Silencing the Siren Song [Open]

[Mera Zaheer]

Early December, 2005

After Halloween, Mera began to notice a change in Adeline. They had been painting together as a means of Adeline trying to help her express herself and Mera was finding it easier to do so, but around Halloween... Adeline had stopped. She suddenly found herself rather tired at the end of the day, and in the quiet of the evening, Mera could swear she heard some kind of melody, but she could never place where it was coming from. It always seemed on the edge of her consciousness, as if it were in her mind and not in reality.

Adeline as a whole seemed to be diminishing, and Mera had even heard some of the customers making comments about how tired she seemed to be now, how much less life she seemed to have. Mera decided to watch her closely one evening and when Adeline retired to her room, using a disillusionment charm, she followed her in. She found Adeline sitting on the side of the bed, holding a wooden box in her hands, staring at it with a rather vacant expression. Realizing what was happening, Mera knew she had to do something.

She reached out to her brother knowing in his time since leaving the Vale, he'd have made enough connections to be of help. Together, they drew up a wanted ad, placing it both on campus and in the village, and Erynhil reached out to his connections through the wizarding community. In the ad, they'd put that they needed a seer, a curse breaker, someone proficient in the Defense against the Dark Arts, and someone who had a decent knowledge of magical artifacts. They'd made a request that anyone who could fit those requirements meet them on this day at the Three Broomsticks. So here they were.

Mera's leg bounced restlessly, but Erynhil had managed to convince her to stay seated, "We'll get this figured out, Mer," he told her, leaning on the table, "To angoisse ou pou pa rezoud nanye. Ou pou konmans un sismik anba zot kote, ou bat zot lekran kom sa." [1]

Mera scowled at him, "Mi kontan ou kapab fer blag kon sa. Padon mwan parske mi ti vréman angoisse." [2]

He smirked back at her before sipping at the drink he'd gotten for himself, "Mi pa janma waz ou konsène kouma sa pou enn lot moun ki pa an fami." [3]

Her scowl became more pronounced and she kicked him under the table, which made him sputter and spill his drink a bit, "Mi pa sans kè, boug malon." [4]

[1]- "Your anxiety won't solve anything. You'll start an earthquake bouncing your leg like that."
[2]- "I'm so glad you can joke like that. Forgive me because I was really worried."
[3]- "I've never seen you so concerned about someone who isn't family."
[4]- "I'm not heartless, asshole."

[Diether Metz]

A small flash of light preceded the arrival of Diether Metz in the village of Hogsmeade, who materialised in the middle of the main street, disoriented and clutching an empty coffee cup. “… portschlüssel…” he muttered under his breath at the offending portkey in his hand. Right now he would have loved to chuck it aside, if not for the fact that it belonged to a friend. Technically it was also his ticket back to London, but he’d rather Apparate than take the goddamned portkey again.

Instead, he settled for banishing the offending item unceremoniously into his backpack – inside one of the zipped compartments specifically – before taking a good look at his surroundings. The village was exactly as Malachi had described, and he easily identified his destination: an inn with three broomsticks arranged in a triangle above its main entrance.

Wasting no time, he strode briskly into the inn. The interior was cozy yet spacious, with stairs leading up to a loft, and a good deal warmer than the chilly December air outside. It looked like a good place to grab a drink and a bite, but he wasn’t here for any of that. Rather, he was looking for his prospective clients, whom he easily found after a brief search. A teenaged girl scowled as she kicked the young man opposite her under the table, causing him to sputter and spill a bit of his drink. Judging from the girl’s restlessness, those were presumably the two who were in need of his expertise.

“Are you Mr Erynhil Zaheer and Miss Mera Zaheer?” Diether inquired as he approached the duo. “I am Diether Metz, a Curse-Breaker. Do you know Malachi Lee? He is an acquaintance, and the person who directed me to you.”