaster Trent? What was this strange man going to do to them?

As the man—Rosier, apparently—made a speech, she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. They really were being held captive. By the Neo-Alliance. Whoever they were, their agenda couldn't be good. That much was clear from the way they were treating everyone.

To make everything worse, her prefect badge was being revoked. (And, may she note that she was quite offended by Rosier's description of the student leaders. She was not whiny or incompetent, nor was she driven by fear.) This man was power-hungry, and Avalon could tell that he would do anything in his way to eliminate any opposition.

The Ravenclaw filled out her form with a shaky hand. A glance over to her housemate Ashley's paper showed that the second year was lying. A stupid decision, in Avalon's mind at least. There was no way that these awful people would blindly believe what the students were writing down. This had to be some sort of test. Maybe to prove who was stupid or disloyal. Either way, Avalon knew that lying about her blood status was a bad idea, so she kept her answers mostly truthful.

Nothing wrong with lying about the muggle upliftment question. It would be much harder for these people to prove that than her blood status. Besides, what kind of stupid person would say yes? It was obvious from this form that the group was anti-Muggle.

Nausea and dread overcame her as she completed her form. She stared at the food on the table, not touching any of it. Avalon suddenly wished she had never boarded the Hogwarts Express that morning.

Quinn could see something in Ash's eyes. She wanted him to realize something. About the muggle upliftment. He soundlessly turned back to the parchment. These people are bad... and they're going out of their way to ask if the students like muggles... Quinn didn't know what to make of this information. He was in the dark. Now he knew what the questions were, but... what was the proper way to answer? What would benefit him the most? He decided to not decide.

As soon as Quinn finished writing, the parchment disappeared. He turned towards the plates filled with food. He wasn't hungry.

Ivy couldn't take her eyes off the Gryffindor table as the commotion happened, wishing she could help in some way. But she couldn't think of anything that would actually be helpful, only things that might seem cool and heroic in the moment but in the long run would just make things worse. So silent she remained, worrying the inside of her lip.

She jumped at the shouted "Quiet" from the Not!Headmaster...who was calling himself the Headmaster. Headmaster Rosier. But he WASN'T the Headmaster. He was a fraud and he was creepy and scary and she didn't WANT to call him the Headmaster. He wasn't Trent. She had, apparently, only had Trent as Headmaster for one of her terms at Hogwarts, and it had also been a crazy stressful term at that, but he was leagues better than any of these awful people, and she hoped he was okay, wherever he was...

Everything just kept feeling worse the longer the Not!Headmaster talked. The Neo-Alliance? Their agenda? Join them??

And then there were forms to fill out? Those forms quickly appeared on the tables, along with the food, but for once she wasn't at all hungry. Her insides were twisting into knots as she picked up a form, her blood chilling as she read it.

They really had to fill these out? About their parents' jobs and everything? And Muggle upliftment? What did that mean exactly? It almost sounded like a good thing, but there had to be some kind of sinister twist to it, considering the behavior of these people. What that was though, she didn't know.

She also didn't know how truthful to be on this form. Her mum being an Auror and all... She wasn't sure they'd be happy about that. But then again, surely they had to assume at least some of the students had parents in the MLE department, and even more in the Ministry in general. So maybe it would be worse if she lied about it and they found that out later?

Ivy glanced at the Ravenclaws around her, trying to gauge how they were answering and to figure out what she was going to say.

Ultimately...she decided to go with honesty. If she was going to get in trouble for anything, she'd rather it be for the truth. Besides, though she was terrified right now, she was also confident Mum and the rest of the Aurors and MLE and the Ministry in general were going to fix this and save them. Somehow.

Quote:

Name: Ivy Grimm
Age: 13
Year: Third
House: Ravenclaw
Date of Birth: 5 March 2090
Blood Heritage: Halfblood?

Parent/Guardian(s) name(s): Penelope Grimm, Zeppelin Grimm
Parent/Guardian(s) occupation(s): Auror, Head Photographer
Do your parents work at the ministry: Mum does.
Do your parents support muggle upliftment: I'm not sure.

When was the last time you supported muggle upliftment? I'm not sure.

And with that, her form disappeared. So that was...that. It felt like there were no right answers to that form, and though she was trying not to imagine all the worst possible scenarios, it was difficult to banish them from her mind right now. She just wanted to go to her dorm and maybe cry and hide under the covers talk to Mum and Dad and Sage and...

She wished she'd given them each an extra hug before getting on the train that morning.

Coby physically jumped as the man in the headmaster's spot yelled. Was this the .. the speech? Coby let out a breath and listened intently, shoving his glasses further up his nose in an attempt to hear better. Maybe this would clear some things up and this term wouldn't- it wouldn't-

Headmaster Rosier. Coby's face, already pale, drained of all colour. He knew that name. Even with his lessened summer reading, he knew the names of the Twenty Eight, and he knew the name always came up in textbooks about the Wizarding Wars. Also Gellert Grindelwald's followers. Coby almost wished he didn't know History of Magic at all because his hands had started to shake so violently he had to move them under the table. And then he sat on them. This wasn't happening. This was HISTORY. History was supposed to not.. it... well, it did come back, but it wasn't supposed to happen to him! Coby was supposed to only read about this in books. He didn't want to be here.

He really wanted to go home.

Headmaster Rosier - Rosier, this couldn't be happening - talked about them being a Neo Alliance and something tickled at the back of Coby's head. This was all... very bad. Had he mentioned that already? Because it's REALLY BAD. The fifth year managed to not look away from the man as he talked, but as soon as the speech was over Coby took off his glasses. Emma had her Gryffindor friends and he knew he could count on the Slytherins as a whole to keep Matty safe.

Which meant he now had to fill the form. Coby read through, not surprised in the slightest by the contents. At least.. Benzi and Mum could take care of themselves. He wouldn't lie and risk anything happening to himself. He really, really hoped Emma and Matty told the truth as well. He didn't want to know what these people would do to anyone caught lying.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parchment

Name: Jacob Ezra Rider-Mae
Age: Fifteen
Year: Fifth
House: Ravenclaw
Date of Birth: March 4th, 2088
Blood Heritage: Halfblood

Parent/Guardian(s) name(s): Bernard and Rachel Rider-Mae
Parent/Guardian(s) occupation(s): My dad has a bookshop, and my mum teaches at London WU
Do your parents work at the ministry: No.
Do your parents support muggle upliftment: Yes

When was the last time you supported muggle upliftment? I don't know

At least he hadn't mentioned Benzi. But Emma would. His shoulders sagged even further and he looked around morosely at the people sitting at the Ravenclaw table. He wanted to say something, but nothing seemed right. There was no way to make this situation any better. So Coby stabbed his fork into a potato and took a bite, because he was stressed and eating was as good a distraction as any.

Dahlia had hurried herself over to the Ravenclaw table once the Sorting Hat had been removed from her head. Loud cheers from her two older siblings and her cousins told her that they were all proud of her and she stopped for only a second to give each of them a tight hug. She found an empty spot at the table, giving everyone there a huge smile. Normally she would have quickly introduced herself but her attention was right back up onto the Dais where Elias was now being sorted. As he and then Lily were both sorted into Ravenclaw, no one cheered louder then her. They were met with hugs and giggles, the three of them sitting together chatting excitedly.

The eleven year old was literally bouncing in her seat. The sorting had gone exactly like they had always dreamed! The three of them sticking together. Her excitement popped like a bubble when the doors to the Great Hall swung open and in came the Headmaster. Her blue eyes widened and she let out a tiny squeak of surprise as the mans skin bubbled and melted right before her very eyes leaving a different man sitting in his place at the Staff Table. What in the name of Merl-

Once more her thoughts were interrupted but this time as lots and lots of angry, wand holding people entered and gathered around the tables and in front of the doors. Dahlia looked around in honest confusion, her hands slipping into each one of her siblings as things seemed to quickly go from confusing to chaos. There was noise and whispers and... was someone hiding under a table? This was in no way a typical feast... not that she would actually know that it only being her first... but she had heard all the stories before.

A shout from Melty Face Dude (Rosier) made her jump and she turned her attention to him as best she could. New management? Neo-Alliance? No Prefects? What was going on? Dahlia chewed at the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying or shaking to much from fear. Why were these people being so harsh? What had any of them done? What had she done?!

Why couldn't they be sent home? This was NOT how her first year was supposed to go! And now they were meant to sit and eat? Plus fill out some type of form. Casting quick glances between her siblings, each of them reached for a form and a quill all at the same time, scanning the questions before answering them as best they could.

Dahlia glanced at her siblings papers making sure things matched up. Once she set the quill down and her paper had disappeared, the small girl quietly began putting some food onto her plate. As hungry as she had been when she first entered the Great Hall, she wasn't hungry now... but she did her best to eat.

Her mind was buzzing with so many questions, like why did they want to know what her parents did for work and if they worked at the ministry? Was it that important? Most of her family worked at the ministry... siblings, aunts, uncles and her parents. The more she thought about it, the more sick she began to feel.

So... it seemed like everyone was being intimidated to obey, even all of the staff members. That sent shivers down Catherine's spine and she didn't get her wand out, deciding to comply just like the adults had.

She eyed the forms that were now on the table, waiting to be filled. She liked filling forms out, but something told her this would be very different.

And she was right. As soon as she read the fields she needed to fill in, she gulped. It wasn't just information about herself. This involved her parents too.

Taking a quill, she began... slowly. She held her breath when she got to the blood heritage part. If only, if only she could put pureblood just to be safe. She knew there would be a way of those people finding out if she lied about that. Catherine was nearly a pureblood, that should count for something, surely? Her father was a pureblood, her mother came from a line of well-known pureblood wizards too... only... her maternal grandparent was a Muggleborn. That ruined the whole thing.

She exhaled and continued to write. This was nerve wracking! She hated it with all of her might, yet kept a emotionless expression on her face for the time being.

She clenched her jaw, however, when she got to the part about her parents working in the Ministry and if they supported Muggle upliftment. Dear Merlin, please save them. Catherine rubbed her forehead. If she lied, Noah might lie differently and they would be caught. If she told the truth and he lied, it would also be obvious. If they both told the truth... who knew what would happen to them, their parents and siblings.

Her emotionless face grew red and she tried to make the best decision, but it seemed like no decision would be a good one in this case. She needed to choose one that would be... less damaging to all parties.

Quote:

Name: Catherine Mordaunt
Age: 14 years old
Year: 4th
House: Ravenclaw
Date of Birth: 1st January 2089
Blood Heritage: Mixed blood

Parent/Guardian(s) name(s): Mordred and Sophie Mordaunt
Parent/Guardian(s) occupation(s): Dragonologist and Charms Developer
Do your parents work at the ministry: Yes
Do your parents support muggle upliftment: I am not sure.

When was the last time you supported muggle upliftment? I don't think I ever did.

It took her a lot longer than she would normally take to fill out forms this size, but she eventually put the quill down and stared at the parchment, trying her best to get her face back to its normal colour. Taking deep breaths, she watched it until it wasn't in front of her anymore.

Heath could sum up his thoughts about returning to Hogwarts this term in one word: conflicted. The idea of another year under Headmaster Trent didn’t sit right with him, not after the man showed his true colors last term. Even so, there was no way he could leave his friends to face whatever this term had in store alone! So he was here, sitting silently at the Ravenclaw table as he was known to do when lost in thought. The sight of the headmaster’s empty chair had given him a glimmer of hope that maybe Trent wasn’t coming back. Maybe he finally realized he’d become a danger to himself and others and done the right thing by stepping down?

That hope was dashed the moment the doors banged open. Startled by the sound, Heath looked toward the staff table just in time to see the man he thought was the headmaster transformed into someone else. His normally stoic expression turned horrorstruck, and his heart pounded so loud, the sound echoed in his ears, blocking out all thought except one. That’s not Headmaster Trent… That meant the headmaster hadn’t really betrayed his students after all, but any relief Heath might’ve felt at that knowledge was overshadowed by confusion and fear. Where was the real headmaster? If that man at the dais wasn’t Trent, who was he? And who were all these other people?!

Hearing the answers to those questions only moments later did nothing to ease Heath’s mind; all it did was frighten him more! One phrase in particular replayed over and over again in his mind: untimely and excruciating end. Nonononono, he did NOT want to die here! He hadn’t had the chance to make something of his life yet! Besides, he’d already spent half a year thinking he had died a couple of terms ago. He took a deep breath, trying in vain to calm himself down. It was too many thoughts, too many emotions for him to process all at once, so he decided to focus on the form instead.

Blink, blink. What the Hoth was “muggle upliftment”? Anyone care to explain that?No? Okay then. Somehow the vague wording of the form reminded him of that disaster of a DADA lesson last term, the one where the (not)headmaster literally sent them into the acromantula’s den without explaining how to fight them first. I see the tradition of omitting information is alive and well, he thought bitterly. Until he heard otherwise, he was going to guess that “muggle upliftment” meant any interaction with muggles and - Oh dear Merlin, what about his dad? Was the Neo-Alliance going to use the information on this form to go after his muggle father - and possibly his mum too for marrying a muggle?

The thought crossed his mind to lie on the form, but he doubted it could be that simple. They probably had means to verify what he wrote, and… they wouldn’t kill him for lying, would they? Now what do I do? He thought. If I tell the truth, my mum and dad could die. If I lie, I could die...
After several moments of deliberation, he filled out the form:

SPOILER!!: Form

Name: Heathcliff Ellison Jones
Age: 15
Year: Fifth
House: Ravenclaw
Date of Birth: 19 September 2087
Blood Heritage: Halfblood

Parent/Guardian(s) name(s): Adelon Ryder-Jones (Mum); Christopher Jones (Dad)
Parent/Guardian(s) occupation(s): Healer (Mum); entertainment magazine editor (Dad)
Do your parents work at the ministry: No
Do your parents support muggle upliftment: I think??? If muggle upliftment means being a muggle or marrying one, then yes.

When was the last time you supported muggle upliftment? I have no idea! Does attending a muggle acting camp count?

It was only after filling out the form that another, even worse thought occurred to Heath. What about Claudine? What if the Alliance considered dating a halfblood - one who was practically a carbon copy of his muggle father in looks and personality - to be “muggle upliftment” and targeted her because of it? The thought of losing her scared him more than the thoughts of losing himself and his parents combined! He looked toward the Slytherin table for a fraction of a second. Any longer than that, and he worried he’d tip off the Neo-Alliance! He quickly turned his attention back to his own table, absentmindedly sipping water from his goblet.