Of Monsters and Men -open-

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Kallie was back at Hogwarts. She had a good Christmas with her father and Mimi, the freed house elf that was still working for them. Mimi was like an auntie to Kallie or a grandma even. The elf was so old that Kallie feared breaking her bones every time she touched her.

This was a day like any other. She was having breakfast with her classmates well those who remained. Most teachers and students had already left to prepare for the first classes. While she loved all her friends and enjoyed the freedom Hogwarts offered, she did miss her dad and auntie Mimi. She was proudly wearing the necklace her father gave her for Christmas. It was a small silver chain with a clover hanger on it. The hanger had real emerald stones but silly Kallie wouldn’t know the financial value of it. She’d wear everything her father gave her. This necklace was just too adorable. Her friends had waved her goodbye as she continued to finish her food. Kalli didn’t feel like hurrying for class. The blonde Ravenclaw was enjoying her strawberry pancake when a shadow from behind fell over her food. She blinked up and saw the face of a sixth year Gryffindor with a Slytherin and another Gryffindor at his side. “You’re ruining my breakfast, Walkers,” the young Ravenclaw voiced her annoyance. She wasn’t much of a morning person and didn’t have time for older boys who thought they were the real deal. Walkers had tried to hit on her before but she wasn’t the slightest bit interested.

The older boy shoved the Daily Prophet into her face. “Avery, huh? Look if this isn’t your precious father,” he said with a scoff. Kallie’s eyes fell on the front like which wrote Traitor in Minister Umbridge’s Parlement no other than her Senior Advisor. Under it was a photo of Umbridge pointing at the door while two men held her struggling father. Kallisto’s face turned pale. He was covered in blood. “It seemed your so called hero is not only an ex-death eater but also a man eating monster,” Walkers scoffed. The Gryffindor’s words provoked the hotheaded Ravenclaw. “A lie! My father uses wolfsbane he is safe. There is blood because they attacked him!” The group of three laughed as Walkers grabbed Kallie by her tie. “So you knew your father was a monster then and you’re still defending him? Tsk. You’re just as bad. And I thought you were cool, Avery. You disappoint me.”

The blonde girl gasped as she was pulled in by her tie. She glared at the older boy and spit in his face. “Screw you, Walkers. You don’t know monsters. My father is a good man unlike you. You’re a sad excuse for a human being.” It probably wasn’t wise to anger a boy who was two years older and had two friends backing him up. However she just was so angry, she couldn’t stand people who just said mindless things. When she saw the Gryffindor’s face, she grew a little scared. He was pissed. She saw him wipe the spit from his face and look down on her with a menacing look. “You’re as wild as your father. Is that the great pureblood Avery name? You’re kidding. A bunch of monsters if you ask me. You’re probably a werewolf too. John, Thomas hold her down. Were going to make sure if this school has monsters hiding in it.” One of the two boys hesitated but the other pressed her against the table. “This feels wrong, Cabe,” the other Gryffindor said and walked away. The Slytherin John Devenpour however kept her low while Walkers rolled up her sleeves to check her arms for scars. “Don’t touch me you filth! My father will hear about this!” The girl screamed, hoping someone would come to her rescue. She didn’t have anything to hide but she didn’t like Walkers touching her even if it just were her arms and the boy probably didn’t saw harm in it. Walkers chuckled. “Your father isn’t here to save you now is he? What is he going to do? Pay me a visit the next full moon to tear my arm off?” Kalli heard footsteps, had someone come?


Notes:
Necklace

[astrid østergård]

Astrid had taken to flying of an early morning, stretching her wings and then flying in for breakfast as the Post Owls did. That was the plan today as she flapped powerfully through the opening into the great hall, circling about the room. She was just about to head gracefully to her seat at the front of the room with the other teachers when she spotted two children bullying the third. She didn't know that this third child was related to a werewolf and she wouldn't have cared if she did. Astrid landed with an angry squawk and transformed. Her usually friendly eyes hard, and her long blond hair messy for a moment as she pointed her wand troward the restrained girl and with a word heer attackers grip failed and the professor moved quickly to help her to her feet.

"You leave this girl alone at once!" She hissed angrily. "Twenty points from each of your houses!" she growled, her thick Norwegian accent and her hasty action perhaps betrayed that the politics of wizarding Britain were new to her but she would have acted the same way regardless. She thought that this entire conflict was ridiculous. The professor glared as she watched the two bullies, wondering if they would be foolish enough to push their luck right now, or if they would run like the cowards she suspected they were. Either was possible, Astrid had attended Durmstrang where student conflicts were often very violent and contentious. She didn't have any illusions that this girl was going to be completely safe even if the fight did end here, but she wasn't going to have this.

"Are you okay, miss?" She asked the girl gently not yet releasing her grip on her wand, or even turning to face the girl in full. Her tone however had relaxed to its usually sweet cadence as she addressed the young girl.

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kalli heard an adult female voice echoing through the great hall. Immediately the boys took a step back. She could hear them cursing. Kallie took this moment to stand up straight again and brush her clothes back into place. The Slytherin fled right away but the Gryffindor stayed. How typical. He probably thought he was being brave, harassing a younger girl like that. "You didn't see the whole thing. She spit in my face!" Walkers had shouted. "This little bitch thinks she is above us. Just because she carries an ancient pureblood name and her daddy is a high ministry official. Or should I say, was." He gave that last smirk towards Kallie which pissed her off. She was ready to throw whatever she could find at his face. However she'd have to trust on the teacher to take care of things.

Apparently Miss. Østergård's face seemed scary enough for the boy to take the run once he was done talking. He dropped the newspaper at her feet, which Kallisto picked up. "I guess... Thank you, Professor," she mumbled a little still confused about what just happened. The Ravenclaw stared down the picture of her father. A bitter taste filled her mouth. "I have to write my father. I hope he is alright." She wanted to say unhurt but it was clear that aurors had tracked him down and fought him. Their house was probably a mess right now. Poor Mimi, the old elf would be terrified. She sat down and took a piece of parchment from her schoolbag along with a quill and ink. However as she wanted to start, she had no idea what to write. "Professor Østergård, could you tell Professor Bishop that I won't make it to defense... There is..." The girl swallowed.

[astrid østergård]

Astrid did see that the boy's face had been spit in. and that bought a frown to her face. That said she judged the young girl as too smart and too mild to have actually started the issue. "Whatever this poor girl may think, or may have said, or even done, that is no cause for two older boys to attack her during breakfast. Unless you'd like your house to lose more points, I suggest you stop trying to defend your awful behaviour. Do not teach me that this is what Gryffindor house values. I would hate to have to have this sort of conversation with Professor Weasley..." She said coldly. It was something of an empty threat - she knew not to judge any house based solely on one or two members' behaviour. Finally, once she was done with the two boys she turned her attention to the girl.

She turned to the other girl. "And you. You shouldn't have spat at him. Whatever he may have said. All you are doing when you spit on someone like him is telling him that you believe you're better than him, and even if you do believe that, expressing it is dangerous." She said, holding her tongue, deciding against telling the girl that she found such views distasteful. "Yes, I will pass on your message, but I cannot guarantee Professor Bishop will take it well. Whether or not he wants to give you time off is up to him."

"Miss..." She thought, considering that she had seen the newspaper and that this girl's father was a former ministry official, she took a guess. "Miss Avery, I'm sorry about your father. but I want to make it clear that you can't be spitting on boys, it's not acceptable behaviour. If I hear that you have done anything like this then, it'll be detention." He said looking sadly down at the girl. Astrid didn't want to punish someone who was obviously a victim but in this case it was for her own good. Her spitting at that boy had obviously upset him and put him in danger. "Do not validate a bully like that. I don't want to see you get hurt."

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Kallisto was glad the boys were gone. They were such annoyances. Hopefully they'd leave her alone from now on. The young blonde blinked up when the teacher started scolding her. Her cheeks glowed a little pink. She had let her emotions control her again. "I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have done that... I just felt like I should stand up for myself. He is right, my father has always protected me so far." The Ravenclaw fell silent for a moment as she thought. "I need to learn how to defend myself." she closed the newspaper. "However I do not think myself to be better than everyone else. He was just making up things to blame me. Still angry because I wouldn't go out with him." She now realized that when she said 'I won't date people like you', he might have thought people impure of blood. What she meant was cocky guys who thought they could get every girl they liked. She hated him and all other people like him. She shot her gaze back up at the teacher. "Thank you, Professor. If Professor Bishop is unhappy, I'll gladly take a punishment for this. I have never skipped class before but I need to know if my dad is alright before I can focus on school again, he is all I have left." Kalli was a honest girl she didn't like to twist things or hide them. Sooner or later the truth came out so she better say so right away.

Kalli chuckled upon the warning. "You sound like my dad," she said and sighed. Her father wouldn't' approve of this behavior. That she knew. But he also won't teach her how to fight back. So what else could she do? "He asked for it. That's the closest he got to snogging me. He should be glad to have come that close to his goal," she smirked. Oh her father would have a word with her if he heard her speaking like this. Luckily he wasn't here. She loved her dad but often preferred the freedom Hogwarts gave her. "Thank you for your concern, Professor," she nodded towards the adult. "But Professor, may I ask. What else can I do next time. Who knows how far they'd have gone if you hadn't come in? I can't always depend on others to safe me."

[astrid østergård]

"Then your dad knows what he's talking about." Astrid said gently to the girl. Secretly she was more glad that the values she was trying to teach here were echoed in the girl's home. She was glad that she was making sense. She smiled down at the girl again after a moment, not one to stay angry at at a victim for long even if she didn't approve of how they'd responded to the situation. Truth be told, the more Astrid saw of this girl the more she saw herself when she was younger. The Swan animagus was a lot like her animal form and a lot like this girl. Clever, proud, but with an agression that was fierce to behold when it was unleashed. She had turned out all right because there had been strong hands and gentle ones to guide her in the right direction. She felt it was her responsibility to say something to this young lady now.

"I can understand wanting to defend yourself." the Norwegian professor told her student gently, her usual kind smile flitting on her lips again. "And I can understand the concern that you need to learn to protect yourself. But hurling insults and spitting doesn't need to be a part of that. Defending yourself doesn't involve sinking to their level." She was determined to be firm, despite the softness and tenderness of her words. "When they attack you, if you defend yourself that's one thing, but spitting on someone will only encourage them to hurt you more, and make them more likely to come after you again." she explained calmly. "It's true that there may not always be a teacher, or a parent there to help you, but that doesn't mean you need to approach a fight that way. Making the people trying to bully you angry in that situation will just make things worse."

She didn't want to sound patronising. but she probably did come off a bit that way. "He was actually trying to kiss you?" Astrid growled with a realisation of how serious something like that was. She looked around to the other Ravenclaws at the table. "Did anybody else see this?" She asked them. Her eyes scanned for the Ravenclaw prefects, but not spotting them - or perhaps not recognising them on sight due to her relatively short tenure in the school she simply sighed turning her attention to the assembled students.

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Kallisto smiled at the woman. Even though she respected every teacher in Hogwarts, she liked Professor Østergård more than the others. Perhaps it was because she was young and despite being as strict as her parents were, still kind and just. Kallie had always been close to both her parents. Ever since her mother was killed she missed one part of her sanctuary. Østergård might not be family but she reminded her of her lost mother and the way she judged of her father. She wouldn't tell her teacher that, it'd be embarrassing and uncalled for.

Her teacher was right. At the moment she acted on pure instinct, not by thinking. Which was not how she was raised. Perhaps she was not better by birth but she wanted to be a better human by morals. "You're right... Then next time may something like this happen again. What should I do? I can't just lay down and let him do whatever he wants to do." She trusted Professor Østergård would give legit advice. She too was a woman. Of course her father knew a lot but he was still a man and not a girl like her.

The Ravnenclaw blinked up at the Professor's question. "I wouldn't be surprised. He has been salty ever since I declined his hand at the Christmas ball. Sometimes I get the feeling he'll seek any excuse to get close to me. Honestly he gives me the creeps. I've seen him try to do similar things with other girls. Some men can't take no for an answer," she told her teacher her honest concerns. She hoped that Walkers would see that what he did wasn't right. "I mean he just touched my arm and might not have intentions to do more but how could I know what he'd do?" Her blue eyes went around the hall to see if someone else had seen it. "Dear Merlin, I hope not. I couldn't bare the embarrassment." She mumbled under her breath as the teacher started questioning the other Ravenclaws. They kept quiet, some shook their heads some nodded. 'Nothing had happened yet. They were arguing. Of course someone would have stepped in if he'd try to hit her or she him,' a brave first year spoke but then was elbowed by his friend.

Kallisto turned her eyes at the adults. "Mrs. Could I ask something of you? Will you please not write my father? He has enough on his mind already. Knowing him he'd possibly think that Walkers tried to..." harass me , she couldn't speak those words. "He'd want words from his parents and Merlin knows what," she sighed and shook her head. The idea of a former death eater threatening a muggleborn student didn't sound so good. And especially what she read in the newspaper today, they'd might lose their last allies. 

[astrid østergård]

Astrid nodded more or less dismissively to the students. "Thank you all." She said gently. It wasn't that she didn't care. All of these kids thought they were being helpful even if they weren't quite accomplishing it, the young professor appreciated that so many of the students were trying, even if there wasn't much of use in their efforts. The girl seemed worried. Her father obviously did have a lot happening he'd just lost his job and judging by how high a position it was, it was probably something the man had spent most of his life doing. Astrid sat down amid the students now and gestured for Kallisto to sit down beside her. She wanted to help the girl.

"I won't write to your father if you don't think I should, but I need to tell you just how serious an accusation you just made. Mister Walkers would probably be expelled if he had kissed you, forcefully, against your will. That sort of behaviour isn't accepted anywhere, but particularly not in a school." Astrid did her best to sound severe. "You shouldn't make those sorts of accusations unless you know they're true." She wasn't happy that the girl had flippantly said that, and that she 'wouldn't be surprised' was the best response she had when questioned. She wanted to know what was happening to this poor young lady. Had she been harassed by these boys for a long time? Was she trying to lash out because of what had happened to her father?

"I know things are probably hard, and probably very scary right now." She said, remembering when she dealt with her own tragedy and uncertainty, the death of her partner a couple of years ago. "If things are bad - whether you're being bullied, or just struggling with what's happening with your father, my office door is open." She said to the other gently. She hated seeing others suffer and if she could keep this girl out of trouble, she would be very happy to do so. She honestly wanted to do nothing more than help.

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Kallisto nodded and wanted to thank her teacher when she told him she wouldn't write her father. However before she could speak, Kalli closed her mouth again and thought. Her face turned into a frown as she remained quiet for a moment. "No... If I'm honest, Professor. I don't think he intended to kiss me today. It was my own mind going in overdrive assuming that he would. She checked my arms for scars... Today he seemed more focused on the werewolf matter than the fact that I had rejected him.... Do you think werewolves did something to him or his family or friends? There was anger but also fear in his eyes," she spoke in a quiet voice. Kallisto tried to think if she'd ever saw him being an ass to werewolf students. Then she realized she didn't know any werewolf students. "I don't think expelling him is needed. But he needs a good spanking as mother would say and found out why he acted like this. He isn't known for being aggressive. just a flirt who can't handle his loss."

One thing was sure, she wouldn't want him close to her either way. Her father hated werewolves like she presumed Walkers hated them. However her father wasn't trying to sniff out everyone he knew just to see if they were werewolves. And even if they knew what they were, he'd remain professional and not say anything about it. But father was an adult and Walkers was a boy. "Walkers is an ass, he has always been but not like this. That's what I can tell. He has tried to flirt with me plenty of times but he never tried to touch me just like that. I'm sorry, I spoke earlier while still in the shock. To me it seemed like he was going to... But the more I think of it the less it makes sense." It was complicated. She didn't like judging people just like that. And now it happened. She judged before thinking.

She smiled softly at the Professor and nodded. "Thank you Professor, I appreciate that," she said, resisting the urge to hug her. In moments like this she missed her mother's embrace. "A-are you busy right now? I could use some advice on what to write to my father," she asked carefully.

[astrid østergård]

Astrid watched the other, listening to her speaking. She understood that rash things were said in anger and she wasn't going to judge the girl for a mistake, as long as she learned from it. The blonde professor gave an empathic smile to the girl who had corrected herself and acknowledged her wrong-doing. At the same time though she had been a victim herself, and frankly that was more important, a gang had still attacked this girl and that issue wasn't just going away. Mister Walkers was not going to get away with merely losing points. But Kallie had made a good point. Perhaps there was some deeper reason for Walkers' behaviour. "I don't know." Astrid answered honestly. "At some point I will speak to Walkers, and find out why he wanted to attack you." She said gently.

This girl had obviously been through a lot. her father had been victimised and now she was being punished for it by her peers. Astrid felt responsible for her, as a teacher. "Listen." The Swan animagus told her gently "I have never been through this but I will help however I can, and if need be I will help you find someone who has." She said gently to the other. Her first thought was perhaps Professor Weasley, who was married to the former Undesirable Number One, and who had been villified by ignorant people as a blood traitor. Would Kallie see eye-to-eye with professor Weasley? Who could say?

When the girl asked for Astrid's help in writing to her father, Astrid nodded politely. "I'd be happy to help. Miss Avery." She said gently. And that's when she started to wonder. There had been a death eater named Avery. Was her father that same man? A relative? Astrid would do her best not to judge the girl based on her family history, but that was an uncomfortable thought.