Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

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Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

Postby Matilde Rayne » Sun Mar 20, 2016 12:28 am

((Hiiii... I'd say it's high time we had some new topics started, so here's one! It's Hogsmeade weekend and despite there being a steady drizzle, plenty of students are out and about. I'm going to say that despite there being a rule in the books about Hogsmeade visits being for third years and older, for HOL anyone can go and maybe there's a bit more supervision or something on behalf of the younger students, so first and second years are definitely welcome.

The general premise is that there are weird things going on at the Shrieking Shack, but I'm pretty much okay with this topic going anywhere in relation to that. I'll toss in ideas/direction if needed, but if someone else has ideas, go for it! Any length of reply is fine. I like to write a lot, but I'm happy not writing a lot too, haha.))


***

Mattie stood at the foot of the hill that the Shrieking Shack sat on. It was a common notion that there was something spooky about the Shrieking Shack and this weekend, word had been going around that there were some weird things going on there. Curious, Mattie wanted to see if there was anything to the claims, and she had to say, the wailing and crashing noises were doing a pretty good job convincing her that at least some of the rumors might be true. Now she was both curious and unnerved - not an overly pleasant combination.

The fifth year shuffled her feet a bit and glanced around; for now she was the only student in the area. While she came to that spot initially to get a better idea of what was going on, she wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do after. While she very much did want to find out what was going on in the Shrieking Shack, she was also very much against going into an unknown situation on her own. At the same time, her more prefect-ly tendencies told her it would be worth it to keep an eye out for any younger students that might get ideas about checking the Shrieking Shack more closely themselves and to keep them out of trouble. Plus, if she stayed, there might be more clues to what was going on...

Maybe I'll stick around a little longer, and if I don't see anyone, I'll head back, she thought. After a moment, she nodded to herself, shivered a bit, and added, maybe grab a butterbeer.

Tugging the hood of her robes more securely over her head to keep dry, Mattie settled in on a nearby bench where she could observe the Shrieking Shack... from a safe distance. She stared intensely at the structure, jumping a bit at the sound of yet another crash. What is going on in there?
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Re: Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

Postby Leonie Hauri » Sun Mar 20, 2016 1:00 pm

Leonie had heard rumours of the Shrieking Shack, of course. It was all anyone would talk about in the few weeks leading up to the Hogsmeade visits - students bragging about how they were going to go into the Shrieking Shack to see what was going on and others whispering and gossiping about what could possibly make the Shrieking Shack, well, shriek.

She had dismissed them as rumours. Wasn't some student or other always telling stories about the Shrieking Shack? Granted, she hadn't been able to fall asleep the other night due to an abnormal wailing sound, but she had frightfully accounted it to the wind. The Shrieking Shack didn't shriek anymore - everyone knew that. They could tell stories all they wanted, but Leonie wouldn't believe them.

Or she would try not to. When she entered Hogsmeade, she determinedly headed for Honeyduke's. Maybe she could find some of that really tasty dark chocolate. There was absolutely no line - an unusual phenomenon at a Hogsmeade visit. Normally the aisles were swarming with wizards and witches. Today, Leonie only spotted one young first year examining the blood pops.

It was the Shrieking Shack, of course. Leonie could hear the wails and the crashing sounds. Once she had purchased some cream-filled chocolate (alas, dark chocolate was not in stock), she headed for the Hog's Head, but on her way there she passsed the Shrieking Shack, and she froze in place.

The Shrieking Shack seemed alive. Everyone else was keeping a close distance except for Mattie, who stood at the foot of the hill. A shrieking sound pierced the air and the Shrieking Shack trembled as a crashing sound echoed through Hogsmeade. Leonie walked a little closer. She felt a tinry bit safer being next to a prefect, but until she knew what was going on, she would never feel safe.

"It's got to be some trick," Leonie said nervously, "don't you think?" She didn't really believe her own words, but she could only hope. "Isn't there some spell that could help reveal what was going on from a safe distance? Maybe the one that reveals humans? Maybe it's just a witch or wizard playing pranks."
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Re: Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

Postby Matilde Rayne » Mon Mar 21, 2016 3:17 am

Mattie continued to stare suspiciously at the Shrieking Shack, every now and then breaking her focus to glance back in the direction of the village to see if any other students or Hogsmeade visitors were coming her way - though most seemed content to go about their business, seemingly doing their best to ignore whatever was going on in the shack on the hill.

After some time, Mattie spotted a familiar face passing by and a slight smile started to creep onto her face, but just as she was about to wave and call out a greeting to Leonie, she was interrupted by yet another ear-splitting wail followed closely by a resounding crash - the loudest one yet, which startled her enough to cause her to jump out of her seat, whip around to face the Shack, and pull out her wand defensively. Mattie tensed for a moment, pointing her wand vaguely in front of her, before relaxing and giving a nod to Leonie, who had walked up closer to her.

"I'd like to think it's a trick," Mattie remarked. "But if these are pranksters, they're quite persistent, as they've been at it all day." She paused a moment to consider Leonie's other suggestion. "You're quite right, though, there is a spell that would make it easy to check if this is someone's idea of a joke. Homenum revelio!"

With a wave of her wand, Mattie cast the spell that she was hoping would clear things up a little. Unfortunately, a few moments later, she was finding herself muttering, "Well, I suppose that was too much to ask for, things being simple..."

The spell had revealed nothing. Mattie shrugged, trying her best to look casual while fighting off nerves, and commented, "Just because there's no one there now doesn't mean this isn't a prank. Someone could have planted something a while ago." Under her breath, she added, "Though, I'm doubting that more and more."

Mattie frowned at the Shack for a short while in silence. Finally, with a swish and flick, she cast Wingardium Leviosa on a small rock and sent it flying at the hut experimentally. The rock knocked on the door to the Shrieking Shack before falling to the ground, and almost instantly Hogsmeade was assaulted by a barrage of furious crashing sounds. Mattie jerked her hands up to cover her ears, and after about a minute, the crashing stopped. Cautiously lowering her hands, she said tentatively, "That may not have been my brightest idea, but at least we know there's something responsive in there!"
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Re: Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

Postby Leonie Hauri » Mon Mar 21, 2016 10:50 pm

Leonie's hops sunk after Mattie's spell revealed no humans. She was racking her brain trying to come up with a likely cause - strange earthquake? A Muggle device, maybe? She had heard Muggles could give life to inanimate objects - making them move and talk. Or maybe it was a prank after all.

She hadn't expected the whole rock incident, and she was a little confused by what Mattie was doing until the rock hit the Shrieking Shack. The whole hill rumbled, and Leonie thought she coukd hear a few screams, but everything was drowned out by the crashing and banging sounds coming from the shack. Exactly how thick are those walls? Leonie spotted a crack in the side of the shack - but surely that had been there before?

"That may not have been my brightest idea, but at least we know there's something responsibe in there!" Mattie said. Leonie could only nod, her ears still ringing.

After her ears had recovered a bit, Leonie regarded the shack, trying to think with a Ravenclaw's mind. "It's responsive," she repeated, "which means it's likely not a spell. Or if it was one, it would have to be rather complex. Beyond a seventh year's capabilities, I think." Leonie tapped her wand thoughtfully. "It's not a human, so it has to be something non-human." Congrats Leonie, Mattie never could've deduced that.

The Muggles could make objects talk and move, but could they respond to noise? Leonie had never taken Muggle Studies - she never saw it as necessary considering she never intended to live in the Muggle world - but even if they could, what would be the possibility of one of those Muggle things turning up in Hogsmeade? It had to be a creature of some sort. "A creature, it must be a creature, musn't it?"
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Re: Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

Postby Joey Stark » Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:40 pm

Not for the first time Joey found himself eyeing up the blood-pops in Honeydukes with mild interest. Did they mean that there were vampires living somewhere nearby? He'd never met a vampire. Maybe if he hung out by them long enough he'd see someone buy one...Abruptly he realised that he was almost entirely alone in the store. Not that he was complaining, the crowds were never fun, but it was unusual. He watched the familiar form of Leonie slip out the door and followed at a distance.

She led him toward the shrieking shack, where he was surprised to find a mass of students and denizens of Hogsmeade already gathered. Leonie had approached Mattie, another familiar Ravenclaw face and were talking quietly in between glances up at the shack. As he strained to hear their conversation, Joey suddenly realised he still had his ear defenders on. They were a Weasley product resembling earmuffs but which blocked out any background sound. He supposed they were probably intended for lectures from parents or boring classes but ended up using them most of the time since he hated anything loud and the background buzz of people chatting always seemed to annoy him. He regretted the instant he pulled the ear defenders down as his hearing was violently assaulted with crashes and wailing from the shack. Well, that explains the crowd.

Wincing he shuffled closer to Leonie and Mattie. Though he knew both girls, he was still shy about talking to them, feeling intimidated by the age and status of Mattie in particular. He watched with interest as the witch in question cast Homenum Revelio to no avail.

"It must be a creature, mustn't it?" He heard Leonie ask over the din. His head was pounding with the noise and he found himself torn between covering his ears back up and leaving and finding out what was going on. His curiosity won over. Steeling himself and clearing his throat he said 'um, maybe it's a ghoul? I've heard they can get loud when they feel like it'.
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Re: Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

Postby Matilde Rayne » Thu Mar 24, 2016 8:56 pm

Mattie gave a small nod at Leonie's deduction. The younger student was approaching the problem smartly and methodically, and as a fellow Ravenclaw, Mattie approved. Before she could comment, she noticed a first year, Joey Stark, coming up to join them. Good naturedly, she praised the two younger students, "Good ideas from the both of you! I agree, Leonie. It's probably not a spell. Or at least it's not one I've ever heard of. A creature's an interesting thought..."

She considered Joey's idea for a moment. Her first thought had actually been a boggart, but she was having a difficult time reconciling a boggart with that much noise, particularly when she had no idea what form a boggart even took when no one was around. She mused, "I think Joey's offered a good solution. The best we could hope for is that this is some ghoul having a massive tantrum in there. No need for it to be anything sinister."

Thankfully, the Shack seemed to have calmed itself after the latest round of crashing that Mattie had set off. Now the most disconcerting sound that could be heard was the wind whistling eerily through some nearby trees. And that's not ominous at all.

"You know what," Mattie said finally, "I think it's time for a more direct approach. Fortune favors the bold, and all that. I'm going to take a closer look. You two might want to stay back, until I get a better look." She paused, then continued with a light tone, hoping she sounded reassuring, "Let's hope you won't have to swoop in to rescue me, eh?"

Mattie took a deep breath and, wand out and at the ready, started up the hill. She supposed it was an effect of how unnerved she still felt that she could hear every one her of footsteps and that she felt absolutely certain that whatever was in the Shack could hear her coming too. The entire climb, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, but then, the Shack was locked and boarded up, with no way to see inside - except there now was! Mattie faltered when she noticed a long, thin crack running down the side of the structure - had that always been there? She'd spent years walking by here during Hogsmeade visits and she'd never noticed that before.

She continued on toward the Shrieking Shack, heading for the door but keeping her eyes trained on the crack. About a meter away from the door, she thought she saw something appear from the other side of the crack - something luminous and yellow, perhaps an eye - but at this point, she was undeterred, needing to know what was in there.

"Alohomora," Mattie whispered, pointing her wand at the lock on the door. With a quiet click, the door swung open, and she carefully peeked inside, breathless with nerves and anticipation.

And there was nothing at all. She was looking in on an empty room. Confused, Mattie straightened up, about to call down to her companions to let them know what she had found - or rather, didn't find - when all of a sudden, there was a flash of light, the same yellow as before, and she found herself being pulled into the Shrieking Shack...
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Re: Shrieking Shack Shenanigans

Postby Leonie Hauri » Fri Mar 25, 2016 1:45 pm

Leonie had to admit, she would never have been brave enough to go into the Shrieking Shack alone. She hadn't even mustered up the courage to go inside when the Shrieking Shack wasn't shrieking, and it was just a myth.

Fortune might favour the bold, but Leonie had never been bold. She was secretly relieved that Mattie didn't expect Leonie to go with her inside the Shrieking Shack, but Leonie still doubted whether a direct approach was the best approach. "Mattie -" she started as Mattie turned to head for the shack, but Mattie didn't seem to hear her over the whistling of the wind. Maybe it was just as well. Mattie was experienced, intelligent, and much more calm than Leonie would've been in that situation. She could handle herself. Right?

Leonie wasn't sure she wanted to watch, yet her eyes were glued to Mattie's retreating figure. Let's hope you won't have to swoop in to rescue me, eh? Famous last words. As Mattie reached the shack, she went around to the door, out of view from where Leonie and Joey were on the hill.

Leonie glanced nervously at Joey. "How long do you think it takes to unlock the door and see what's inside?" she asked. She glanced back up at the hill. How long had Mattie been gone? A few seconds? A few minutes? How long were they supposed to wait for her? Had it been too long? Had something happened to her?

Time ticked by - Leonie wasn't sure whether it was seconds or minutes or even hours. Mattie did not return. Surely she was just unlocking the door by now, and now she was looking inside, and now she would come back and tell them everything was okay...

"Maybe," Leonie said nervously, "we could just go around the hill, to where the door is. Just to see if Mattie is there." Leonie had a bad feeling about this. Leonie had a lot of bad feelings, like when she ran out of chocolate or she got an E on a test, but this was something much more ominous and worrysome. Something was in that shack, and Mattie still had not returned.
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