Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Nov 25, 2007 19:27:52 GMT -5
It never took long for news to spread and sure enough, there it was, splashed across the pages of Drew's Quidditch Quarterly, Alfonz Jedynak accepts a position at Hogwarts.
The announcement surprised Drew, not just because a world-renowned athlete was now on staff, but because he had to get it from a fan magazine. No, he didn't expect for an instant that Raynor should consult him of all people on her hirings, but this was different. The man was a suspected Deva member and with Drew, there was more than just suspicion of the guy. No, he didn't expect Raynor to pass anything by him first, but Drew had to know... what in the name of Merlin's beard had the woman been thinking?
He gave the password to the gargoyle, figuring it wouldn't have been changed yet, and raced up the steps as it spiraled towards the Headmistress's office. The magazine was stuffed into his sweatshirt pocket and when he reached the top he only knocked as a warning that he was entering, not even waiting for an answer before storming in and tossing the Quidditch Quarterly on her desk, opened to the smiling face of Mr. Jedynak.
"You hired him?" Drew asked, his voice full of accusation and disbelief. Heck, he didn't expect her to talk to him about it, but she could have at least run it by Brady, right?
... and with that thought, Hell had quite possibly frozen over.
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Post by Devin Brady on Nov 26, 2007 19:24:08 GMT -5
If you could imagine Brady as a cartoon. Red in the face steam flying out of his ears, then you would basically catch his mood at the current moment. He also had a subscription the Quidditch Quarterly, it was really what one would suspect if they knew he had almost gone pro. Either way he had simply been flipping through his most recent copy when he came across an interesting fact. A Deva member hired to work at Hogwarts?! He had heard the saying keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer, but in his mind that really related more to a relation ship like his and Raynor's.
Well without a thought he was already out of his chair and through the door off toward the Headmistress office. He walked with a brisk pace, and had more than a look of determination on his face. In fact he had a dark scowl that said he was not to be toiled with. As he made his way to the gargoyle guarding the door he didn't even waste time with the password, instead he just growled, "Get out of my way." Of course one would think that it would hardly comply, but Hogwarts was unique and knew he only meant certain harm to the headmistress, plus it was quite obvious the man would blow his way through it if it didn't comply.
Climbing up the spiral staircase he slammed in the door, only a short while after Drew had entered the room. Throwing his own copy in front of the woman he, remarkably similar to Drew he shouted, "What the hell were you thinking?!"
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Post by Tamis Raynor on Nov 26, 2007 19:42:02 GMT -5
One moment , the Headmistress was leaning back in her chair, breathing in the aroma of a cup of tea, and silently sulking about the boredom not teaching racked on the soul...
... And the next moment she was wishing for her boredom to remain.
But alas, it was whisked away as the all too familiar six-foot Ravenclaw barged down her door and stalked up to her desk with the rampage of a bull despite the contrast his tall-and-narrow form portrayed. Her gaze dumbly dropped to the paper on her desk. Quicker reaction from the media than she thought. It was a wonderful portrayal of the man.
One glance up at the boy and then swallowing hard, she took advantage of the cup she held and took a hearty gulp from it. And then a second one. She had no reason to explain to Andrew Thornton, a student that had no real right to question her hiring methods. But she felt she needed to her.
Calmly putting her now half-full tea cup on the desk, she looked up, mouth opened to answer the question when the breeze of another issue of the morning's edition Quidditch Quarterly swept across her face as it landed next to the first. Her hand came up to steady her jostled tea cup.
"You hired him?"
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
Raynor suddenly knew how the mouse felt when it was cornered by not one cat, but two. Two cats equivalently fuming to the limits that their rank against the woman in question would allow. Her mouth worked once, worked twice, and then snapped firmly shut as the woman's classic stubbornness sunk in. She counted to ten, and then unclenched her jaw.
Eyes settled on the young man to the left, then swung to the man on the right. There was another moment of silence as she sat before the two much taller males, engulfed in their shadows even more as they were standing and she was not. She weighed her options, and deciding that running from them was no longer an option.
Then at long last, she calmly asked, as if they had no more than the condition of the weather,
"Would you like a cup of tea?"
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Nov 26, 2007 20:21:24 GMT -5
Speak of the devil...
Raynor had barely a moment to reply (or throw Drew out the door which was just as likely) when Brady himself stormed in, echoing the Ravenclaw's concerns. No, Drew didn't think she'd feel the need to explain herself to a student (that had never stopped Drew for challenging her before though), but he was pretty sure she'd talk to Brady. For once, Drew was glad to see the man.
"You hired him!" Drew cried out again, neither taking his usual chair across from her desk nor answering her offer of tea. There were much more important concerns at the moment. Perhaps if she had offered a scone as well...
"He's suspected Deva!" Drew continued, looking at Brady for verification. It had been the Transfiguration professor who had called Jedynak out and once that had happened, Drew had no doubt that the accusation was true.
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Post by Devin Brady on Nov 27, 2007 0:42:17 GMT -5
He turned hands running through his hair trying to calm down. When he returned his glare at the woman no calming had been accomplished. Instead he slammed his hands on her desk starring her straight in the eye. It was then that Brady couldn't help but follow after Drews lead as the boy repeated his statement, "What the hell were you thinking?!!" He took in a deep breath before continuing on, "I know that he might not be completely loyal to the group, but the man is a Deva. I mean for Merlin's sake Tamis, I pointed him out myself. I might have bloody well drawn a bulls eyes on him and chased him around the room screaming it."
He had to admit, he had thought more of the boy as of recent, but not nearly enough to invite him into the castle. Devin breathed heavy again, it truly was hard to calm ones self when their blood was boiling. "Tamis, what about the children?! I mean think of their innocent minds in the hands of a Deva! There are young minds that could easily be swayed."
"Honestly Tamis, you may have gone fare beyond outrageous with this one. I questioned Marcos, hell I questioned the hiring of myself, but the hiring of Alfonz Jedynak, that is going too far. If you are ever putting the children at risk its here Tamis. I mean a vampire, a crazed ex-auror don't even compete with what your dealing with now, you've invited the enemy in and given him a place to stay inside the walls."
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Post by Tamis Raynor on Dec 2, 2007 21:05:19 GMT -5
Ninety-nine percent of Tamis Raynor wished to fight anger with anger and lurch out of her seat and join the yelling, as this was a blatant questioning of her authority as headmistress that she doubted her predecessors would have allowed. The hanging jaws of the portraits supported her theory. But that small one percent was buzzing at her that anger was as explosive, hot and unpredictable as fire. And while fighting fire with fire could put it out, it usually just made the blaze larger.
So, she bent every effort of her will on listening to the one percent, while the ninety-nine pressed in with unfathomable pressure. Drew seemed slightly more contained, but Brady was overflowing, dangerously overflowing, and no doubt in the process destroying what restrain Drew had.
The desk shook to the core when Devin rammed his palms into it, but the Headmistress did not flinch and met his gaze squarely. She had faced worse than angry men in her life time and was not about to start cowering now, because one was displeased.
Unable to ignore the weight of the pressure, she decided to meet both forces somewhere in between.
"Sit down, both of you," she looked pointedly at Brady, "please." Her tone did not raise, but hardened. "Or, however much displeasure it brings me, I'll look for a new transfiguration professor, and deprive Ravenclaw of a prefect."
She waited a moment, to see if either one would do so, and then continued. "Yes, I hired Alfonz Jedynak. And I know exactly who and what the man is." She raised a hand as if to fend off a new tirade. "I know exactly what I am doing."
Another pause, and then she added, almost a death whisper. "Do either of you truly believe I would put my students in harms way if I had any other choice?"
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Dec 2, 2007 21:20:38 GMT -5
What ever restraint Drew was showing was only because he knew flying off the handle would end up with him flat on his keester in the hallway. He thought he knew Raynor well enough to know she would respect his anger over a given situation, but she would not tolerate insolence.
He jumped when Brady slammed the desk. That man was number two on Drew's list of Raynor's mistakes in hiring, number three obviously being the man Brady was so angry about. How could this possibly be a good situation?
He took his seat with a slight grumble, only answering coherently when Raynor started to explain herself.
"You always have a choice," Drew answered, thinking the obvious alternative would have been not to offer the quiddich pro a job.
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Post by Devin Brady on Dec 4, 2007 0:43:34 GMT -5
There was a momentary pause before Devin sat down. The fact that it was Tamis giving him the order didn't help... even if they were on better terms recently, the past still weighed heavily on his mind. In fact he probably would have sat down with much less trouble had she not threatened him. Either way he sat, his eyes showing the built up anger inside of him. He couldn't believe her, out of all the people in the world, out of all the Deva in the world, Alfonz Jedynak. It was funny how his grudges kept coming back to him. Yes he and Alfonz had a past too. In fact Alfonz was one of the reasons that Devin had been fired from his job as an auror, a job he was probably close to promotion in. Other than the duel there was also the fact that he had called him out as a Deva to a large part of the Great Hall. And then there was the most important fact. He had taken the stunned Devin and locked him in a closet... thats right a broom closet.
Devin's hands cracked violently as they formed into fists, purely from the thought of that closet, the woman across from him had sat on the other side and berated him. He mentally growled at the thought. When one really thought about this it was obvious that this was no good. He was gradually building up his anger, and causing his blood to boil just asking him to snap.
But her saying she had no choice, that was what caused him to. He was oddly calm as he stood, listening to the boy say that she always had a choice. He would have loved to help him argue the point, but he had to leave now, before he did something stupid. Yes the death of Tamis Raynor probably wouldn't have bode well for his conscious. So he stood now, ignoring the glances from the various Ex-Headmasters' and Headmistress', especially one in particular with twinkling blue eyes. But he didn't break out screaming, or pull out his wand. Instead with deep breathes he turned and headed for the door, with no intention of listening to the woman defend herself. Of course thats really why he came wasn't it? He knew she had to have a reason, knew she wouldn't just fire Jedynak at his word. Either way he needed out, and continued for the door.
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Post by Tamis Raynor on Dec 10, 2007 15:14:04 GMT -5
"You always have a choice."
Before Raynor had a chance to reply, Brady with frightening silence stood and headed for the door. She might have let him go, even then. Except, she feared that if he did, she might lose the man forever. The last thing she needed right now was for their ranks to divide; it would be exactly what Robert wanted.
She kept her seat without watching the Transfiguration Professor's retreat, but the door to her office shut before he reached it and magically locked. In simplicity, she had just locked down her office, a power granted to the Head Person, and one that only the Head Person could undo.
Still not acknowledging the man with too much history -- and none of it pleasant -- between them, gray eyes locked on the Ravenclaw. But, her words were meant for both, if they would both listen to them.
"Yes, there is always a choice, but I didn't like the other ones." She paused there, but shortly, afraid of the active volcano at the door erupting. "Robert will not leave Hogwarts alone. I considered nobly closing the school, but that would serve no end but to aid Shaw. Spies are inevitable, this way we know who and where it is."
At last, she allowed herself to look at Devin's back. When she spoke, it was surprisingly void of any of her usual sarcasm when confronting her old rival. It seemed almost... tender?
"I need you to trust me, Devin. The people in this room are the only ones I am sure are on the same side. We need to remain that way."
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Post by Devin Brady on Dec 15, 2007 0:53:01 GMT -5
Devin was headed toward the door, when it closed in his face. This woman was mad, he was sure of it now. He turned to face her once more, a glare filled with so much anger that his eyes looked like they were on fire. If the glare continued much longer her head might very well explode, thats when he changed location of his glare, he knew as well as anyone else, that anything could happen in the wizarding world.
Oh how he hated holding his tongue, but thats exactly what he did as she spoke. He knew why she did it, or at least some of it, but that made it no more right. No she hadn't just let in one of the pack. She had let in one of the more intelligent members ones. One of the few that hadn't actually lost their mind. He might not be anywhere as skilled as Devin was, and of course he had a temper like everyone else... but he was provoked, and it was obvious that he wasn't unintelligent. Devin might have even respected such intelligence in anyone else, but not in this man.
What actually eased his temper was what Raynor said at the end of her rant, specifically to him. He didn't sit, but the tension in his posture slowly decreased, and the look in his eyes lessened. He didn't say anything for a long while, in fact he didn't even look at her. "By bringing him here Tamis you've brought the war to the children, and none of them deserve that suffering... no matter how much they want to fight."
He knew it was true, he was sure she knew it was true, and Drew... he might not know it was true... but it was. There were many people lost in the last war, many well respected men and women. Many who didn't deserve to die. People who had been forced to leave their children to grow up alone. Those who had lost their husbands, those who lost their wives, those who had lost their children. He still remembered a group of red heads crowded around the body of one of their own. The children here didn't deserve that... nor did anyone else. They should leave the fighting to the forbidden.
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Dec 15, 2007 2:09:18 GMT -5
Drew knew a whole lot more than Brady gave him credit for, and once again, resented the use of the term "children". Even the firsties, at the tender age of eleven, had been through enough to deserve a bit more respect than that.
But it wasn't even the simple fact that Alfonz Jedynek was suspected Deva. The Quidditch player was a much bigger threat than Drew thought Raynor even knew.
"Having him this close to his sister... I don't know if that's such a great idea," Drew said, totally downplaying the suspected situation, only because Brady was in the room and the ex-auror had proven himself to have an extremely big mouth.
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Post by Tamis Raynor on Dec 28, 2007 13:06:47 GMT -5
Silence. Silence. Silence.
It overcame Raynor very suddenly, as she quietly took in what they had to say. Did either one of them think these points had not crossed her mind? It was inviting the fox into the hen house, and tying the sheepdog to an anvil. But at the same time, she could not help think they were wrong. The man was moody and dangerous, and no doubt could turn on the whim, but... he was driven by a love for his sister. Or at least that was what she hoped.
As for Brady's comment...
"The war is already here, Devin. Don't you see that? It will be here as long as --" She stopped abruptly, not able to finish that statement. As long as I am here. That was the truth of it, but could she ever admit to it? "-- as long as there are students with minds that can be swayed. They are not children, I think they have proved that much."
It was unfair to bring possible suffering to Hogwarts, a school that had seen enough of it, and only remained open by the skin of its teeth. But some times, the only choice was to pick the lesser of two evils.
"Having him this close to his sister... I don't know if that's such a great idea."
"Actually, Mr. Thornton, I think that is the only plus side to the arrangement. Aflonz Jedynak seems... overwhelmingly... driven to protect his sister." It was a drive she could understand, but one she was unsure either present would, so she chose her words carefully. "In his twisted way, he believes he is keeping her from harm. He wants to be near her. That is possible the most secure leash we have. He knows I can make sure he never gets this close enough to her again."
She was in essence, dangling little Celina in the air like bait. She hated using people, especially when they didn't realize they were being used, but sometimes it was necessary.
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Dec 28, 2007 13:31:08 GMT -5
"I think it's the biggest minus to it," Drew told her boldly, refusing to believe that she'd use Celina in such a way, finding it impossible that she'd knowingly put the girl in danger only to keep Alfonz under her her watch.
"Driven to protect her? More like driven to control her," Drew told the Headmistress. Had the woman seen the two Jedynak siblings together? Drew highly doubted it. "This isn't like Allegra and me being close. This is something totally different. I think you're doing more harm to her than you can possibly imagine."
He knew she wouldn't change her decision on this. She was as bull-headed stubborn as every other woman he admired (one of these days he'd have to find a nice little meek girl to appreciate). He understood her reasons and would have probably agreed with them if it hadn't been for Celina. The last thing he wanted was to see her hurt.
"If Alfonz is here, we really have to keep an eye on her," he said, looking around at Brady. Well, he wouldn't do. Celina probably distrusted that man more than she did him. He turned back to Raynor. She was the only one who had a chance in his opinion. "You have to keep an eye on her."
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Post by Devin Brady on Dec 31, 2007 0:38:38 GMT -5
Devin sat quite with clenched teeth. In his mind everything about having the man in the school was idiotic. What would they gain? He wasn't going to crack, he was stubborn and Devin knew that all too well. He remembered when they faced off, a simple apology would most likely prevented the whole thing. But the boy was too stubborn to even do that. Did she even dream she had a chance of cracking him.
And Celina as bait? He no doubt agreed with Drew. He had realized exactly what things were like between them, and it wasn't even close to right. No she was practically under his control, she couldn't even tell that he was doing wrong. She'd have forgiven him if he had taken out the whole damn school. And that made him mad, so instead of saying a word, he clenched his teeth harder taking a deep breath.
Again, it was no lie that he agreed with Thornton again. He wasn't going to stand a chance of monitoring Celina, she would never trust him. One her brother dispiesed him, two she didn't trust him due to the Legilimency... back when he had been stressed it had become harder to control, now however he prevented that. Thirdly, he had called out her brothers name. No Devin would be no good at that task, it was up to Raynor. "He's right, you're the only one who can manage it. I sure as hell can't."
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Post by Tamis Raynor on Jan 8, 2008 21:44:52 GMT -5
Whether the man and on-the-verge-of-manhood-boy realized it or not, their opinions held a great deal of worth in the mind of the Headmistress. They were possibly the only two souls she trusted. Both she had known for a long time – ironically, both she had watched grow, even if Brady had been simultaneous with herself. And, both of them would give her an honest evaluation and opinion. Why else would she lock Devin in rather than out when the opportunity presented itself to do the opposite?
So when Thornton presented an argument, she seriously considered it with a frown. No, she had not seen them together. Driven to control? She had not considered that. Departed and alienated from her own family as she was… she had a tender spot when it came to that subject. There was no doubt that she had been possibly blinded by it. But then again, Andrew Thornton was no doubt looking at the story from the same side as Brady. There were always three sides. She needed the second to figure out that third; the truth.
But what was done was done. The decision had been made. Raynor would have to hate herself later; and she would. But for now, she had the two males to deal with –
-- And did they both just indirectly let the … discussion… slide!?
"You have to keep an eye on her."
“He's right, you're the only one who can manage it. I sure as hell can't."
Blink. Blink. Blink. It took a couple… make that a dozen… seconds to recover from that. She closed the jaw that had come ajar before it was too noticeable.
“I plan to watch them both like a hawk,” she replied kindly. “The safety of this school has always been my first concern. But whether we like it or not, this is a war. Strategy is everything. I won’t let harm befall Celina Jedynak. I promise.”
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