Open Ghosts of a Slytherin

[Michael Newton]

Michael was glad to be back at Hogwarts with his friends and Kas. He had done decent on his OWLs, even though he really only cared about Care of Magical Creatures. But the one thing that had been constantly bothering him over the break was Sydney Townsend. Her pathetic attempt at another duel just so she could prove she was in fact the champion played over and over in his mind. He thought his antics had been in the spirit of the tournament, but seeing as she was a reigning champion, it made him doubt himself. He hadn't really talked it over with Kas or told anyone about the second incident. He'd continued his slug vomiting in silence until it stopped.

Pulling one of the letters the Slytherin had sent him last semester out of his robe pocket, he reread the threat for the 200th time. No, he thought, she's the ridiculous one. Michael placed the note down as he scooped some potatoes and peas on his plate, trying to decide if he wanted chicken or turkey for lunch today.

Out of Character:

This is open after Kris posts with @Solomon Tofilau for anyone who would like to add to the chaos and make fun of Sydney or even defend her.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully was still a little bummed that René hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor, though he was warming to the fact that it made it a lot easier to avoid his little brother when he wasn't in the mood to play 20 questions first thing in the morning. He'd spent most of the morning trying to shake off holiday brain though, and was starving by the time he made it to the hall for lunch.

"Hey, Newt," he said distractedly as he sat at the Gryffindor table, mindlessly piling a few things on his plate before noticing a letter laying on the table. "What's this," he asked, not waiting for Newt to respond before scooping the parchment up and skimming it. He nearly choked on a bite of potato, swallowing quickly so he could reread it. "'As we speak, I am pulling resources from all over the globe to best find the spell to wipe out that pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can hex you in over seven hundred different ways.' Holy crap, Newt, what is this??" Sully said, trying to swallow down the laughter as he reread the letter.

Spoiler: Letter

I’ll have you know I’m one of the best duelists this school have ever seen. I am undefeated 4 years running. You are nothing to me but another target and I will wipe you out with precision the likes of which has never been seen at this school, mark my words. You think you can get away with disrespecting me like that in a duel? Think again, you plebeian. As we speak, I am pulling resources from all over the globe to best find the spell to wipe out that pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can hex you in over seven hundred different ways. I have access to an arsenal of spells you’ve never even heard of and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable life off the face of the country. If only you could have known the unholy retribution of your little ‘clever’ act was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your tongue and not fought like a coward. But you couldn’t, and you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you idiot. I will rain fury all over you and you will drown in it. Meet me in the duelling chamber after dinner or your dead, you worm.

 

[Michael Newton]

Michael looked up with a mouth full of mush and grinned at Sully. "Hewhoh." The Gryffindor found all of his friends to be just as chaotic as himself, but he wasn't sure how they would actually react to him being threatened - especially by someone as unstable as Sydney. Quickly swallowing, he didn't move fast enough to grab the letter from his roommate, who then read part of it out loud. "Ah, nothing. Sydney Townsend was mad about winning the duel last year. And well, she kept writing me notes like this until she basically accosted me in the dueling chamber one day. I barely had time to prepare a monologue," he joked, trying to make light of the situation. Of course Sully would be more familiar with the Slytherin's past behaviors, but he hoped since his friend laughed, he thought the whole thing was rather ridiculous. "I mean, 'I will rain fury.' Eh, who speaks like that?" Michael shrugged, taking another bite of food.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully snorted, scrunching up his face when Newt talked with his mouth full before raising an eyebrow when he mentioned the note was from Sydney. "Oh, that makes total sense, she's a psycho," he said, skimming the letter again and laughing out loud. "She sent you more of these? Man, what even. And you actually agreed to duel her again?" Sully shook his head, clambering up to stand on the bench and clearing his throat. "You guys gotta hear this," he announced to the table at large before reading for the letter in a falsetto voice. "I’ll have you know I’m one of the best duelists this school have ever seen. I am undefeated! 4 years running! You are nothing to me but another target and I will wipe you out with precision the likes of which has never been seen at this school! Mark my words.'" Sully finished in a hiss, making sure to put as much ridiculous emphasis where he could, to elevate his dramatic reading before he had to pause to breathe so he wouldn't choke on his own laughter.

 

[Issac Jacobs]

Issac was minding his own business. Eating food that he cared so much for, when he then heard an older student stand and speak, reading a letter of some kind. Issac looked up as the older boy read the letter out loud, and Issac was confused as ever. "What a load of rubbish. Who wrote that? And for who?" Issac asked the older boy, not noticing that his cousin was nearby. The Gryffindor was a clueless mess, and he never paid attention to what was around him at all. However, from what he heard from that letter that the older boy was saying, the person had sounded very self-absorbed and maybe jealous? Issac couldn't tell.

 

[Michael Newton]

Michael was glad Sully realized something wasn't right with Sydney, but before he could respond, Sully has decided to tell the entirety of Gryffindor. Wincing, Michael looked around for a moment before hearing someone else reading the letters and realized just how ridiculous the whole situation was. One of his cousins piped in, and Michael leaned towards him. "It's Sydney! She's mad about winning!" he responded, basically shouting at this point. He stood up in an attempt to grab the letter from Sully. "And I didn't mean to duel her again. She stalked me until I had no choice but to defend myself. Not very in the 'dueling champion' spirit if you ask me," he presented to anyone who would listen at this point. If this was how the school allowed dueling champions to act, maybe they should reconsider the whole competition. Michael felt so overwhelmed with theatrics at this point that he went right past Sully and stood on the actual table top, getting some mashed potatoes on his shoes. "And furthermore, why is Hogwarts allowing its prefects to bully someone? I've got quite a few other notes," he called, pulling a couple other folded papers out of his robe pocket as he gentley tossed them into the air, distributing them to his classmates. "REBELLIOOOOON!" he bellowed, realizing that his antics were no longer just disturbing just the Gryffindors but everyone in the Great Hall. Giggling, he stepped down, trying to find a napkin to wipe his shoe.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric usually sat by himself at the Gryffindor table, though it was pretty impossible not to overhear at least one covnersation while he ate as Gryffindors tended to be pretty loud. He had been trying to tune out his roommates' conversation, until he'd realised they ewre making fun of Sydney. As Sully read from her letter, Eric couldn't help but snort. It felt nice to know he wasn't the only one who thought Sydney was ridiculous. Really, what had she been thinking? "Really, she stalked you to duel her?" He asked Michael, finally mixing himself in the conversation. He looked as Michael threw a bunch of papers into the air, grabbing one from the air and unfolding it. "Sydney is unhinged." He said, shaking his head. "I've always known she was mad." He snorted. "She shouldn't be running a club if this is how she acts." He said, glancing at Michael and Sully to see if they would agree.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully cackled as Michael tried to explain what had happened between him and Sydney. He knew Sydney Townsend was probably more than a little unhinged, but he couldn’t shake the hilarious mental image of her jumping out at Michael with her wand raised until he agreed to fight her. “Honestly, you’re probably lucky she didn’t just straight up murder you. I doubt we’d ever find the body,” he said, shaking his head before clearing his throat for another dramatic reading of the letter now that Michael had gathered even more of an audience with his yelling about rebellion.

"'You think you can get away with disrespecting me like that in a duel? Think again! You plebeian! As we speak, I am pulling resources from all over the globe to best find the spell to wipe out that pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re dead, kid! I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can hex you in over seven hundred different ways. I have access to an arsenal of spells you’ve never even heard of and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable life off the face of the country!'” Sully wheezed, unable to contain himself, especially when Eric joined in. It was no secret he had beef with Sydney and after seeing the letter it definitely put even Eric in a positive light. “Do you think she actually thinks this is intimidating? Were you terribly frightened, Newt,” he said, laughing again as he put on a mock falsetto voice and batted his eyelashes at Michael.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

 

[Michael Newton]

Michael wasn't sure if Sully made his next comment in jest or not. Had he been dumb to stay in the dungeons when Sydney pursued an attack? Either way, he had made it out alive and had even made a few new slimy friends. He was surprised to hear Eric chime in, as he didn't think he liked him very much since he was friends with Sully and was surprised to hear that there was some kind of rivalry between them. He hadn't spoken to that particular roommate much since arriving at the school which meant he was behind on the apparent lore. "Unhinged," Michael repeated and then looked back and forth between Eric and Sully. "That's the perfect word to describe her. The next headline of the Hogwarts Monthly," he began, leaping back on the table, shoe in the same bowl of mashed potatoes. "Prefect Unhinged? Are there dangerous students on the prowl, knocking off their competitors one by one until no one is left," he finished sinisterly as he bent down towards a rather nervous looking younger girl.

Enjoying Sully's next rendition of the letter, he felt sure that he wasn't actually intimidated by her. He just didn't appreciate being cornered or stalked throughout the castle. In one way, he felt bad for the girl if she was that desperate for attention and power. At the same time, if she was like this at 16, who knows how unhinged she'd be as an adult. He would definitely want to speak to her future supervisors. "Oh, dear," he started in his falsetto as his voice cracked, "I just can't bear the thought of every meeting those terrifying eyes again. The terror!" he shrieked, feeling his voice now ring throughout the hall as their reaction to the letters brought in my attention. Michael held out his hand and placed the other against his forehead to demonstrate 'fainting.'

 

[Sydney Townsend]

As Sydney got closer and closer to her own graduation, she could only think about what a relief it would be to finally be out of this school and away from her idiot classmates. She'd been trying to finish her food as quickly as possible, shoulders slowly rising around her ears as the huddle of troglodytes at the Gryffindor table were getting increasingly rowdy, finally whipped around to glare when they started yelling and climbing on the tables.

"Were you born in a barn-" she started to snap, brain screeching to a halt when she parsed what it was the group was hollering about. They were talking about her. They were reading her letter. Sydney's eyes narrowed, her heart pounding in her ears as she shot to her feet. How dare Michael Newton have the nerve to try to mock her after what he'd done. Sydney was so angry she felt sick, stomach roiling more as she spotted even Eric was getting in on their little joke. "You better watch your back, Newton," she announced, voice cold even though her hands were shaking. She wanted to curse him. To curse all of them, but even as furious as she was, Sydney knew jinxing a group of students in front of half the school was a bad.

 

[Michael Newton]

Michael heard a voice nearby and peaked his view from behind his hand, realizing that it was the very person they were making fun of. He hadn't even considered the fact that Sydney was probably around or would enter the Great Hall to eat. Clearing his throat, he glanced at Sully and Eric, hoping they would back him with whatever nonsense might come out of his mouth. She was a prefect so the Gryffindor couldn't imagine her actually doing anything. "Or what?" he asked, jumping down from the table. "You'll pull resources from all over the globe?" he asked, giggling as he quoted her letter. "You're not very good at being discreet, are you? These letters are evidence I could take to the Weasley or Styx. Or even the headmistress." Leaning back towards the Gryffindor table, he smirked at the Slytherin. "Your move, Townsend."

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric felt a slight thrill as Sully spoke to him as if he was part of their joke, part of the group. There was a part of him that was trying to remind him of how much he disliked Sully, but the draw of laughing at Sydney with someone else who saw how ridiculous she was was too big. Eric laughed as Michael loudly made fun of her, not bothering to stop laughing when Sydney actually arrived. "Yeah, he's very scared." He said with a roll of his eyes. "Good job with the letter, idiot. Now everyone will know how unhinged you are. I've been saying it since we were eleven." He said, proud of that description now. As Michael talked about going to a teacher with the letter, Eric let out another laugh. "A prefect threatening people, the scandal." He mocked.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully was having a grand time, laughing as Newt started spouting headlines for the monthly too. He had to bring a fist to his mouth just to quiet down when Sydney actually showed up, eyes bugging out as she accosted Newt. “Oooooh, scary,” he hooted, laughing harder as Newt threw her letter back in her face. Sydney seemed to turning a colour Sully had only ever seen on beetroot and it was hysterical. Even Eric was getting in on it, which was fun. How anyone took themselves that seriously was beyond him, but Sully was content to stay back and watch Newt slam dunk her effortlessly, simply holding out a hand for a high five when Newt was done talking.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney hadn't felt anger like this since possibly her second year. She pointed her wand threateningly at Newton, the temptation to jinx him nearly overpowering. But he was right, she could easily destroy him in front of the whole school, but the resulting fallout wouldn't be worth it. "The letter means nothing. You can't prove anything," she sneered, refusing to even give Eric the satisfaction of acknowledging him, eyes trained on Michael. "Just wait," she said, shoving her wand in her pocket and turning on the spot to stalk out of the hall. Sydney was nothing if not good at planning revenge, she had plenty of practice already with Holland. She could barely think right now with the blood pounding in her ears, but later. Later she'd come with something that would make Michael Newton regret ever coming to this school.