Laceration Of The Heart

A knot had twisted in the pit of Amelia Cooper's stomach and remained tightly fastened to the rope that was wrenching through her insides. It was horrible, what she'd heard but it made sense. Distastefully perfect sense. Veronica Plumb (NPC) hadn't been herself lately. Amelia had intended to meet with her at the end of the week, just to check that everything was okay because a few of the other professors had reported her unusual behavior in class. The head of house had looked into her family history and no reports of a death or illness had been discovered. However, after the news, after what Rebecca Litherland had told Amelia, perhaps that meeting would be brought forward a day. Or maybe the meeting wouldn't happen at all, perhaps Katrina-Carlotta would take the matter into her own hands.

Walking down the seventh floor corridor Amelia stopped at the foot of a stone gargoyle. Password? What was the password? No doubt Katrina-Carlotta would have changed it since acquiring the role of Headmistress. Amelia didn't know much about the new head, she knew Hallie wasn't happy after reading an article in the daily prophet, but as of yet Amelia was neutral. After all she had helped defend Hogwarts alongside her when the castle was breached by Thoarson Sr and the rouge band of werewolves. None the less she was still suspicious of the witch.

'I'm here to speak to the Headmistress, it's a matter of urgency.' What else was she supposed to say? Sorry I don't seem to know the password but kindly let me pass anyway? In spite of an unathorised pass the gargoyle stepped aside revealing a spiral staircase. Climbing the stairwell Amelia could feel her heart racing increasing, in a moments time she would be relaying the information she'd received by Rebecca Litherland, sixth year. The Mother was going through enough as it was, what with her daughter's leg amputation, clearly her students weren't making things easy for her.

Taking a shallow breath Amelia focused her emotions and tapped lightly on the office door. Now was time to test Du Hunt, see if she was up to facing the bombshell Amelia was about to drop.

Katrina-Carlotta had never expected this.

A year ago, the woman had been smart, cunning, deadly, and well aware of how dangerous her daily life could be. She wasn't a natural planner; the type of person who got enjoyment from scheduling out her life in a pocketbook. Katrina-Carlotta liked the thrill of solving problems on the fly, constantly pushing her mind to its limits. The witch knew however, that living like that simply wasn't practical. In a life like hers, that kind of living was how one got killed, and there were a great number of people out there whom would be more than happy to do the honors.

So, the woman planned. She was paranoid, and fully aware of it. Her paranoid had saved her life more times than she could count, however, and therefore figured that vigilance was probably a more accurate word for it. Katrina-Carlotta planned escape routes for every mission, all inside her well-protected mind. She had strategies for every situation she could think up, from getting caught by a government to finding herself pregnant. The woman even had contingency plots and safeguards in place for accidental time travel, just incase. The only problem with plans, is that one had to be aware of the possibility of an event to plan for it. Katrina-Carlotta had never even dreamed of this scenario, and for the first time in years, had no plan.

She was the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If there was a higher power out there, it would be laughing, she was sure. When Katrina-Carlotta had traveled to England intent upon getting involved with the Death Eaters, she had known there was a possibility of leading them. When Katrina-Carlotta had begun to lead the Death Eaters and try to fix England's problems, she'd known there was a possibility of needing to work with light witches and wizards. But never, upon teaming up with the Lupin's had she expected this.

Sitting in her office, Katrina-Carlotta had to bite back a laugh. They'd put her in charge of children, hundreds of children! She would have thought the Lupin's insane if not for the thoughts inside her own head. Running her finger down the list of names for what might have been the hundredth time, she swore to herself that she would not fail them.

It was said that Katrina-Carlotta did not have morals, and perhaps there had been a time when she did nothing to forestall that rumor. The truth of the matter was, that she did have morals. They were very different than those of an average person, of course, but they were very unbendable all the same. One of these values, was that there was nothing more precious than the innocence of a child. Furthermore, the death of a child was a terrible waste of potential, and should be avoided at almost any cost. She would not be kind, but she would protect these students.

Katrina-Carlotta heard a knock upon her door, and her brows furrowed together in thought. The gargoyles weren't supposed to let anyone through without her permission or password, and she had yet to inform anyone of the phrase she'd only just chosen. "Come in," the European called out, smoothing her face into a blank mask, ready for whatever this school could throw at her.

Following the instruction Amelia pushed open the door and made an effort to close the door behind her. They wouldn't want to be interrupted or overheard, not that the door was sound proof but if their voices were to travel the last thing Veronica Plumb would need is rumors spreading.

'Good evening, Headmistress.' Amelia greeted before walking forward to stand before the desk where Du Hunt was sat, staring blankly at the blonde.

'I hope you didn't mind me arriving without a warning, it's just that I have... news.'  There was a pause before the word news. On one hand Amelia wanted to divert from the 'news' not give too much away, after all she never had been the type to dive straight into a situation she was more the person who gradually found her foot in a disaster. It had always seemed to be the right method to use and she'd had enough practice what with having Hallie and Toby as children.

(sorry for the short post)

"Good evening Ms. Cooper, do sit down," the dark witch greeted politely. The teacher seemed troubled, it was written all over her face, and Katrina-Carlotta could only hope that nothing too terrible was the matter. Softly tucking a dark strand of hair behind her left ear, the woman allowed her lips to quirk upwards slightly into a smile directed toward the blonde.
 
"No, of course, you're always welcome to stop by. I've been meaning to set up meetings with each of the Professors, but haven't quite gotten around to it. My password is floreat nostra schola. If at any time you need me and I am not in my office, just tap one of my gargoyles with your wand and say in absentia. I'll be notified and get here as soon as possible. If you could spread the word among the staff, I would appreciate it," Katrina-Carlotta informed the charms professor.
 
"Tea?" the Headmistress offered suddenly, eyes flickering towards the pot sitting on the right corner closest to her on her desk. Sighing slightly and leaning back in her chair, the dark witch figured that she might as well ask what was wrong. She'd find out sooner or later. "You said you have news for me?" Katrina-Carlotta asked with a quirked brow.

'Of course.' Amelia acknowledged, not too interested in the password to the Headmistresses office. Right now that wasn't important, nor was telling the other staff members for Amelia had more pressing things to discuss. What had happened was beyond the capabilities of Amelia Cooper, sure she would be able to inform Veronica Plumbs family but what had happened to her was dark, gravely dark. Nothing good could come from this.

'No thank you.' Amelia replied, they couldn't sit down and have tea for now was not the time. 'Veronica Plumb, a fourth year Ravenclaw, was found in the dungeons earlier.' The charms professor began, choosing her words carefully as to not shock Katrina-Carlotta too much. 'One of the students who came across her body came to find me. At first they believed her to be dead although the matron and I suspect that she has be petrified.'

On the face of things it didn't seem overly grave. They could brew up a mandrake restorative drought and awaken her but what was more concerning was how she was petrified. The basalisk of the legendary chamber of secrets was long dead and surely there wasn't another lurking around the castle, unless someone had let them in. Unless it was a someone who had petrified Veronica Plumb.

On top of that the cause was only was problem, sure enough the students would find out, then the parents, then the Daily Prophet. Things wouldn't look good for Hogwarts. First the half breeds were banned, then students are attacked even then. Who would be banned next? Anybody with a family history of death eater activity?

(OOC: I know we said Rebecca but Cupid is in a thread where a petrified NPC has been found)

((OOC: That's totally fine, Cupid works too.))

The dark witch nodded slowly, showing the blonde that she understood what had been said. Petrified. That was beyond bad. There were only three ways to petrify a person, and all of them were quite dark. The first was a potion, the second was a curse, and the third was the indirect stare of a basilisk. None of the three were easy to come by.

"I'll need to examine her," Katrina-Carlotta informed the Professor after a moment, "I've dealt with petrification before, I know what it looks like. I don't doubt your talents, but we'll need to be sure." The woman pursed her lips for a moment, "do we have any mature mandrakes?" The restorative draught only worked if brewed with mature mandrakes, and if they didn't have any then they'd need to wait for the plant to grow. Katrina-Carlotta wanted the girl awake as soon as possible.

Hopefully, Veronica Plumb would be able to tell them something about her attacker. The witch doubted it, however. If someone was clever enough to cast or somehow get their hands upon something can could petrify another person, they'd likely be good enough to cover their tracks as well. The Head Death Eater knew how this would look if it got out. In fact, it was quite possible that whomever was responsible for this was trying to set her up somehow. Either way, Katrina-Carlotta needed to figure out what was happening.

"I need the exact location and window of time for the attack. After checking on Miss Plumb I'll go down to the dungeons and look around for spell residue. Hopefully that information will allow us to start narrowing down the suspects," Katrina-Carlotta informed Amelia, using a tone terribly similar to that a general would use in the middle of a battle.

'She is currently in the hospital wing if you need to examine her. As for the mandrakes you'd have to ask Professor Brennan.' Amelia did't know much about Aedan, it wasn't that the two didn't get on they simply didn't socialise. There was something about him that Amelia wasn't drawn to, then again she wasn't drawn to any of her fellow staff members. You could say she was the loner of the pack, the older lady, the saddened lady - not Mary Mist kind of sad more tired, tired from the torment God had placed in her life.

'Cupid Litherland was the student who found her. You may want to speak to him? After he found me we managed to get Veronica up to the hospital wing then I came straight to you - he should be waiting in my office.' Amelia informed Katrina-Carlotta. She had to give it to the witch she knew how to handle a situation, perhaps the Ministry had done a good thing by hiring her she certainly seemed more capable than Theodore if she were being unbiased.

'Should I inform the family or do you want to see if you can do anything first?' Amelia asked unsure on how she should proceed. Being a parent Amelia would contact the Plumbs first, any Mother would want to know the condition of their child. On the other hand if Katrina-Carlotta could somehow awake the fourth year from her petrified state then it would be silly to worry the parents. Of course they'd still need to know but having them worry may not be the best idea. It all depends on the parent. Amelia? She'd want to know.

Katrina-Carlotta nodded once more in thanks for the information. She liked this Professor. The charms teacher was helpful, telling her what she needed to know without being prompted. Amelia had taken the appropriate actions, informing her of the petrification right away. The European knew that many Professors and students in the school were wary of her, but the Cooper hadn't been afraid to come to her as soon as a problem arose. If the blonde wasn't rather obviously a light witch, Katrina-Carlotta would have been almost tempted to try and recruit her for the Death Eaters.

"Yes, indeed. Let's go speak to Mr. Litherland," the Headmistress agreed, rising from her seat with all the grace of a wild feline. Pressing her palm to the center of her desk, the woman muttered a few words in a combination of languages before heading for the door. Katrina-Carlotta was tempted to fetch her blades, the petrification having kick started her paranoia slightly, but the woman didn't want to do such a thing in front of her staff. She was sure that the teachers knew she was dangerous, but for one of them to see her so casually slipping a multitude of knifes onto her person would hardly help her to gain their trust. As least she had one, the blade that never left her boot.

"No, you may inform Miss Plumb's parents shortly, but not yet. We will speak to Mr. Litherland, and then go see to Veronica. You can contact her parents then, we should have something to tell them when they ask. Then I'll go take a look around the Dungeons," the dark witch announced with a decisive nod. As much as the adults had a right to know, two hysterical parents running around would hardly be conducive to examining their daughter or finding the perpetrator.

Amelia simply nodded before following Katrina-Carlotta out of the office. Cupid was in her office which, although was on the same level, was on the opposite side of the castle something of an inconvenience. You'd think that there would be one simply landing across the castle but with the upper floors mostly being the foundations to a tower it mean't the witches would have to go down two sets of staircases, across a drawbridge, then up the stairs once more. 

For a while Amelia walked in silence besides her Headmistress. The occasional student stepped out of their way. They were all wary of Katrina-Carlotta. Had it been Amelia alone they wouldn't have moved, maybe even forced a polite smile. It was weird for the Head of House to have people look in her direction cautiously. Then again, she couldn't blame them.

Katrina-Carlotta was dark. Amelia had no proof but it was a sense, she'd met many dark witches and wizards before and knew the signs. Du Hunt ticked those boxes. Perhaps that is why Amelia didn't have anything to say? She didn't know what to say? They probably had nothing in common, something Amelia shared with all the other Professors in the castle. 

Walking down the first set of steps Amelia forced words. 'Will you want to speak to Cupid alone? Because if do then I'd rather make myself useful, maybe alert other staff members or gather the students in their common rooms?' Perhaps she was being cautious but if one student was petrified what's to say another wasn't going to end up that way...

Katrina-Carlotta hesitated for a moment, knowing that the Professor would be more useful doing what she had suggested, but not quite wanting to speak to the boy alone all the same. Finally relenting with a curt nod, the dark witch turned her head to face the blonde woman.

"Alert the staff, have every Head take care of his or her own house. I don't want the student to panic, so you should tell then that it's a drill of some sort. New administration, something about how I wish to ensure everyone will be safe if an emergency were ever to occur. I want attendance to be taken, and the remaining Professors should be split between patrolling the halls and searching for any students not in their houses. Tell the Professors what's happening, and that I'm looking into it. I'll meet you in the Hospital Wing in half an hour," Katrina-Carlotta said quickly. Her words were clipped and harsh from speed.

Turning the corner towards Amelia's office, the Hedmistress paused, palm flat against the cold stone wall. "Thank you, Professor Cooper. Take care of our students," the European stated almost fondly, before swiftly making her way towards her destination.

Striding swiftly down the corridor, Katrina-Carlotta opened the door the the Charms Professors' office a moment before arriving at the doorway. It would have been easy enough to stop and use the doorhandle, but time was short and precious. And after all, when dealing with a Slytherin first impressions were of the upmost importance. A little impressive-looking magic could hardly go amiss. She'd learnt that much from her recent venture into politics, if nothing else.

"Hello Mr. Litherland," Katrina-Carlotta greeted with an unfeeling smile, "we both know why you and I are here. Tell me what you know."