Aftermath

"Gentlemen, please, remain calm," James Wake hissed, letting down the shielding spell he'd used to avoid the explosive spell Prof. Potter had just released. "Prof- Mr. Potter, if you indeed do have plans, I'm certain they do not require you bickering with Prof. Wilson. There are are other matters that we must attend to, and they do not involve you cussing up a storm." It was James' polite way of saying GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN! YOU'LL BLOW EVERYBODY'S COVER!!!!

"Headmaster, I must ask you to concede a certain amount of your vehemence. At this rate, you will be the only teacher left in Hogwarts with the ability to control the classes. I'm almost certain you do not want it to come down to this." This was James' warning to the rest of the staff: If you leave now, nobody will be able to protect the students. If all of Hogwarts is left to Majere, don't expect to come back soon.

Jess, do not try to decrease our student population - which is already low. We need no more drop outs.

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Vincent smiled as Wilson decided to stay, at least he had one teacher loyal to the castle, unlike all the others. Still, he felt sad to see such a massive amount of teachers leaving, all because of a personal grudge against him. After all, he wasn't the castle, they should be staying for the students. But no. "Well Potter, I am sure you are very.. ah.. disapointed, but I assure you your not the only one. I too, am shocked to see the level of immaturity that the Hogwarts Staff have shown," Vincent said coolly. He was still sitting down, calm on the outside, but very angry on the inside. "You are of course, leaving the castle due to a personal grudge against me, well congratulations. And stop humiliating my teachers, Potter, or else I will be forced to bring in aurors. You can`t command what Wilson does."

Sighing, Vincent turned to James Wake. "Vehemence?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "If they refuse to treat me like headmaster and doubt my loyalty to the castle they will be treated like this."

The scene which presented itself before Amelia seemed an utter impossibility. The authority figures she had come to respect at Hogwarts, the professors on whose words she hung and whom she depended on to give her an education were acting like children. All of them. Blowing up tables, having a shouting match, the rude gestures; all of it would be expected from a group of fourth years, but not from trained and educated adults.

Amelia hadn't moved from her place at the wall, where she had shrunk back to after receiving the headmaster's approval of her part in the attack on the castle. She had not needed his explicit praise, but it did make her feel somewhat less of an intruder in the room. The fighting, though, had caused Amelia to feel even more out of place. Usually, she avoided situations of tension and conflict, especially those which she felt she had no part in. Now that she was in the room, though, she had no choice but to observe the disintegration of trust and alliance between the staff of Hogwarts.

What is this all coming to? Amelia wondered, her eyes widening and darting between the professors and the headmaster, the bickering continuing. If this had been a group of students, Amelia would have intervened and told them off for being immature, but how could she find that same strength to do the same to her superiors?

The truth was, she couldn't, and so she did what she always did when she didn't know what to do. She stayed quiet and attempted to blend into the wall behind her, wishing she had chosen to stand next to Elijah instead of over here by herself. At least then there would be some semblance of normalcy to the situation, someone she could look to that always seemed to know what to do.

As he looked around at the room, Vincent's eyes came to land on the students, who apart from Wake, looked quite shocked at the immaturity being showed by the teachers. It was a big blow to the reputation of the school. Four students were witnessing the events, and through them more people would talk about it, until eventually, it would come in the papers. And would he, Vincent, be blamed for it? Perhaps he had sparked the fight, but the fact of the matter was, every one of the teachers was already against him before they had entered the staff room. They blamed him for the death of Kingsley, and thats why they were treating him like this.

Still, there was really no need for the students to stay in this room and witness how uncivilised the other staff were being, they were shocked, perhaps worried. "Students, you may leave the room now, there is no need for you to stay any longer. Thank you all for your reports and your services to the castle," he said.

"Yes sir. But please be warned- they cannot respect you as a Headmaster until you respect their authority as well. One man can not run a whole school alone." James nodded curtly to each teacher, said their name before exiting the room, feeling rather uneasy about the situation. Did Majere have a death wish after all? James, under any other circumstance he would have been quite glad to kill him, but right now, Majere was necessary. Yes, he created animosity, and yes, James would later hear about this conversation later.

He stood outside and waited for the other students. He had a feeling that they shouldn't tell the whole world about the argument, though the though clashed directly with his love for free knowledge.

Amelia didn’t hesitate to follow the headmaster’s instructions to leave the room, already feeling uncomfortable enough as it was. With only one glance to Elijah, the eye contact brief but meaningful, Amelia pulled herself away from the wall, following the retreating form of James Wake, who had chosen to make a more vocal exit than she had.

Did Amelia agree with everything that had been said here tonight? No. Did she think the headmaster could have handled it better? Perhaps. But Amelia was not one to overstep the boundaries she had carefully crafted for herself. She knew her place in the world, and it was not to be correcting the headmaster or offering him advice on how to do his job. If his actions brought him down in flames, so be it. She would have had nothing to do with it, and someone equally capable could take his place.

Amelia felt no alliance toward Headmaster Majere, but also no animosity. He was merely the figurehead of the school she attended, and hopefully the voice of reason who would bring them through events such as the one which had brought them all together here. If he couldn’t, Amelia would find another way to carry herself through it. She was more than capable of taking care of herself and would do so if it came down to it.

Or at least that is what she hoped as she exited the room and started her ascent back to Ravenclaw tower.

[[OOC: 1128 words, and yes you better read all of it! It's one of the most, if not the most, important posts for Jemma on this board. So read or DIE.]]

Jemma watched everyone getting up and leaving, in amazement. She knew the Order had been planning to do something...but she hadn't realised it was so soon. She stood up, and stood between where the Order were at the door, and where the Headmaster and another couple of staff members were.

Ok. What the F*** am I supposed to do now. Yes, Jemma, now IS a time I can swear. It's like, I have to choose between like the two most important things in my life. And yes, it IS that bad. I mean apart from my family, obviously. These two things have just, been a part of my life for so long now! I don't want to loose either of them!

The school. The Order. The school. The Order.
HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DECIDE THIS SO DAMN QUICKLY ON THE SPOT?
I mean, really. Nobody has given me any warning about this decision. They can't expect me to decide just like that. So I won't. I can stand in the middle of the room, make tension, and decide in my head. I can block out everyone else. This is one of the biggest decisions I'll ever make. There's no reason to rush it. In fact, there's a great reason to take my time and make sure that I make the right decision.

Yes, that's what I'll do. I'll go through the pros and cons of both staying at Hogwarts and going with the Order. Yes. A mental pro-con list. That is the logical thing to do. I'll do that.

Ok, the school. The school is my home. I do have another home, but the school is more...home-ly. Although with half the teachers gone, it's not going to feel like that anymore. Then again, leaving the students with Majere and only staff that agree with him is a frightening prospect. I can't leave the students...can I? I might be their only hope for survival in this school, with Professors like that. Plus, what would I do if I left? I would have no job. I can't live on no income. I mean, I would have some money that I've saved up, and a place to live, but I need food! Even if I sold my place and lived with the Order, that would take months! And what would I do for a living, even then? I'm going on fifty-five now, how many people would want to hire someone my age? How could I survive without the school? It's a two-way thing. Could the students survive without me? Could I survive without this place?

What about the Order though! I've been a Member of that for longer than staff. They're like a family too me. I don't have a proper family anymore, they're like all I have. I have Marie, yes, but she lives in France. As much as I love her, I can't see her all that much. The Order are an amazing organization. They've fought wars, they've always brought justice to the situation. They have never failed, yet. How could I leave them? I mean, choosing a job over what is right. As Dumledore (RIP) always said, you have to choose between what is right, and what is easy. Neither of these decisions are easy though! If I stayed at school, the Order might take it to mean that I leave them and no longer want to be a part of them. But I do! I can't leave the Order now. None of the staff know about my affiliation though. The Headmaster won't be expecting me to leave. If I leave, I'll be free of that horrible man! I don't know him at all, but his auror...it sends out bad signals.

SCREW LOGIC. It doesn't work. There are many, MANY pros and cons for both decisions and going through them all doesn't help at all! Why does this have to be happening with EVERYONE on staff watching me? Why couldn't I have had any warning? But I didn't. No. That would have just been too easy. Well actually, it wouldn't have been easy at all. But it would have been way easier than this, that's for sure!

So logic fails me. As usual. I've never been a logical person. Why did I ever think logic would help me, at all? Really? Nope. Of course not. So now what do I do? Go on gut feeling? Instinct? What?

What I always do.

Jemma closed her eyes, and tried to picture the future. There weren't many times in her life she actually tried to see the future. It usually came to her, rather than the other way around. The others probably think I'm a complete freak. Well tough. I need to decide. I don't know what to do.

Jemma opened her eyes inside her head, looking into the darkness in front of her. Or what seemed to her like it was in front of her.

Which path to go down, which path to go down? The school? The school, I could...I could keep my position...miss the Order...really miss the Order...Order might come back to school...if they come back...I leave? I don't want to leave..

Other path, other path! Order...leave school...miss school...no money, no food...but friends. Yes food, from friends. Little, little, little...but friends...friends...Return to school...Order return? But they might not...but they might...there is a chance...though...how big...not sure...

Wait...what is that...me...being...Merlin...but I can't...I mustn't...I have to...that's it...my choice. Done. Done. Done...

Jemma's head jerked down, to face the wall, her eyes opening with a jolt. She knew what she had to do. There was no avoiding it. She had seen it happen. She couldn't avoid making the decision any longer, no matter what. She would have to decide sooner or later. Standing in the middle much longer would only make the decision that much worse.

She turned to face them. Them. She knew she had to leave them. She couldn't bring herself to say it. "I...I...I'm sorry." she said, tears in her eyes. Something that had been a part of her life for so long now. But she couldn't leave the others either. But she... Jemma pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket, and wiped her eyes. She took one last look at them. "I am truly sorry. But I can no longer be a part of this." she said directly to the man in charge.

Then, she turned to the others. It was them, to whom she was loyal. However much she wished to be loyal to the both groups, she had made her decision. There was no turning back now.

Slowly, Jemma made her way over to the door. She was with the Order. That was her choice. Now she would have to live with it.

It appeared that his argument had fallen on deaf ears after all. James looked up to see Jemma Tiquelle passing by, her eyes tearing. Jemma was going with the Order. James heart began to beat even faster now. What if all the teachers left? Would they release the school and let it fall into the hands of Majere? Did their pride know no limits? Why the hell did Potter need to make such a radical decision?

James smiled and nodded curtly to her, trying to look comforting. But inside, he felt a hollow rage grow. He let it settle. There was little point in prolonging a potentially dangerous rivalry. Despite his warnings, encased in his advisory shield, nobody could have gotten the message. He had thought this one out right on the spot though- their decisions were not his fault. And now, he had risked his convenient position for a failed attempt.

Talk about a low blow.

Well, well, well. Would you look at that? One of your plans has finally failed.
Hah! I knew this would happen at some point. Get off your high horse boy! Wake up! Green began to guffaw. Of course, you can't possibly understand humanity. Not even mind-readers can do it! No tactician can predict human behaviour!
Come on guys, the one time this kid uses his intelligence the right way, he gets beat up for it. Red seemed to be sympathetic to James for once. Other firsts: Yellow hadn't piped up yet.

James did not have the heart to stop the voices. He let them argue out the benefits of his actions, but deep inside, Jemma's departure marked James' failure. For some reason, he did not enjoy the thought of the school stumbling upon it's own foundations. The situation was turning from better to worse, to much, much worse. What could James' do? He was just a kid. Nobody listened to him.

Jess gave jemma a big hug and nodded. "You'll be back, soon enough," he said comfortingly. "Come, lets go get a drink, meet me at the Leaky Cauldron," he said to her, turning to walk out the door, before turning to face the others. "I just want to tell you, i didn't quite want this to happen yet," he told them all. "I came into this meeting, with every intention of being civil, and friendly, but your boss' actions made it obvious i wasn't welcome. I just wanted you tyo all know that," he told them seriously. "One day, things will change, and some stability will finally come into the school," he said, not letting onto anything else, before turning and leaving. "Oh, and sorry about the table, send the bill to me if you want," his voice echoed up the stairs and into the room before he left