loud

protesting in your paper crown
OPEN to muggleborn sympathizers
aka the first meeting of the muggleborn support club

This wasn't for him. That was the most important thing that Nick had to remind himself. This wasn't for him. He didn't deserve a club that would try to help him. He didn't deserve a club to try to make him understand what was going on. He knew what was happening and he sat idly by, trying to figure out what to do. This was for the others: Violet Gertrude Stroud , @lizzy , Arthur Stroud , and Carin(a) Rowan Flint . There were others that he was less familiar with, others that could want to try to help, but these were for the kids that he knew, that he was close to. He didn't tell Violet or Arthur what he was planning because it was a surprise. He didn't tell Lizzy either because he wasn't talking to her, and he didn't tell Carin(a) because they couldn't keep a secret. This had to be a secret. This had to be something that they would take to their graves, and he needed to find a way that they could keep it hidden. Nick wanted to have more meetings like this. He wanted to find a place that they could get to, and that was going to be the most important part of the meeting. They needed to find another place to go, and an empty classroom just wasn't going to cut it anymore. 

It wasn't just his idea, though. It was him and it was Amy Lucy Westwood . They had decided that enough was enough, that there needed to be a support group for the kids that were involved. They wanted to do something meaningful, and he appreciated how passionate Amy was. He never really talked to the younger student; she was far more mature than he had originally thought, and he knew that she was trying. They wanted to make things right. They were the future, and they had had enough with what the adults were doing. There was no logic in their blood purity nonsense, and Nick had just tried to accept it, for a while. But he couldn't. His mother was the strongest witch that he knew, and he was sure that she would have been broken if she was here in Britain still. He knew that there were other students with friends and family who were gone. Peggy was gone, they had taken her as well. Little Olive was gone. Medea Stone wasn't there, but her half-siblings were... Well, he thought that they were half-siblings, he didn't quite understand her family tree very well. But the point was that there were students who were gone, and Nick had had enough.

He and Amy had just planned for the empty classroom in the guise of Chess club. Nobody helped him out with Wizarding Chess, he was the leader and quite often the one who made sure they didn't get down to anything stupid. And Nick had purposefully scheduled the meeting at the same time as a staff meeting and a Quidditch practice (as well as another club meeting) so that people who were arriving were the ones that he had wanted there. They would figure out what to do this meeting, and then they would try to go somewhere more secretive. He knew that the empty classroom was stupid. He knew that a teacher could walk in at any minute. But he had made the decision and he had prepared them in the event of something stupid. He had told Mils that he wanted to have some time with Atha in the room, and... Well, she had kind of just accepted it, so he knew that she would keep her lot away from the classroom. Besides, everyone else thought that chess club was a load of crap. Nick knew that they would be fine just this once. They would have to be better next time. They would have to be more wary.

At least there were enough classrooms on the floor that nobody would be overly suspicious, and he knew that Headmaster Flint was going to be busy that day, so Nick had a rather brief flash of confidence as he turned to Amy. "You had a good idea," he murmured, flicking his wand at the chess boards he had toted along. He set them up like he normally would for the club, though instead of lining the pieces up like normal he had them arranged in different moves so that it would appear as if the game had already started. Then, he started towards the door to see who would arrive first. He had asked Athazaz Acanthus Bones to grab Lizzy and Carin, and to see if Henry James Blanchet wanted to come along as well. It was Atha's job to figure out if it was worth dragging along Henry, and Nick had trusted that Violet and Arthur would show up without a question. He wasn't sure, but he was hoping. He still didn't know if they knew where their mother was, but he was hoping that this... This would help. This would be some action. If she was with the muggleborns, they would find out. 

((OOC: Amy's Outfit ))

Amy hated the purity rubbish, if it wasn’t for muggles and wizards/witches mixing together then the entire wizarding and witching world would cease to be, apart form a few increasingly crazy, inbred, pure blood types. It was complete nonsense. It was an ideology that she struggled to understand if she was honest with herself. For a while she wondered if somehow she was in the wrong, and the rest of the witching world was in the right? After all there was no-one she knew of that was being really vocal that were opposing it. However, the longer and harder the Hufflepuff lass thought about it, the less and less sense it all made to her.

She supposed this had a lot to do with her upbringing. Her father was always pro-muggle and had spent time working in the Ministry as the Muggle-liaison officer before the raise of the dark lord. He was now working as a potion brewer, but he still had that attitude towards supporting the muggles and she supposed that it had rubbed off upon her. She was glad that it did.

The more that she learned from his friends, housemates and year mates about what was happening to muggle borns, the angrier she got. It wasn’t right what was happening and she felt the need to do something about it. Sometimes you just got to do the right thing, you just have to take a stand on what is moral. That is what the 14 year old felt. The young witch for a while what she could do it help. It had to be something practical. The Welsh girl wanted to discuss it with someone she could trust and someone who had the integrity to know that what was going on wasn’t right and something had to be done to help.

That was where Nick came in. Although Amy and Nick only had limited interactions, the young Hufflepuff girl did trust him and felt that he could be someone who would understand the need for action. Together they might be able to put their heads together and come up with something practical.

That was where this support group would come in, it was practical and, as long as they didn’t get caught, safe. The Welsh witch was glad she trusted Nick, it seemed to be the right call to make. The fact that he was the chair of the chess club gave them a prefect excuse to use the empty classroom. Of course, it was not entirely risk free but she felt they had done all they could to reduce the risks. They could try and find a better solution in the long run, something that was more secure than the empty classroom. The fourth year would put her mind to trying to come up with a better solution.

”Thanks” she mumbled back to with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. She wasn’t doing this for the praise, or to look good or for her ego or anything of the like. Amy was doing this because she felt it was the right thing to do ”Thanks for helping out as well.” she said back towards the older student in a hushed voice. Without Nick, this entire thing would never have been possible and she knew that. Whatever happened now they were in it together. Amy just hoped that they could make a difference to some peoples lives.

The young Hufflepuff was wry about asking too many people to come along. The more people that knew, the bigger the risk of them getting Caught was. However, she did ask @kitty , if she would be interested in coming along. She was sure that the 5th Year Hufflepuff would be interested in helping them out and that she would be trustworthy enough not to betray them. It was more of a struggle for Amy on deciding if she should invite her younger brother, Donald Leonardo Westwood , along. It was certainly not the case that she didn’t trust him, she did, she knew full well that Donald would not grass on them. Amy also new that Don would be fully onboard with the idea and supportive. No, what concerned the Hufflepuff lass about asking her sibling was the potential risk that might be involved. She didn’t really want to see her brother get into anything too dangerous or for him to get into serious trouble for something she organised. The Welsh lass would not be able to live with herself if anything happened to Donald and she was responsible for it.

On the other hand, she knew her brother felt much the same way as she did about the entire situation and that he would be willing to help out. They didn’t know how many would be coming to the support group and maybe it would be useful to know that they would have at least one other pair of hands. After much tossing and turning in her head she decided that she would invite her brother along, but she did warn him of the risk of getting caught an the possible consequences of that would be. If he decided to come along, that would be great, but if not she wouldn’t hold it against him. She had told him that, and she meant it. Regardless, this was about helping students and the muggleborns, it was about fairness, it was about. She knew that her father would be proud of her for trying to help the muggles.

Kitty hummed happily to herself as she made her way around the castle, but for once, she didn't feel as cheerful as her general demeanour might lead a casual observer to believe. By nature and by practice, the blonde was generally an optimistic girl. She could find something positive in any situation and no matter how depressing the world might have become in recent times, she was still seldom without a smile on her lips, because Kitty had always maintained that a life without happiness was not a life at all and therefore not worth living. Happiness was one of the most important things in life- in fact, the most important, because being anything other than happy was just miserable, and being miserable was a... well, a miserable way of living. By and large, Kitty was not a glass-half-empty person. On the other hand, neither was she a glass-half-full person. She was the kind of person who, on seeing half a glass of water, would go and find a tap to fill it up. The metaphor was, all things considered, rather a good one. The Scottish girl did not intend to make the best of how things were. She wanted to change them.

It was actually a point of some pride to the Hufflepuff that she had grown up entirely in the Muggle world. She might have been a halfblood, but even so, there had been no ose of magic around the house or the school as she was growing up, and it wasn't until she had received her letter that her parents had finally explained things to her, and so, since her parents were living entirely in the Muggle world, Kitty might as well have been a Muggleborn herself. Fortunately for her, this would seem to have been a moot point for the Ministry when they were deciding on exactly who ought to be thrown out of the school, and so she was still here... but the thing was that there were so many others who were not. And Kitty didn't like that. She didn't like it at all. It was not, in her view, the way that a well-adjusted, organised, balanced society ought to be run, which would seem to point to the conclusion that they were not living in a well-adjusted, organised, balanced society. Which in turn led her to the reasons which her parents had quoted for the lack of magic in her early life, and she had to admit that they had a point. Magic was awesome. Magical people apparently were not.

Not in all cases, of course. Obviously, the majority of Kitty's closest friends were magical people, and she loved them all dearly. Amy Westwood for example was a simply wonderful person, with a brother who was really rather sweet, and she was definitely possessed of some sound morals. Unlike some other people who Kitty could mention if she so chose. Which rather led to the blonde's reason for being where she was, since this was not one of her usual haunts. The younger girl had, in what she probably considered to be a subtle manner, extended an invitation to Kitty not so long ago to come and meet her and some 'other people', which the Scottish girl would apparently find interesting. And the blonde could well believe it. After all, the kind of people who were happy to rebel against an entire government often were interesting. Not that there was anything wrong with it, of course, because it was the right thing to do, and Kitty firmly believed that.

Her mood might have been heavier than usual, but the blonde still entered the room like a ray of sunshine on a frosty day, giving a bright smile to the two people already in the room. "Hi!" she exclaimed cheerily, dropping her bag on the floor and hopping up to perch on the edge of a desk. "How are you both doing?"

Outfit

Come to the empty classroom on the fifth floor. End of discussion. What kind of an order was that? But of course, Nick Young was a Prefect, and he always knew everything better and obviously considered it above his dignity to explain the why and what for. Of course, Nick had said several other things and pointed out that it was important etc., but Arthur was in no mood to be fair towards his classmate. After five and a half years, he had a sufficient amount of pettish reasons to be needlessly angry with him, and be it just that one time during second grade when Nick had rolled up his history essay while Arthur was trying to inconspicuously copy it. So why he had decided to go to this… whatever it was, Arthur wasn’t sure — apart from the fact that Nick usually had a reason for what he did. More importantly, Vi had said they’d come when Nick had invited them to whatever-it-was, and he wasn’t going to argue with his sister about such things. There would have been a time when he would have quarreled with her for even less significant things, but what was of significance now? Nothing. He read the textbooks over and over and tried not to get distracted because it hurt. It hurt to lose his concentration, to ask questions, to hope, so learning by heart until he dropped was the only comfort he had. Over the weekend it was worst because — even with the countless subjects he was taking — there would come the point when he had done all of his homework. So he supposed it wouldn’t harm to have a break and go up to the fifth floor with his sister. Maybe then he could postpone that moment on Sunday evening when everything was done and complete.

So he had put away his essay upon exchanging a glance with his sister and stood up. He didn't know why they didn't speak then, as if they needed to keep secret the whatever-it-was. They had made their way to the fifth floor without meeting a lot of people, somehow making everything feel even more secretive than before. Upon entering the room, he stopped. There were several chessboards put up and two younger girls he knew he had already seen in the common room were there too. He rolled his eyes, feeling increasingly annoyed at his classmate. ”If this is your new method for recruiting Chess club members,” he said, ”then I tell you for the thousandth time, no, thanks.” Had he really just come here to be pressured into joining Nick’s stupid club? After all these years Nick should have understood that he didn’t care for chess - now even less than ever before. He wasn’t good enough to play with the necessary concentration. If he wasn’t concentrated enough, his mind would start to wander. And it hurt. Hesitating for a second, but then walking to stand next to his sister, he glared darkly at his treacherous so-called friend. ”I hope you’ve got a good reason for ordering us here.”

The corridor, he was sure, not many would come down, but not in part of his sister. Someone had tossed a dungbomb down it the other night-- while it had been cleared by professors, a lingering stench still hung in the air. The person had certainly had not been him, and he most certainly hadn't gotten Emma to charm it so the smell seemed more natural.

See, here was the thing about being the quiet one, the background one-- people usually didn't notice you if the fact you didn't draw attention wasn't intentional. So he was able to easily, mostly, get to know people. Trusted, because he was a generally nice person, and sympathized with people, was easygoing (when not with anxiety) and helped kids out-- he was familiar in the background, a part that people didn't always noticing was either there or missing-- and that helped to know more about students, helped him invite others.

Graciana Ollivander Spinnet, for one, and most of her cousins. (He hadn't been able to find Gervasio, but he was also less sure of the older boy since he knew him less). He hadn't done the work for that-- just talked to the few around his year, and they'd talked to their cousins, and there were a few friends. He thought he vaguely recognized the Matron's daughter there, or it might have been another sulky brunette girl. There were a fair amount of those around, he realized-- Violet was neither the first nor the last, although she was perhaps the most visible in Hufflepuff's Sixth Year Girls.

Speaking of depressed brunettes-- "It's not a Chess Club trick," he assured Arthur Stroud .

It was a shock to Donald when Amy told him of her plan for a secret muggle support group. If he was honest with himself part of him wondered if Amy had totally flipped and lost the plot. Of course, what was happening to the muggle was awful, but such a group was very risky. It was something that Donnie did wonder if he should be a part of. A part of him didn’t want to take the risk, he knew it was cowardly and that his sister had said she would not think any the less of him for not showing up. It was very tempting. However, in the end, Don knew that he had to go, his sister had asked him and he supposed that the muggle borns did need their help.

Their father was a supporter of muggles and muggleborns and Donald felt that he would be letting down his dad if he didn’t support his sister. He would also be letting down Amy as well and no matter how much she said that she would not think any of the less of him if he didn’t go, he knew that she probably would, deep down inside. That Amy would be disappointed that he was a no-show. That she would feel let down. Despite the fact he deliberately went out of his way to annoy his sister, despite the fact that the siblings did bicker a lot, he really did care about what his elder sister thought of him, and he did want her respect. Donnie would never admit that of course. His pride would not allow it.

As he approached the empty common room the 13 year old had butter flies in his stomach. He was still not entirely convinced this was a sensible course of action. The Ravenclaw seeker wondered how they would be supporting the muggleborns? He couldn’t really think of how they would help them anymore than just by listening to them and trying to offer them a shoulder to cry on and a pat on the back. Maybe he wasn’t being imaginative enough.

The Welsh wizard entered the classroom and was slightly surprised to find it all Hufflepuffs so far. He had mused if he should invite any of his housemates along, he didn’t really trust his housemates that fully, Ravenclaw had more than its hare of wizards Don felt had slightly idiotic views on blood purity or seemed too supportive of the current regime for his liking. Amy did seem to want him to get some Ravenclaws along though, she wanted this to be a multi-house venture. So, after much consideration he asked @perry if he would be interested, after swearing his friend to secrecy. It looked like Perry had not showed up yet and if he didn’t, Donald would understand. If would be fine. After all Donnie had considered not coming himself. It would be hypocritical of him to hold a grudge against Perry if he failed to show up.

Donald wondered over towards his sister, wondering what help he could be. "Hey" he said to the group of Hufflepuffs with a sheepish grin on his face. 

Honestly... Cyrus could be nothing but grateful for his friends right now. He'd fallen into a funk, a deep, dark hole of which once he had had his heart. But that had been mercilessly ripped from him and he had been content to mourn his loss- or really, her loss that she didn't realise yet- until @nick and Athazaz Acanthus Bones had mentioned this meet. Naturally he had instantly elected on going on a snack run... but that was mostly for appearances. Being broken hearted had made him lose his appetite. At this rate Simon was going to be launching his revenge attacks by rolling down the staircases at people from the amount he had nicked from Cyrus' have finished plates. But now he had something to turn his attention towards who wasn't blonde and horrifically beautiful and where he could do his moping semi-in peace. The subject matter was hardly anything laughable.

He'd felt like a double agent from a muggle flick coming down the near deserted corridors towards the classroom, snacks in hand yet no obvious purpose. Fortunately- or unfortunately, given the beholder- Cyrus never garnered all that much attention in the first place even when he wasn't up to anything, so his progress had went unhindered and he'd made good time. Even though nearly everyone was there by the time he slipped in through the door. There was no face-splitting grins or jovial remarks in way of greeting to the others, and he didn't crash into any tables in his haste to join in. In fact... it was arguably the tamest entrance the seventh year had had to any social encounter that wasn't a school meal.

"Hey guys." He dropped the stuff on the nearest desk that wasn't occupied by a chess set and walked over to Nick, slipping his hands into his front pockets. "Everything okay so far?" He smiled at Atha, then at @kitty as he clocked her sitting on a desk closeby. "Hey, Kitty!" He nodded at Amy Lucy Westwood then he hopped up onto a desk himself and sighed. He officially had a cooler school life than Dennis. Dennis has never been involved with covert, secretive school groups with the mission to undermine the Death Eater staff.

They were mainly Hufflepuffs. He wished that he could have been shocked, but he wasn't, because that just made the most sense. Atha did trail in with a group from the other side of the school, and the turnout was good enough, but it was still a bit upsetting to see how the majority of the attendees were from Hufflepuff. Little Donald had shown up to represent a good deal of the Ravenclaws, and he supposed that the other kid that trailed after him might show up-- or might not, seeing as they sometimes were near Althea Abbott, who was a right pain in the ass. The Strouds had shown up like he had expected, and Nick twisted his smile upwards despite Arthur's relative annoyance. He had to pretend like that didn't hurt, but he knew where he was coming from. Nick got a bit passionate about Chess Club, and he spent a great deal of time attempting to get his other friends involved. He should have said something a bit nicer regarding the whole meeting... But he didn't want anyone to really know what was going on. Before he could hastily say anything, Atha had his back, and Nick shot his boyfriend a relieved smile.

"It's a good reason," he swore, nodding solemnly towards Cyrus and Kitty. He was glad to see them, glad that other people had showed up... It would have been upsetting if it really was just him and Amy and Atha. It was hard enough to get people to even think about attending, anyway, with how he really was refusing to tell anyone what was going on. "It's a... pretty bad surprise, but we thought that you guys might want in. Amy Lucy Westwood had the idea of a Muggleborn support group... Because we're all affected." And he was lamely starting the meeting off, but he had to get it all started somehow. "And I'm grateful for the turn out that we have already. We've lost friends, parents... And we've been sitting with our mouths shut about it. We can't really talk to the professors, but we should at least be able to take with each other."

There were a few things in this life that Kasey Peters absolutely detested. Death Eaters, Anything with Licorice, Badly handled books, and running. She held each each thing with great fervour, all quite serious but in different categories. She had experienced all four of these things in rapid succession in just one evening, but on in particular was drawn out more than the rest.

Did she mention she hated being late? She really hated being late.

But considering how lethargic she was on a general basis, it was almost difficult to be on time continuously. It was almost funny, really... people expected her to be quite athletic as she was on her House Quidditch team, but in reality she didn't do any form of exercise outside of practice and school games unless provoked. Or forced. Surprising, then, that she was so petite considering but here she was. Small. Slight. It probably helped a lot that Practice was at least three times a week or so. Yet still running had never been a favourite physical activity of hers, and it continued to be laborious and hard. Kasey didn't enjoy being sweaty or panting heavily with the feeling that someone had scorched her throat but needs must, and the ends had to justify the means. If not, then she would spitefully not move from the common room except for meals for the next few weekends.

By the time she walked in, it seemed that things had started already- not that she was entirely sure she was in the right place, but she was optimistic- and paused. And smiled. This was the part where she said something and joined in, but suddenly, she seemed a little at loss for words. "Err... hi? Sorry I'm late. I had a... falling out... with the um... the uh... staircases." Still breathing hard, she chalked it up as a day and went to grab a seat. Another thing to add to her next letter to Bee and Anna Banana.

@kitty was one of the first to arrive to their little club. Amy gave her friend a grin when she entered. The Welsh witch was so pleased to se a good friend of hers was joining the cause. ”I am good bach, happy that you could make it!” she responded to her question sounding pleased at seeing her butty. It was already looking positive.

Amy watched as others flowed into her club. She wouldn’t help but smile and feel a bit rpoud of herself. These people where coming here because of her idea and because of the other that both herself and Nick put in. They were going to make a positive difference here, she could feel it and she was grateful and glad to see that many other students felt the same way about the situation as she did. It was a sign that some people were willing to stand up for what is right and to try and make a difference in the world. Even if it was a small one.

It did disappoint her that it seemed to be a lot of Hufflepuff so far. It was for this reason, amongst others, that she exclaimed ”DONALD” when her brother came in. Amy knew that she could depend on her sibling. While she did mean that she would not bear a grudge against him if he decided against showing up, it did mean a lot to her that Donnie had decided to attend this club and stand by her to fight for the muggle borns. The Hufflepuff was tempted to give him a hug but decided to resist the urge. ”I am glad you are here” she settled for in the end, sounding a bit more composed now. Having her brother there also had the added bonus of bring in some Ravenclaw representation, and hopefully he stood for a significant number of Ravenclaws that felt the same way.

Soon after Cyrus arriving Nick gave the opening speech. Amy could not help but blush at the mentioning of her name. However, he was right and he had hit the nail onto the head as to why she suggested the creation of this group, and as to why they were here.

Amy was about to add her own thoughts to the speech, as she now felt obliged to, when another Ravenclaw turned up. The 14 year old Hufflepuff was glad for the interruption, to gave her a little time to compose her thoughts in her own head.

”Hey everyone, in case you don’t know me, I am Amy…” she supposed that the only person who may not know her was Kasey. Still, the Hufflepuff supposed it was a good a way as any to introduce herself. The fourth year lass did feel a bit nervous and had butterflies in her stomach as she spoke. Regardless she carried on ”…I just wanted to thank everyone to coming here. We can make a difference, support each other and try to bring a bit of light into the lives of those who have lost people. As Nick said, we an be our own support network. We need to be our own support network. We cannot turn to help to the professors or anyone else. But we can…we should…we have to be there for each other….” whatever nerves she had at the start of her speech had lifted. …it is the only way that we will get through this.” and thus she ended with a more confident tone in her voice. She just hoped that she hadn’t made a fool of herself.