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Post by layla on Feb 19, 2007 14:17:18 GMT
Layla had been wandering the school for what felt like hours now. She'd gone up six flights of stairs-attempting to gain access to her common room-turned a corner and gone down two, and somehow she'd managed to end up right back where she started in the entrance hall. She sat down on a set of stairs and groaned.
"Infernal school! Ugh!" she hunched over, holding her head in her hands for a moment, then took a deep breath to recompose herself. "No, no. I won't let this... place, get to me," she stated resolvedly. "I'll find a way to get out of here though... somehow," she rolled her eyes, then with a resigned sigh started up the stairs again, smiling to herself at the thought of going back to beaxbatons.
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Post by crash on Feb 19, 2007 16:29:22 GMT
Adair had received a most vague, but demanding letter from his father early that morning. Although it didn't explain quite what was going on in the school, it did tell him specifically to find the other transferred students as they were to be his allies-- All children belonging to other Ministry officials.
Shrugging carelessly as he wandered down the hall, he shoved it back into his pocket. It had come with a list of names in precise alphabetical order, also signaling what school the student had previously attended. Adair scanned it briefly as he found his own name, raising an eyebrow with an unchanging expression. He was sure the other Ministry-sent students had a list quite similar to his.
He put the list away passively, not bothered by the fact he was once again doing his father's dirty work. Just as he was going to head to the Headmaster's office to confirm his transfer to Hogwarts, he caught sight of quite a pretty girl sitting resignedly on one of the steps. Raising an eyebrow, he walked over to her carefully, his shiny black shoes tapping sharply on the stone floor.
"Is the school so big that even the older students get lost?" He said smoothly, leaning against the stair's banister as he watched her appraisingly, not offering her help.
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Post by layla on Feb 19, 2007 16:52:38 GMT
She heard an even tempered 'tap tap tap' on the floor and looked up to see a pair of shiny black shoes reflecting light into her eyes. She winced slightly "What kind of crazy person wants shoes that shiny?" she asked herself, standing up to avoid the glare.
Finally seeing the boy whom the shiny shoes belonged to she raised an eybrow, but smiled all the same-despite the fact that she rather wanted to slap him for the question. Were there really so many students here that a new one was so hard to place?
"I wouldn't know," she said said in a slightly feigned cheeriness, "I just transferred here." She bit her tongue to hold back a sigh, and a rant that was dying to escape. She knew it wouldn't help her though, and perhaps this boy could come in useful later.
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Post by crash on Feb 19, 2007 17:03:48 GMT
Adair had been glaring at his own shoes, though much more appreciatively than the Gryffindor, when his head snapped up, the apathetic, bored expression wiped from his face. Narrowing his eyes, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned forward.
"Is that so?"
Pushing himself off the railing, he sent her a pointed look before smirking dangerously. "Name and school?"
He didn't bother to treat her much like the human she was, but just as a name on his list. He, after all, treated himself quite the same. "Adair -- East Liberty Academy." He said it proudly, raising his chin in the air as though Hogwarts was hardly up to his standards. He had transferred from one of the wealthiest wizarding schools, after all.
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Post by layla on Feb 19, 2007 17:36:23 GMT
She raised an eyebrow, wondering what this guy's problem was. She had not yet recieved her letter, indicating that she was to befriend other transfers-her father had always been a bit lax in his assignments-and honestly this boy seemed like rather a jerk. "My friends call me Ell, you can call me Layla though. I transferred from Beaxbatons... and am I supposed to care that you're from another school?" she asked, thinking that this Adair kid enjoyed the sound of his own voice a bit too much.
She made her way past him and started up the next flight of stairs when a bird cry caught her attention. She looked up and saw Perle, her pearl-spotted owlet, flying towards her with a scrap of parchment tied to her foot. The bird landed on the railing next to her and Layla promptly took and read the letter:
My Dearest Layla,
Sorry for not having sent this sooner, but enclosed is a list of other students who have also been transferred to Hogwarts recently. Perhaps if you make friends with them you can all work together on bringing down the trouble-makers in the school.
Father
"Ahh, another hand-written by his secretary note to keep him out of trouble..." she mused to herself. She took the list and not four names down she saw Adair Telbor. She grimaced, "Lovely."
She turned to the boy, "So, which one of your parents works for the Ministry?" she asked bluntly.
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Post by crash on Feb 19, 2007 18:01:48 GMT
Adair scowled suddenly. "That's a bit pretentious, don't you think?" He said in his smooth voice, grabbing her hand at once and walking swiftly down the stairs. He wasn't being all too gentle when he tucked them away beneath the staircase, hidden in the shadows.
Looking around the Entrance Hall, and sighing with relief at the empty sight that met his stubborn gaze, he turned back to Layla. "Imagine someone had heard you--" His voice was accusing, but the flicker of worry was gone and his expression had moulded into indifference once again. "They can't know that we're from the Ministry, imagine how many of the brain-washed Professors would be after our necks?"
Running a hand down his robes, he felt for his pocket and picked out the list, finding the girl's name. "Beauxbaton? Right." Letting his voice dim into a whisper, just to be extra safe, he finally answered his question.
"Don Telbor," He said with a sense of importance. "He's under the Law Depatment." Raising an inquisitive eyebrow, he turned back to her. "And yours?"
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Post by layla on Feb 19, 2007 18:20:28 GMT
She was caught quite off-guard as the boy began dragging her down the stairs and all but threw her into a closet, "Hey, hey now, just because our parents work in the same building doesn't mean I want to play seven minutes in heaven with you," she said reaching for the doorknob to get away from this freak.
It was then that he moved the conversation to matters of politics; all business. "Just like father..." she thought with a grimace as she slumped against a wall. She sighed, might as well learn to get along with him anyhow. Somehow they'd have to work together to get this place shut down...
She nodded, "Don, hm? My Dad's Marques LeMoine. Department of International Magical Cooperation, Office of Law. He's more of the sits-behind-a-desk-and-pretends-he's-helping-the-world, type." She rolled her eyes, she could already tell this was going to be a long year. Especially without any friendly Beaxbaton faces around. She sighed, "So the Professors here are brainwashed, and we're supposed to do something about it?" she asked, still not entirely sure what she was doing here.
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Post by crash on Feb 19, 2007 18:48:45 GMT
Adair frowned, "Seven--what?" Rolling his eyes he watched as the girl finally got a clue and shrugged.
His father hadn't told him very much, other than instructions of what he was to do. Definitely nothing about why they were doing what they were. Narrowing his eyes, not ready to let out his own ignorance, he crossed his arms over his chest.
"There are organizations creeping up all over the place, according to father." Adair said knowingly, "And a lot of them are very anti-ministry." He didn't care, really, why they were trying to earn followers, but just that he followed his orders.
Gesturing to the list, Adair smirked. "It seems that we're making a group of our own as well. And it's our job to work against that silly Guild that was in the paper's last term." He finished a bit dramatically, which was almost comical considering his apathetic nature.
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Post by layla on Feb 19, 2007 18:59:29 GMT
It was quite apparent that Adair was not familiar with anything having to do with a social life. She stared up at the ceiling "This is what I have to work with?" she looked back at the boy and shook her head defeatedly.
She deicded to try and put together everything she knew thus far, "Okay, so both of our parents work for the Ministry, along with everyone on this list," she said holding out her copy, "We don't know why we're here except for the fact that there are a bunch of anti-ministry fascists pulling together in odd bundles and now we have to disban them somehow..." she groaned, "Ye gods."
She took a deep breath, "So now what do we do, Mr. Knowitall? How are we supposed to gain followers for the Ministry without saying we're related to Ministry workers because the school is so bent against the Ministry? Not to mention how we're supposed to find all the other people on this stupid list, or what to call ourselves since we're obviously going to become a band of teenage warriors," for the last bit of her speech she crossed her eyes and spoke in a mocking tone of voice, just to show how ridiculous this all seemed to her.
She began pacing back and forth in the tiny room, deciding that for Father's day her Dad was getting a Howler and a skiving snackbox for sticking her in this situation.
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Post by crash on Feb 21, 2007 2:57:18 GMT
Adair was growing increasingly irritated as she went on to make the entire thing sound ridiculous. Granted, his father had been too vague, but it seemed she was even more out of the loop than he.
"I wasn't expecting you to know much," He started coolly, crossing his arms in a haughty way. "But I wasn't expecting you to know so little." He nodded in agreement with what she had said, however.
He gestured to her list, "On there are our allies. Everyone off that list must be influenced by us, rather than that horrible Headmaster... We need to help stop the slip of control the Ministry has on Hogwarts." He stuck his chin in the air, nearly reciting what his father had told him.
Then, looking at her seriously, for there was no other place to let his gaze wander in the cramped space, he continued. "No one can know we're sent from the Ministry because there will be no way we can get close to the Anti-Ministry organizations that way." He leaned in close, his breath quickening in anticipation. He was obviously a sinister character, as his lips stretched into a rather sinister smirk as he continued. "And if we can't get close, how can we manipulate?"
The Sorting Hat had not gone wrong placing him in Slytherin.
"Finding the others will not be easy, but we did find each other, didn't we?" He raised a slender eyebrow knowingly and turned to the list, running a finger down the parchment stealthily. "In fact, this will be rather fun, don't you think?" His tone was the epitome of wicked as he scanned the list hungrily.
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Post by layla on Feb 21, 2007 3:38:43 GMT
"You know, just because you know more than me doesn't mean I'm completly in the dark... If my father had half a mind he'd have told me what the hell was going on here... Unfortunatly he doesn't. You can't blame that on me!" she said, temper flaring ever so slightly.
She sighed, "Well then, what's the HeadMaster done to the Ministry that's so bad? I mean for someone who thinks he has all the answers you've certainly been evading a lot of my simple questions by reciting some sort of brochure on how to take over this hellish place," she stated on her sixth time past a dirty old mop.
She stopped halfway across the closet and stared at Adair speculatively as he spoke. For someone who seemed to have no idea how to interact with human beings, he actually seemed to have some halfway intelligent ideas about getting into their heads.
She raised an eyebrow, then smirked, "Okay, so we can't let them know our family is pro-ministry. We had better get some sort of cover story straight though. If we're seen together a lot, people are going to start asking questions. If anyone looks at our records they'll see we were transferred from different schools, and running in the same social group is obiously not a possibility..." she said in as kind a voice she could muster, "We could say our parents know eahc other, which I'm sure they do somehow, otherwise the two of us wouldn't be here... we've just got to come up with another place to say they work." As the boy leaned closer she took a step back, for someone who cared so much about his shoes it didn't seem he cared much about his breath; though the fact that he'd never heard of seven minutes in heaven certainly explained a lot of that.
Against her better judgement she was starting to think that Telbor had some good points, and some good ideas as well. "I suppose... I mean, it might be fun. Kind of like a puzzle, or a scavenger hunt, or a big get-to-know-you game. I've always been good at those," she said proudly. "So where do we start?"
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Post by crash on Feb 21, 2007 4:03:16 GMT
Adair looked at the girl a bit astonished as she insulted her father so easily. He, himself, could never think of doing such a thing to the head-figure of his household and looked at her almost scolding. "No, but I don't suppose it's genetic?" He tapped her head delicately with one finger.
He made a slight grimace as she continued going on with her questions. The Ministry wasn't going to spill any of their secrets, especially not to big-mouthed teenagers-- no matter how loyal. "We want Ministry support, and we'll be reporting the happenings of the school." He shrugged lightly as his own eyes traveled to the slanted mop, "That's all I know, to be completely honest." He added, a bit reluctantly.
When she mentioned social groups apologetically, Adair scowled. "I'm not one for any groups, to tell you the truth. Though I do suppose I'll need to associate with a few characters... Make good impressions with the prefects, in the least. Although, it'll be a hard task being in Slytherin-- that foul hat."
Sitting on a trunk that held cleaning supplies, his dark eyes narrowed in thought, he finally let out a drawn-out sigh. "Right, then. Our parents can be business associates that know each other through Quidditch gambling."
He smirked a bit at that, knowing full well that he was an avid player in that behind-the-scenes game. "Though, we don't exactly have to let that last part out. Grand contrast though, isn't it? Ministry Law Enforcer versus Quidditch Cup pro-gambler." He snickered at the thought.
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Post by layla on Feb 21, 2007 4:25:33 GMT
She slapped his hand, rolling her eyes at his very bad pun... or perhaps it wasn't all false. Everyone had always said she was her Father's daughter... she had automatically assumed they meant she prioritized well and kept her nose to the grindstone, she had never thought that they thought of her the way she thoguht of her father. She shook her head, that couldn't be it, it was something else assuredly.
She smiled proudly, Adair didn't know everything afterall. She didn't know why this made her happy, it just meant there was less information she could get out of him, but it also meant he would have to help her learn more about this whole Ministry against Hogwarts business, and although he wouldn't have been her first choice, she was glad he'd be an ally in this whole situation.
"Yeah, I kind of figured you weren't used to the whole 'social' aspect of school," she said with a shrug, then smirked darkly, "I can help with that though," he wouldn't be the first kid she'd performed personality dialysis on.
"A grand contrast, yes. Plausible, not much," she said shaking her head. "How about they're quidditch agents, new talent scouts. Few people pay attention to that kind of job, and the few that do are already on quidditch teams so we don't have to worry about it."
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Post by crash on Feb 21, 2007 4:48:54 GMT
Any previous emotion was wiped off Adair's face as he stared blankly back at the girl. "Well... That's awfully boring. And people always call me bland." Though, it was more plausible, he had to admit.
When she mentioned she'd be helping him socialize around the school, he immediately narrowed his eyes in suspicion, taking a few cautious steps back. "What do you mean by that, exactly? You know, I'm sure my personality as it is now will attract a fine number of respected students to hand over to the Ministry--" He didn't catch the fact he was acting as bad as he was told the other side was, and if he had he probably wouldn't have cared.
"Either way, I suppose the Ministry officers around here know who we are, so we won't have to worry about them too much. That should ease up things a bit." Feeling a bit stuffy in the cupboard, he shifted around, before brushing down his robes.
"Now, I suppose we'll have to do that entire socializing bit. Sounds a bit drab, doesn't it?" Giving her an nonchalant look, as though he didn't care what she was planning to do, he continued. "We should stay clear of the Professors, can't let them gain wind of what we're doing. However, I think Quidditch teams will be easy to target... Slytherins must have an underground gambling service, considering their nature, I'll join through that... Actually flying and participating doesn't sound much like my sort of thing. Slytherin followers will be the easiest, as the most prestigious families are placed in that house--" He seemed to glow a bit as he said this, not caring whether that was true or not, "and have always favoured the Ministry."
Taking out his wand and transfiguring a ragged cloth into a quill, he smoothed down his list and placed a clear, crimson check-mark beside Layla's name, feeling accomplished.
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Post by layla on Feb 21, 2007 14:50:28 GMT
"That's because you are bland, and apparently whenever you try to step out of that you go overboard," she said derisively. "No matter that though, if you like the gambling idea so much you can use it and our parents met at one of the matches... maybe my dad leaks information to your dad about what teams are getting which new players or soemthing," she shrugged.
She smiled sweetly, "Oh, don't worry about it. It's just, you catch more flies with honey than shoe polish. Not to mention if you intend on interacting with people instead of robots you might want to learn how to crack a smile without looking like it physically pains you."
Drab? How could he call socializing drab?! At her old school she'd been in the running for Fleur de le Beaxbatons! All the social events and networking she'd had to go through to get there had been insane, but it was also amusing. How easily aristocrats can be manipulated by smiling and nodding... With this thoguht she smiled and nodded through the rest of his rant about quidditch and gambling, "He may need some specialized help after this..." she thought to herself with a smirk.
After he was finished marking his paper she plucked the quill from his hand and started scribbling on her own paper beside his name: Shiny shoes, not much personality. Work in progress.
She nodded at the paper, then quickly stuck it in her pocket.
"The Gryffindors all seem rather well-tempered, they shouldn't be too hard to get close to as long as they don't catch onto my alterior motives... they're all so loyal to this school. I don't see what's so great about it anyways."
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