#I mentioned the cursed artefact incident

[theexhaustedqueer]

I knew this would happen

[emeritusemeritus]

Hello!! If it isn't too much to ask, could you make a Fred fic with reader on her period? Mine are absolutely excruciating, especially in the first two days, to the point of crying on the floor and stuff :(( it's totally okay if you don't want to, I just like to imagine Fred trying his hardest to pamper his s/o (and probably freak out a bit because honestly, periods are a nightmare men will never understand). Have a nice day ♡

Anon, it would be my pleasure! I’m so sorry you’re suffering, I had an endo flare up last week that nearly sent me to A&E so you have my full sympathy. You know that feeling when you could destroy the world and everyone in it but then your period starts and you realise that it’s been that all along? 🖤

Warnings: mentions of periods, menstural cycle, PMS, blood, pain. Best friend George, Fred is a sweetheart.

Words: 3.4k

The princess and the period.

You'd had a really terrible day, a horrible, never-ending bore of a day, at least in your mind. It started from the very second you woke up, alone in bed without Fred beside you. You'd slept through your first alarm and had nearly been late for an interview you'd had scheduled for months within the Department of Mysteries. You'd taken the visitors entrance to the Ministry to acquire your required visitors badge and had been held up by some Muggle incident that had rendered London at a near standstill.

The interview, thankfully, had gone well but you couldn't help but fixate on the discomfort you felt in yourself the entire time. Your clothes felt uncomfortable and restrictive and you felt bloated to the point that it was showing through your clothes.

You'd had plans to meet with Arthur after your interview for a cuppa and a catch-up at the small cafeteria whilst he took his break, something you'd been looking forward to all week. You made your way back down to Level two where the department of magical law enforcement was and walked through the mini atrium until you located the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office, only to be informed by Perkins that Arthur was running a tad late, caught up with something that required his immediate attention. Though this was far from unfamiliar, your temper had flared and you had barely managed to contain it, choosing instead to silently seethe as you waited in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs near the main desk. You weren't mad at Arthur by any means, you don't think you'd even been mad at him, but having to stay in uncomfortable clothing and wait when you were already having a bad day was just irritating you further and further as time dragged on, not helped by the incessant ticking from the muggle cuckoo clock on the wall that was driving you mad.

Arthur finally emerged twenty minutes later, apologising profusely as he grabbed his coat and ushered you back into the lift, a bright smile on his face as he began asking you about how your interview went and how his son was. You'd spent a nice half an hour together having a cup of tea and a freshly made slice of cake, something he was keeping a secret from Molly, but as you parted and made your way out of the Ministry to travel home, your mood had almost immediately soured again.

The street was still busier than usual, the noise of people shouting and car horns honking were essentially non stop and you couldn't wait to get home and relax away from the chaos. You had to stop by the shop on the way home for some ingredients for dinner that night and found upon entering the shop that they were completely out of what you needed. You huffed out a breath, feeling yourself getting worked up again and tried desperately to think of alternative ideas to work with what you already had at home but your mind was foggy and unable to concentrate, coming up with nothing. You felt like crying, stood in the middle of a crowed aisle in the muggle supermarket, feeling utterly pathetic. You cursed under your breath and moved away from the aisle towards the exit when you passed the small bakery counter, the sight alone of the small chocolate fudge cake on display enough to make you pause. Without hesitation you bought the cake and walked straight to the checkout, feeling defeat at not getting what was needed for dinner but at the same time, feeling a little victory at acquiring the chocolate cake you were so looking forward to.

You were exhausted by the time you opened the door to the apartment, cursing Fred in your mind for placing the anti-apparition jinx upon the store and the flat above and for not fixing the floo function on the fireplace which had forced you to manually travel into central London and back and then walk up four flights of stairs in your business heels. You were in a foul mood, tired and ready to snap from the day filled with complications and irritations.

You walked into the kitchen to place the cake on the side after kicking off your heels and saw a load of dirty pots piled up in the sink and a mess made on nearly every surface of the countertop, clearly from one of the twins on their lunch break.

You let out an aggrieved groan and slammed down the bag containing the cake on the small kitchen table, huffing and cursing under your breath as you chucked down your wand and walked immediately into the bedroom in a huff.

You rolled your eyes seeing the wardrobe doors open and the bed covers strewn everywhere from your rush this morning and groaned again, now in disdain for your own actions. You walked off once again, now annoyed at yourself and stepped into the thankfully rather tidy bathroom. You started the shower, wanting to wash the entire day away and get out of your uncomfortable clothes immediately which you happily threw onto the bathroom floor without a single care.

The shower helped, feeling a little cleansed by the water and familiar scents of your shower gel, though it didn't remove your bad mood entirely; thoughts of the messy kitchen and lack of dinner ingredients were still playing on your mind only winding you up more. You stepped out of the shower, wrapped in a big fluffy towel and walked into the bedroom to put your comfy clothes on, a big T-shirt that used to belong to Fred and your black joggers, aiming for ultimate comfort. You hadn't heard from George or Fred today except for the nice note they'd left on the fridge door wishing you luck for your interview, though it wasn't unusual, the shop was always busy.

You walked to the kitchen, completely ignoring the mess and pits that were not yours to clean and made yourself a cup of tea, almost crying as you looked at the slither of milk left in the fridge. It was enough for one cup of tea but nothing more and you cursed yourself again for not thinking of grabbing milk whilst you were at the shop.

You sat down in the living room with your cup of tea, wet hair thrown up in a lazy bun and had just pulled open the book you were currently reading when Fred burst through the apartment door.

"Ooh there's my princess, how did your interview go?" He says loudly, bombarding you instantly with a kiss to the head and throwing himself down onto the sofa beside you. You closed your eyes in annoyance, just wanting to relax and on the cusp of being able to before he interrupted.

"It was fine," you replied with a shrug, really not feeling up to explaining your day just now. "They said I'd receive an owl by the end of the week."

"Know you'll get it princess, always have been the smart one," he says, apparently thinking nothing of your rather clipped reply.

"Anyway, we're taking you to dinner tonight to celebrate," he says in a sing-song manner, stretching out on the sofa to put his feet up on the coffee table.

"But I haven't gotten the job," you countered, placing down your book, casting one last sad glance at the cover.

"Yet," he replies, stretching out and pulling open his tie just a fraction, eyes closed with a smirk tugging at his lips.

Any other day you'd have jumped at the chance to go out for a meal with your loved ones but upon looking at your comfy yet completely inappropriate outfit to go out in, your face fell. You'd have to put actual clothes back on, do your hair again and reapply your makeup that you'd just scrubbed off in the shower. You couldn't be bothered, at all. You wanted to sit and read with your cup of tea, switch off your brain and eat your weight in chocolate cake. But then you remembered that you had no solid idea or complete ingredient list for any viable meal and maybe going out would be the only way of eating that night.

You felt another wave of annoyance come over you as you considered having to get all done up again. Couldn't they have warned you? Left a note or something so that you didn't shower the minute you got in? You knew you were diverting into unreasonable territory as they were just trying to do something nice but you couldn't help it, you'd rather vomit slugs than have to get ready all over again and out of your comfort clothes.

"Anyway, best get back or George'll curse my eyebrows off, 7pm gorgeous, wear something sexy," he says, straightening his toe as he wiggles his eyebrows at you before leaning down to press a kiss to your lips, "proud of you sweetheart." And then he's gone and you're left reeling.

Wear something sexy? Who the bloody hell was he to request that? Your boyfriend of years, but still.

You looked down at your outfit again and felt a ridiculous but prominent sense of loss, wanting to stay bundled up forever. You check the clock on the wall and feel aggravated once again as you see that it's nearly 5:50pm and you'd have to start getting ready. You begrudgingly dragged yourself into the bedroom and sat at your little table, staring into the mirror and felt no motivation or desire to get ready, looking at the drawers in front of you but not actually wanting to open them.

That's how George found you a little before 7 as he slipped away from the shop, seeing you sitting at your makeup table in tears. He rushed in as soon as he saw your tears and crouched down to try and comfort you, eagerly listening though it must have been hard for him as the crying was affecting your voice and all that came out were a few unintelligible whines.

"I just don't want to," you say with a hiccup, wiping away your fear from your cheek. You didn't think it would actually get this bad but your curls hadn't gone right, the hairbrush you found was not your favourite and sometimes pulled your hair a little as it brushed through and nothing at all would make you look sexy tonight with your bloating. You didn't want to wear uncomfortable heels again, nor walk anywhere in them and by the time you'd gotten to take a sip of your tea, it was cold.

"Shh, it's alright," George says soothingly trying to calm you. He placed his hand on your shoulder but quickly removed it as he saw your little glance at it. It wasn't that you didn't want to be touched per se, but his touch very heavy on your already uncomfortable body. "We don't have to go, it was only an idea."

You sniffled miserably and looked at your best friend, wiping away the tears. "But we don't have anything for tea, they didn't have any-."

"Then we'll order in, get something delivered or we'll nip out and bring something back," he says, not quite interrupting you but just enough to make you stop spiralling. You nodded meekly, feeling utterly pathetic again. "Right, I'll go tell Fred we're staying in, then we'll close up and order something okay? Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?"

You'd seen his eyes flicker to your still full mug and frown as he entered, figuring it was something that had set you off. You shook your head, already feeling like he'd done too much for you.

"Okay, we'll be back as soon as we can," he squeezes your shoulder and walks out.

You looked at yourself in the mirror, makeup sparingly applied but messed up thanks to your tears and your hair curled but not how you wanted it and sighed, feeling overwhelmed with guilt at shooting down your boyfriend and his brother. They'd only tried to do something nice and you'd completely spoiled it, too selfish and caught up in your own feelings that you'd been unreasonable and unkind. You considered wiping the makeup off your face but thought better of it but you reach for a big scrunchie and tie your hair back into a high ponytail, making you feel a little better.

You threw back on your comfy clothes and trudged into the kitchen, retrieving your wand to cast a few spells that had the kitchen cleared in no time. You poured away your cold tea and put the kettle back on, still seeking the comfort as you had before.

The twins closed up the shop in record time and Fred pulled you into the bedroom with him as he undressed, slipping out of his suit and into his own loungewear.

"Princess you should have said," he says gently, reaching for you, his hand cradling your face as he looks into your eyes, "I didn't mean to pressure you."

"No it's not you, I've just been off all day, everything's irritating me and I just want to switch off," you explained, hearing the remorse in your voice.

"Then relax you shall," he says with a smirk, "kiss first though?" His cheeky smile extends to his eyes and you catch his gaze flicker at your lips. You eagerly reach up on your tiptoes to place a sweet kiss onto his lips and you pull away smiling, feeling like it's the first time you'd properly smiled all day.

George ordered food for you all before hopping in the shower and arrived back in the living room wearing his comfiest pyjamas, pulling you into him for a hug as Fred fired up your favourite muggle movie on the TV, also joining you on the large sofa.

It was pitch black when you woke up, your eyes struggling to focus as you came around, confused as to what had woken you up. You could hear Fred breathing deeply and evenly, sound asleep. You looked at the little alarm clock beside the bed, lifting your head up from the place between the pillow and Fred's shoulder where your head rested and saw that it was 2:34am. As your consciousness begins to clear, you frown, feeling a soreness in your abdomen that you couldn't place, feeling as if you needed the toilet but without the urge to go.

You extracted yourself from your boyfriend's side, which never proved to be an easy feat, and walked to the bathroom, dragging your tired body along. You turned on the light and quickly shut the door to stop the light from disturbing your sleeping boyfriend and sat down on the toilet, turning the tap on out of habit. You pulled down your sleep shorts and underwear and immediately understood why you had an ache in your stomach, and why you'd been out of sorts all day.

Your period.

Every month without fail, the moment you discover your period had started, the pain heightens at least ten notches. You winced as you wiped, kicking off your underwear and shorts that were soiled and dragged yourself into the shower. For the second time, you sighed as you entered the shower, your body screaming at you out of exhaustion as you rinsed yourself off. You grabbed a towel and raced into the bedroom to grab a pair of panties from the dresser and ran back into the bathroom to sort your pad out. You then slipped on some new pyjamas and dragged yourself back to the bed, illuminating your wand to check that nothing had gotten onto the sheets, or worse on your boyfriend sleeping beside you. Luckily, it hadn't.

You suddenly didn't feel tired anymore, body wired from your lukewarm shower. You walked to the kitchen, padding through the flat on barefoot and flicked the kettle on, searching through the cupboard above for a jar of hot chocolate you kept in.

You grabbed your hot drink and flicked on a lamp before you pulled a black cushion from the side of the sofa to sit on, not wanting anymore accidents to happen. You didn't turn on the TV right away but instead chose to sit in the partially illuminated room and try and wind down. You couldn't get comfy at all, wiggling your hips to try and ease the ache between them, feeling like your lower abdomen was being constricted from the inside, shooting pains going down your leg and an uncomfortable pressure in your bum. You could sob with the pain, wanting to curl up in a ball and cry but you couldn't, I'm too much pain to even try and move, your entire energy being consumed by simply existing right now.

Your periods had always been bad, starting just before your third year at Hogwarts and though through time they had evened out a little, they were still unpredictable at best and monstrous at worst. You shifted your hips again, trying to relieve the tension you felt and groaned quietly, wishing that you'd filled up your hot water bottle before sitting down.

Medicine in the wizarding world was spectacularly different from the muggle word though a little less advanced as the wizarding community came with added complications such as diseases and ailments that muggles would never know existed. Witches and Wizards often didn't react well to normal muggle remedies nor pharmaceuticals, something you'd learned at Hogwarts from Madame Pomfrey, something about the magical ability burning through modern pharmaceuticals at a rapid rate, rendering them ineffective.

You placed your mug on your stomach to try and gain some heat from it and rested your head back on the sofa, breathing deeply and trying to calm yourself so that you could go back to bed. Feeling yourself getting sleepy, you placed down your mug and pulled a soft blanket over you, trying to get comfy as you settled into the soft material of the plush sofa.

"Princess?" You heard a quiet voice call out, your eyes on the verge of closing. You opened them just a little, sensing Fred's presence behind you and you twisted in position to look at him, wincing as a bolt of pain shot through your groan at the motion.

"What are you doing out here? George snoring too loud again?" You smiled appreciatively for the joke and reached out for him with grabby hands, needing some comfort. He wordlessly slipped in beside you on the sofa and immediately wrapped you around him, blankets and all as he kept you bundled up. You reached for his large hand, feeling the absurd heat he always radiated under your fingers and placed his hand onto your tummy. The heat from his hand spread over your skin instantly and you could feel it penetrating deeper and deeper, soothing your pain.

"That time?" He asks delicately and you nod into his chest, your eyes still heavy as you breathed in the familiar, comforting smell of Fred. "Want your water bottle?" You paused, considering it but slowly shook you head.

"Not right now, got you," you mumbled into his chest, his warmth and presence soothing you further into sleep. You felt him chuckle, chest rumbling with the vibration and he reach down to press a kiss to the top of your head.

"Out of ten?" He asks, keeping his hand placed delicately on your belly.

"Eight at least," you groan, your eyes closing as your toes twitch out of the intensity of the pain.

"Oookay, what can I do?" He asks, clearly a little freaked out by the high level of pain you admitted, knowing that it really must have been bad as you always had a high pain threshold.

"Just sit with me," you say, feeling depleted.

"Wanna go to bed or are you happy here?" He says after a few minutes. The heat from his hand has begun to feel redundant, your skin now the same temperature as his.

"Water bottle first?" You asked innocently, hopeful that he'd accommodate you. He presses another kiss to your head and tells you he'll bring it in before shoo'ing you into the bedroom where you sink down into the soft sheets, finally feeling comforted enough to close your eyes.

[somanyfuckedupiftruebooks]

Mag 26

Return of the queen! Can't wait to hear all about your fucked up little adventure Sasha.

Also notable that both she and Martin expressed a desire to record a statement immediately after a traumatic incident. That's definitely the Eye's influence.

Sasha in Jon's office like:

Also new fanfic idea: Martin's holiday in the office.

Okay, I'm shifting into Defend Martin Mode, I'll have to stop and take some deep breaths. The fucking gall of Sasha to criticise Martin's self-preservation instincts after the shit she's been up to!! AHHHH. He outlived you!!!

The way she discounts Jane Prentiss as a threat just because Martin survived makes me want to scream. He's only alive because Jane kept him alive on purpose to mess with him!! As if Sasha could have done any better!! AHHHHHH!

Deep breaths didn't help me. Must move on.

I pulled this quote for one word: colonisation. It's so grim. Death by colonisation. I hate it.

This is a very rational response to the situation from Sasha. She doesn't know she's living in a horror story! Of course it would make sense that the woman who's suffering from some kind of parasite would be getting weaker and sicker the more time passes. Unfortunately, Sasha is living in a horror story, so monsters only get stronger and more dangerous the longer they survive.

But I'm not sure that downplaying Jane as a threat follows Sasha's logic. The threat of Prentiss isn't physical assault, it's colonisation. That's like saying a plague victim is less infectious the closer they get to their deathbed.

And finally, another instance of the narrative outright telling us that Jon is an unreliable narrator. He's been seeing worms outside and didn't tell us! That makes sense for the framing device, obviously. These tapes are still 'research materials' and not his personal journals, so there's no reason for Jon to mention the worms outside while recording a statement. But it's good to be reminded that there is a lot going on in the archives that we aren't hearing about.

My headcanon for why Michael approached Sasha rather than Tim used to be that she had some sort of either natural inclination towards or family history of mentall illness (something that would leave her vulnerable to the Spiral). But this detail has made me reconsider. Now I think Michael approached her because she had these cool distortion windows that allowed him to make a dramatic entrance.

This is such an endearing little insight into Sasha's life (she does quirky things to add fun into her daily routine!), but I'm also going to call it out as Eye behaviour.

Urgh, his hands are the same size as his torso?? I thought he just had long spirally fingers! This is yuck. I get why the fandom started calling him Michael Fuckhands.

She's not exactly the bravest person in the world 🥺🥺🥺 She generally avoids horror 🥺🥺🥺

Eternally interested in scepticism among paranormal researchers. Sasha says that working at the Institute made her more skeptical, despite the fact that we know she transferred out of Artefact Storage because she couldn't stand being around the cursed items all the time. I think the fact that our only insight into the Institute is through the lens of genuine paranormal manifestations really distorts our view. The vast majority of what they deal with aren't actual accounts, and most of their work is disproving the fake stuff. The actual statments are outliers, so maybe it does make sense to become more sceptical the longer you spend working on all the other statements.

Still, the moment Sasha is confronted with a genuine manifestation, she understands and accepts what she's seeing. It's wild that she's not afraid, but at least she's not in denial.

[me-in-hogwarts-mystery]

Trust, Pt.1 - Ben Copper x MC

Ship: Ben Copper x MC

Summary: A walk through Ben and Y/N’s story, from the moment they met until things get difficult.

Requested: Yes - “Hi!! I really love your fics and I was wondering if you could maybe do a fem! reader x Ben Copper?”

Warnings: Mentions of attempts at murder (?)

A/N: Surprise! I’m not dead (but almost). I’ve decided to make this a two-parter because if I don’t post this now, I’m never going to get it done. It’s a bit weird, a bit rushed probably, but I hope you’ll like it. :)

I raised my eyes at the piercing sound of a half-suffocated scream across from me in the Charms classroom. At first, I couldn't see anything - there wasn't but thick smoke covering the students sitting in the other side of the classroom; then professor Flitwick waved his wand and where the smoke had been two figures, one with burned hair and one with golden locks clad in thick blackness. The blond boy had a terrified look on his face. “Mister Kim, I beg you to be more careful. I shan't let this pass more than once” professor Flitwick said sternly, his forehead creased with slight worry as he looked over the blond-haired boy, while the other one bit his lip. “Miss L/N, you seem to have understood my lecture well. Would you mind helping mister Copper recover his senses?” the professor turned to me with pleading eyes. “Of course, sir” I muttered, getting up from my seat slowly just as the boy moved to the aisle. We walked side by side, and as soon as we were out of the classroom, the boy collapsed against the wall. “No!” I let out involuntarily, and he raised his narrowed eyes at me. “You're shaking terribly,” I stated, then I remembered we didn't really know each other yet. “My name is Y/N, by the way. Who are you?” “Ben Copper,” his voice was strangely squeaky, “I'm sorry. I'm just really afraid of unpredictable events”. “No worries”, I was unsure about how to approach him, as he seemed fragile at that moment. And yet, maybe distracting him could be a good method. “So, Ben, what's… um… your favourite food?” He looked at me strangely, but he was visibly glad for my change of topic. “I wouldn't really know…” And it is with a question about food, that my friendship with Ben Copper started.

~○~○~○~○~○~

“Ben! Where’s Ben?” I asked out loud, storming where all my friends, short of one, were studying next to the Black Lake. “Who cares?” Rowan looked at me with an inch of disgust on her face, then swallowed it down, hiding her face in the textbook in front of her. “I think I saw him near the Artefact Room, that's where he always hides. Try looking for him there” Penny suggested, her eyes moving between me and Rowan. Without saying anything else, I ran off. I hadn't seen him since he’d been to the Hospital Wing after the cursed ice incident. “Please be here… please…” I muttered to myself as I opened the door to the room, slowly stepping in, breathing the stuffy air that smelled of dust and old parchment. No sign of Ben whatsoever, no sign of anyone but a moist cloth that lay abandoned on the dirty floor. I felt a strange ache in my chest. I remembered his pained look when he was stuck in the ice. His freezing, starving, tired form. At that moment I would have done anything to be in his place, as I knew it was my fault and mine alone. If I had just stayed home, this wouldn't have happened. Then again, I hadn't done anything at all. It was all because of my brother. My idiot of a brother, who should have kept his mad brains under control. He should have stopped before it took such a hold of him. It had been like a drug. After the first taste, he always wanted more - and now he was probably going to die for it if he wasn't dead already. I hit the cabinet behind me with a strong fist, and I felt the wood crack, but I couldn't care less. I was blind and deaf to everything but my anger, and I didn't hear the door swing open swiftly and close with a slam. It was only when I felt a pair of eyes on me that I woke up. “Y/N? Please tell me you're okay”. “How can I be?!” I shouted, and I shoved poor Ben aside before storming off.

~○~○~○~○~○~

The days passed and I decided to pour myself in my search for the Vaults. I had to put a stopper to all that as soon as possible, and there was no other way to do it. I was in the library for the ninth day in a row, and in the last two, I had even fallen asleep there and been sent away harshly by Madam Pince, as I ended up skipping dinner and staying there until night. Not that that day had been any different. The lightest of sounds woke me from my near-sleep; I massaged my neck, sore from being in that strange position on the table, and from all the time I had spent studying, then turned my head towards the entrance, and Ben appeared in front of me. “I haven’t seen you in forever, Y/N. I’m sure something is wrong now; are you willing to talk to me?” I raised an eyebrow, still in a daze, trying to process his words. When I did, I shook my head vigorously. “Nothing is wrong. Well, nothing more than usual”. “Do you not trust me?” he asked, his voice firmer than I’d ever heard it. “Of course I do… Why do you ask?” “Then don’t lie to me, please. it almost feels like you’re avoiding me sometimes”. “I’m not”. “Is it because of Rowan? She visibly doesn’t like me very much”. “It’s not”. He sighed, then sat next to me. “I’m your friend, Y/N, remember that. I hope you see me as such. I hope you trust me, because you can always rely on me, for everything and anything, even though I’m a bit of a scaredy cat sometimes… Okay, a lot”. He let out a chuckle that I offered back, then he put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently, before standing. “I suggest you go get something to eat now”.

~○~○~○~○~○~

The months passed. Many, many terrible months. Things were getting more and more difficult, and I didn’t really know what to do. It was when I found myself faced with R that I realised the time had come, the time to choose who to trust, who to rely on, and who to beware from. And at last, I duelled them. Their face, it made me go pale. One of my best friends. The one I thought I could trust. The one who told me I could trust him. “Please, believe me, Y/N. You can trust me. I told you, I told you so many times… I would never… I don’t know… Y/N… please…” Rakepick looked at me expectantly - the choice was on me. “Please take him to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey can surely help him”. “Thank you, Y/N… you’re my friend, I would not… never…” “I’ll see you soon” I replied coldly, with the strongest resolve in my head: to clear this out.

~○~○~○~○~○~

We were alone in the cold Hospital Wing. I had walked in very late, begging Madam Pomfrey to leave, and for how reluctantly, she had acquiesced. I sat next to Ben, my eyes on my feet, his on the wall. “I thought… I thought I could trust you, Ben”. “You can. I was used, Y/N… I…” “Would you like a glass of water?” “Pardon?” his eyes shot up to me, an eyebrow slightly raised as I offered him the glass. I wanted to know the truth, I had to know the truth… “What? Are you afraid I’ll poison you or something?” I spat, biting hard on my lip. “You would never”. He grabbed the glass; if there had been a bit more light, he would have noticed that the water wasn’t entirely clear, its colour altered by the Veritaserum. I had managed to get a vial from Penny, who had stolen it from Professor Snape. Good times. “So you do assure me I can trust you, even after this? How can I be so sure? They want to kill me, Ben, they want to kill my friends. I cannot trust just anyone”. “So I am ‘just anyone’ to you? I thought I was one of your best friends!” “You just tried to kill me”. “It wasn’t me!” The resolution, the determination in that sentence at the same time assured me he wasn’t lying to me, and sounded so awfully not like Ben. Not like the Ben I had always known, at least. Had this experience changed him, in only a few hours? “Y/N, I could never hurt you. Instead, I want to help and protect you, as well as I can. I want to stop being a coward. I want to…” Then, mid-sentence, he stopped, and raised an eyebrow. “My name is Jas- Ben Copper”. He turned his head towards me, and I looked down. “You gave me Veritaserum”. “I’m sorry…” I stood, ready to storm off, but Ben took my hand, dragging me back to where I was. “You had all the right, actually. I understand”. I met his gaze, and he sat up and pulled me close into a hug. “Well then, I really don’t want to be afraid anymore”.

[maepolzine]

So one of my favorite mobile games that has ever come out is Hogwarts Mystery which takes place in the Harry Potter universe shortly after the defeat of You-Know-Who and the death of the Potters. One of the things that comes up a bunch when talking to friends is they ask about your previous years. And sometimes remembering all of those details can be a bit much, so I’m going to be doing an overview of each year and what occurred during them. But I’m going to try not giving too much away.

Classes and things you’ll learn during your fourth year:

Potions: Calming Draught, Shrinking Solution, Weedosoros, Pepperup Potion, Beautification Potion, Ageing Potion, and Skele-gro.

Charms: Protego, Bombarda, Confringo, Ferula, Vermilious, Cistem Aperio, Scourgify, Diffindo, Arania Exumai, and Colloportus.

Flying: Formation Flying, Sloth Grip Roll, Broom Surfing, and Extreme Dive and Pull Up.

Transfigurations: Evanesco, Vera Verto, Beetle into Button, Colovaria, Sepensortia, and Orchideous.

Herbology: Wiggentree, Flitterbloom, Shrivelfig, and Wormwood.

Care of Magical Creatures: Fire Crab, Bowtruckle, Niffler, Murtlap, Streeler, and Kneazle.

Year 4 had to be the longest to release year in the mobile game Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery compared to any of the previous years. Often having weeks in between chapter releases. Even though this year took forever to fully release, I found this to be the most interesting year since you had the world famous curse-breaker Madam Patricia Rakepick arrive at the castle along with her niffler. Right away from her arrival your best friend, Ben is off. She also warns the students not to go looking for the Cursed Vaults and to stay out of her way. Students have also started to sleepwalk into the Forbidden Forest, the sign the third Cursed Vault had been tempered with along with it’s general location. Unlike the previous year where you took a while trying to figure out where it was. Madam Rakepick ends up telling the player to stop looking for the Cursed Vaults but teachs them the Shield Charm.

Rowan thinks Ben isn’t really their friend and is trying to hide something. Which you can agree with or not, considering Ben does deny this along with any connection to “R”. You then go around the castle to each of the professors after class to ask for their opinion on Rakepick. Snape states she was disliked by the staff, Flitwick trusts Dumbledore’s opinion on her, Hooch has strong opinions about her but won’t comment them, and Hagrid described her as talented, ambitious, brave, devious, reckless, heroic and dangerous. He also said you shouldn’t work against her. Rakepick does inform the player that she knows you were asking about her and wants to meet in the Artefact Room. Rakepick ends up encouraging the player to keep looking for the Cursed Vaults even if it means breaking school rules and disobeying Dumbledore… which you knew your player was going to do anyway at this point. Madam Rakepick tells the player that she thinks that a Cursed Vault might be in Hogsmeade, and not even in the Forbidden Forest. She asks the player if they would like to be her assistant. Then Rakepick tells the player to ask Professor Kettleburn how to get in the Forbidden Forest safely.

Madam Rakepick asks the player to meet her at the Training Grounds. The player joins Ben, Rowan, Bill Weasley, Merula Snyde and Ismelda Murk in a little competition to become Rakepick’s assistant.

After asking Kettleburn how to enter the Forbidden Forest, you are met in the Courtyard by a cloaked figure warning the player of death if they keep looking into the Cursed Vaults. Later Kettleburn tells the player that he has advised many students on entering the forest, including Madam Rakepick. Now that the professors are monitoring the forest it is harder to sneak in but Kettleburn still thinks flying will be the easiest way in. However, your player doesn’t have a broom since apparently your parents don’t want you flying after Jacob’s disappearance. So you have to get a broom another way and Madam Hooch will not lead one out to the player as it’s against school rules after a Black Lake incident. So you end up breaking into Filch’s office in search for a broom but only find destroyed ones and another black quill. The untrasfigured quill ends up being a threathening letter from R to Madam Rakepick. Rowan, shocked that her theory about R being Rakepick is wrong, asks the player who they think R is, and they have the option of choosing either Rita Skeeter, Madam Rosmerta or Filius Flitwick. Back to the brooms, the player comes to the conclusion that they have to borrow a broom from either Andre Egwu, Ismela Murk or Merula Snyde.

Once you have a broom, you’ll head into the forest with Bill, Rowan or Baranby Lee to meet up with Charlie. But with no idea where to search they head back to search Jacob’s room for clues. Next heading back into the forest with either Tulip, Penny or Merula you meet the Centaur Torvus. After beating Torvus in a duel he reveals he was exiled from his camp due to aiding Jacob in finding the Cursed Vault in the forest. Since Jacob took a family heirloom and Torvus was blamed for the theft. That heirloom being the broken arrow the player found in the Vault of Fear… however the arrow is missing a jewel. The group decides they will need the assistance from a Niffler to find the shiny ruby arrowhead.

As mentioned earlier, Madam Rakepick has a Niffler named Sickleworth. And after proving that you can take care of the little guy, Madam Rakepick allows you to borrow them until you find the arrowhead. Sickleworth is apparently one of the few things that she cares for. With the niffler you search the Artefact room on Ben’s recommendation, Flich’s office on Rakepick’s recommendation though this was to get a key she wanted, and a Red Cap’s hole. The arrowhead is there but you have to get rid of the Red Cap with the use of a Beautification potion with Penny Haywood’s assistance. However, before you disband the Red Cap you have to spy on Rakepick for Snape since he broke your broom and will only repair it once you have uncovered her motives. Returning to Snape, the player tells Snape what they’ve learned, and that Rakepick knew about their spying. Snape reveals he expected this, and Rakepick only said what she wanted him to hear, and that she’ll be waiting for his response. Snape then gives the player Garrotting Gas as a reward for helping (along with house points, if the option to go along willingly with his plans was chosen) as he believes Rakepick may try to kill the player. Snape says he will want the player’s help again, and if they remain cooperative he will teach the player a curse he invented. With the arrowhead in had you repair the arrow and return it to Torvus.

Torvus in turn will help bring you to the vault so long as Hagrid comes. Back at Three Broomsticks Ben mentions that he knows dangerous creatures are guarding the vault. Rowan is still suspicious of Ben. The team studies into Acromanuals and knows there is a spell that works against them but Kettleburn will not teach them it. Rakepick then has the player meet them in the Transfiguration classroom, and teaches the player a spider-repelling spell. Rakepick also reveals that she is aware that the player was attacked by an unknown wizard, and warns them to be careful of those closest to them. Rakepick leaves, taking back Sickleworth for her own investigations.

With the knowledge of the spell, you go to Hagrid to get him to come along to the vault after getting rid of the Bundimun that have overtaken his hut. Later, the player meets up with Rowan and Charlie in the Clocktower Courtyard, where the cloaked figure attacks the three. They are then saved by Rakepick. The figure is revealed to be Ben Copper, who appears to have no memory of attacking the three. Rowan does not trust Ben. The player gets to decide whether Rakepick takes Ben to the Hospital Wing, Filch’s office or Dumbledore’s office.

Afterwards you’ll head to the vault with Charlie and either Rowan, Penny or Bill. You meet up with Hagrid and Torvus in the Forest Grove then head to the spider liar to enter the Cursed Vault. You have to duel an Acromanual before entering the vault. Like the previous vault you have to use the arrow to open the middle column which contains a sweater and another map. You also hear from Jacob again stating he is trapped in the final vault. When you leave the vault you meet Dumbledore and Flich who give you detention for your fifth year of having to work in the kitchen with the elves. If you also completed the Perfect quest line, you will also be a Perfect when the year begins. To end the year, you also learn that Madam Rakepick will be next year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and she’ll help you with the last vault ensuring she will make sure the rules won’t prevent you from doing so.

Love ya,

Mae Polzine

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Hogwarts Mystery: Year 4 Overview So one of my favorite mobile games that has ever come out is Hogwarts Mystery which takes place in the Harry Potter universe shortly after the defeat of You-Know-Who and the death of the Potters.

[rock-and-compass]

Rock and Compass Watches Once Upon A Time – 6.20: A Song in your Heart

Overview

As Emma and Killian prepare for their wedding, the Black Fairy reveals herself to be alive and well, and planning to unleash a new curse on the town of Storybrooke. She taunts Emma into a confrontation and then uses emotional manipulation to make her doubt her ability to fight. In the past, Snow makes a wish upon a star that results in everyone singing. 

Discussion and Thoughts and things that might be significant.

Gorgeous episode! It’s fun and very well done – the songs are all wonderfully written and for the most part, are beautifully performed. The last ten minutes of the episode are almost perfect. And I loved it . . .  but on re-watch the disguise slips a little, it’s still all of the above but it is also one big retcon dressed up more fancy than usual.  The flashbacks to the time before the curse in the Enchanted Forest is not retcon per se; it is just another incident from the past that we never knew about before. What makes it retcon is the Blue Fairy coming in at the end and saying that they will forget this ever happened, a sure sign that the viewer is being positioned to accept a change of canon history… and that the song in Emma’s heart will be needed for a much bigger purpose sometime in the future. Add this to the very deliberate redefinition of why Henry bought Emma to Storybrooke in the first place and Emma’s realisation that “she was never really alone” and what we’ve got here is a pretty thick paint job going on! I will warn you, I end up getting a bit critical of this episode. I still love it, but scratching at the pretty surface reveals a very thin story that lacks any foundation details.

Mean Girls – When little Emma is preparing her song for the talent show, an older girl comes in and makes her feel like nothing. She puts the song away and another brick goes in the wall. Having her desire to sing belittled and being told that no one wants to hear her sing reinforces all her feelings of rejection and abandonment. This is the kind of thing that forms her habit of running away from the ‘big things’ in the future. But more importantly, the tactic used by random orphan mean girl is the exact same tactic used by The Black Fairy when she’s trying to get into Emma’s head. So, this is what the Black Fairy is – a mean girl? That’s it? And this is the crux of the problem with this arc. The Black Fairy is simply not a convincing end game nemesis for Emma.  She has no substance. She is not compelling. And we still don’t know why she is so set upon fighting Emma beyond a vague suggestion that its destiny for dark and light to meet. I know I touched on this last week, but the musical episode and its last-minute insistence that the Black Fairy was the intention all along really hammered it home that we are being conned here. By making the Black Fairy a mean girl, they are trying to imply knowledge and a personal element to this fight that simply doesn’t exist. The Black Fairy does not know Emma, has nothing of weight against Emma and the insistence that the “last Battle” must be fought for unexplained reasons is tiresome and not satisfying in the slightest. I mean seriously, the new curse has been cast and we don’t know WHY she was so set upon doing it. It’s infuriating and it’s not good enough. She’s not good enough to be Emma’s final fight.

Everybody Sing – Most of the songs happen in flashback. We get Snow and David singing a song about the power of love and discovering a powerful weapon to use against the Evil Queen and we get Regina singing about the power of hate and being gifted a nice little artefact that allows her to win. And then we get in utero Emma being gifted all the songs to be used at a later date.  Wouldn’t it make much more sense if the problem Storybrooke reflected the problem in the past? Regina should have been the focus of both ends of the story. Yep, I know I’m flogging a dead horse here, but how much more sense would have this episode have made if the end-game villain that Emma needed the song for was Regina rather than late and unimpressive imported Black Fairy? I still think that the Split Queen arc was meant to herald the reintroduction of Regina the villain – Emma’s feeling of familiarity as to the identity of the cloaked figure, the Jekyll and Hyde parallel that was put out there and then abandoned, the suggestion that evil could re-grow in a split person, and the fact that the entire Evil Queen story amounted to nothing suggests, to me, that the original plans were abandoned.

The New Curse – what is this curse anyway? It seems to be just a bubbling mass of black fairy dust set on a timer. Why isn’t it just turning the entire population of Storybrooke into bugs? Okay, so obviously, we are meant to presume that Black has done her incantations with her dust and ripped her little scroll of paper to produce the mother of all curses but if this is the case, whose heart has she used to create it? Assuming she needs a heart? And if she doesn’t need a heart then her curse is different from Regina and Rumple’s curse. The curse mythology is a mess.

Only Lately? – As they contemplate wedding dresses, Snow says “With all we’ve been through lately, I never thought we’d get a moment like this.” And it’s funny, but for me this sentence sort of crystallises the problem with the way the story is being finished. Because it’s not just “lately” is it? The flashback literally shows us that it has been going on for decades! And the payoff should have been seeing the problem that has plagued them for nearly half a century getting pay-off rather than bringing in a new and completely unconnected villain and pretending that she was the big noise the whole time when we know that she was not. 

Wish upon a… - Lots of wishing this season, stars, lamps, inadvertent and deliberate… not to mention an entire Wish World. Wishing on a star is obviously not the dangerous past time that wishing on a lamp is. I just hope that the Wish World is NOT the setting for season seven….

Powerful Magic - Love can defeat curses, potions and beans? Surely the obvious word to use there is Queens? I’m no lyricist but It just seems like it would have been a better choice, particularly as they need to beat a usurper queen in the moment that they are singing the song. I can’t help but wonder if there is a reason they didn’t use the word?

I’m Back – The Black Fairy reveals herself, just so she can turn Snow’s wedding dress black and do the opening act of this week’s Mean Girl routine. She also drops her son into it big time revealing his part in the double cross – “Did you really think you could turn my own son against me?” No, you complete moron, Emma didn’t try to turn Rumple against you; she didn’t need to – you did a pretty good job of that yourself when you “abandoned” him.  So, in typical two-bit villain style, Black reveals herself and can’t help but wax lyrical about all her plans too. If only villains would do rather than tell, they’d have so much more success. And someone, Snow I think, finally asks Black why she’s so intent on ruining Emma’s day. But the answer is more of the same word salad with no substance – Dark and light must have their reckoning… yes but WHY? It’s a question I find myself asking every time the “Last Battle” is mentioned (so yup, I’m asking “why” a lot!). Because it’s all fine and well to blame destiny except for the fact that it lacks motive! All this personal taunting, the determination to destroy a wedding day, to separate from loved ones, and engage in battle suggests a personal vendetta that is just not there. Why does the Black Fairy want Emma’s heart? Why does she seemingly want to simultaneously start and avoid this last battle? Why can’t she just unleash her curse if that’s what she wants to do? Why all the posturing and provocative talk? Why are we pretending that this is fate? Why are we being sold the lie that it was always the Black Fairy all along?   … How much more compelling would ALL of this be if it was Regina, somebody with a personal connection to Emma and her family, doing the talking and the threatening?

The Final Battle – Does the Black Fairy want it to happen or want to avoid it? And if the curse is about avoiding the last battle, then why initiate it in the first place? Is the battle an actual fight or is it beating the curse? And is Emma meant to fight it alone or with company? Or is the curse purely about separating Emma from her family so she can (or can’t) fight the final battle? There are so many mixed messages about it, I don’t think anyone actually knows what this freaking final battle is.

A Grudging confession – Regina, with a tangible reluctance admits that she ruined Snow’s wedding day, so will make sure that Emma gets to enjoy hers.  As she talks she gets a classic, evil queen expression of her face and it segues into a song in which Regina sings about how much she hates everything, particularly love, hope and Snow. (and it’s the one miss vocal performance of the episode) It’s a strange transition – a reminder of Evil Regina, her vendetta and her curse so soon after the Evil Queen side of Regina has apparently been resolved? And while we they are trying to convince us that Black was the big bad the entre time. It is yet another thing that makes me wonder if the original plans for this season were changed, even though the direction of the musical episode couldn’t be altered.   The promise to save Emma’s wedding is an empty one. It’s outside Regina’s power and only serves to highlight Regina’s current state of redundancy. She and Zelena are given meaningless busy work to give them something to do in a story in which they have no real part. This is compounded with their superfluous presence during Emma’s song in which they literally stand there and do not have any impact on Emma’s epiphany moment.

Let Me Help – When Killian realises that Emma is going to go ahead with fighting the Black Fairy on her own he asks that she let him help her. She sidesteps the request, not wanting him to get hurt or killed because of her. On one hand, I hope that the Finale somehow sees Emma and Killian working as the team they are, on the other hand, I’m not overly hopeful because of the inevitable curse-forced separation that is happening whether we like it or not. And then there is the deep, deep sadness that Jennifer Morrison’s departure from the show has blighted any chance of us ever getting to see Emma and Hook being a team in the future.

Revenge, Revenge, Revenge – Finding out that Gold has double-crossed them and that the Black Fairy is still alive and intent on destroying Emma really pisses Killian off. He goes straight to the old nemesis and demands answers. Gold says he was ‘protecting’ his family. And Killian, in trying to protect his, shoots Gold with a dart of nightshade. The history of enmity between these two is long and habitual. Hook might have reprioritised his need for revenge on Rumple, but he will never love the guy. The hatred still exists. So, Hook’s song in the past and his actions in the present connect. It’s why this part of the musical works the best. Killian has changed for sure, but that ill-feeling towards Rumple still exists and the writers are not afraid to show that. It is something for both characters that predates everything and it’s not solved by living in the same town or time. It just is. And it makes it all the more dissatisfying that there is not the same level of resonance between the other songs and the present day events.

Re-writing History – Henry approves of Emma getting the fight started. Which is good, I guess. But he does so because he says that the Final Battle is “why I bought you to Storybrooke in the first place.” NO IT WASN'T HENRY! You bought Emma to Storybrooke to break Regina’s freaking curse! It is interesting to note that the line between being his mother and the saviour is still as blurred as ever.

Re-Writing History II – Emma says she wasn’t brave enough to keep Henry. And this is so unfair to herself. She was a seventeen girl in prison. She was brave enough to give him up to give him his best chance. It’s not her fault he ended up with the Evil Queen as his adopted mother.

Re-Writing History III –Henry finds a new page of the book, detailing the forgotten singing wish and instantly decides that Emma “was never really alone” and runs to share the news with his mum. The information gives Emma the strength she needs to stand up to the Black Fairy and it’s quite lovely; Emma’s song is beautiful and heartfelt… except that the revelation is designed to negate the actual experience that Emma had of being alone. It’s one thing to find that as an embryo you were gifted the power for song to save for a rainy day, it’s another to use this metaphoric solidarity to try to sweep actual experience under the carpet. Emma was alone. She did feel rejected and abandoned. This contributed to who she became, as has always been part of Emma’s backstory and was made very clear in the previous episode. The fact that she was loved from afar by her parents should not be a revelation to her – she knew this from the moment she found out the truth about who she was and why she was put in a wardrobe but she still knew the reality of isolation. I think the sentiment here is wrong. It shouldn’t be “I was never alone.” It should have been “I’m not alone.” It’s a much more powerful thing for Emma to realise that regardless of what she went through in the past and even when her family is not physically with her, she is not alone anymore. This, I suspect, may fit in nicely with the events of the finale and it makes me incredulous that they would go for the trite retcon rather than powerful character building epiphany.  

The Mayor’s Office – Oh my god, the showdown between The Black Fairy and Emma even takes place in Regina’s office when there is no logical reason for that to be the case. I know that in the finale Black is going to assume the title of Mayor in cursed Storybrooke, but in this episode there is literally no reason for them to meet there, other than to continue to build those parallels between Regina and the Black Fairy. She is seriously a Regina substitute and the show isn’t even being subtle about it. 

The Right Time – Blue tells Snow and David that the song in Emma’s heart is needed for a big battle “like no one has ever faced before” and that they must hope that the song finds its way out at the right time. So, is this, in the mayor’s office the big battle Blue spoke of and is this the “right time”? Because, I get that the song breaks the power of the time curse but it does nothing to defeat the Black Fairy. It makes her run away but the curse is still unleashed anyway. So, the knowledge that she “was never alone” is the important thing, not the song. Okay. Sure.

Worse than you can possibly imagine – Promises, promises; I can imagine pretty bad. Okay, so the Last Battle is going to be capital-T terrible. That’s some pretty big talk.  Presuming that the Final Battle is the breaking of this uber curse, I think we know that it’s going to be a yet another twist on what we’ve already had…

Curse 1 – Everyone forgets everything except Regina. Emma exempt because of the wardrobe. Henry arrives later, suspects things are wrong. Broken by Emma kissing Henry

Curse 2 – Pan’s curse, I think the objective was to do the same as the original curse except put himself into Regina’s position… negated by Curse 3

Curse 3 – Regina’s counter curse. Negates the curse, destroys Storybrooke, everyone returns to where they came from, memories intact for those going to back to the Enchanted Forest, Emma and Henry escape but forget all and get gifted new memories.

Curse 4 – Snow’s Curse, recreates Storybrooke and brings everyone home. Zelena spikes it with memory loss and so everyone forgets the events of the year in the Enchanted Forest. Hook escapes it by out-running the curse and going to find Emma. Broken by a memory potion (Emma) and Regina kissing Henry.

Curse 5 – The Author’s AU. Everyone is in new roles, heroes are villains and the villains are heroes, cowards are brave and brave are cowards. Emma remembers everything but is held prisoner. Broken by Henry becoming the new author and writing a new ending. 

Curse 6 – Hook’s curse to return them all to Storybrooke. Nimue worked through him and used Merlin’s heart to cast it. Emma added the memory wipe element to protect Killain from knowing the truth about his Dark Oneness. Emma is the only one who remembers everything and she is also the one to return all the memories via dream catcher.

With Curse 7 – The Black Fairy’s curse, we know that this time Emma won’t remember anything but Henry will. We also know that the Enchanted Forest, where everyone else is sent, is being destroyed. Time will be of the essence. Who will break the curse? Can I just say I hope it’s Hook kissing Emma – If we don’t get a TLK now we’re never getting one and that would really piss me off.

That last 10 minutes – despite a few niggles with it, I include the second scene in the Mayor’s office purely because Emma’s song is so beautiful and because it gives us a lovely Captain Swan moment and leads directly into the wedding. And even though I think the wedding itself could have gotten a little more time and Jennifer and Colin should have got a longer duet, it was still perfect. The vows are gorgeous and wonderfully appropriate – heartfelt and genuine without being syrupy. And their song, Happy Beginning, is beautifully poignant, but also now sadly ironic. I love the idea of a happy beginning. I’ve always felt the emphasis placed on happy endings was a bit odd and I loved how the continuation of Snow and Charming’s story after their wedding was the foundation of the whole show. Up until Ms Morrison’s announced exit I assumed that Emma and Killian’s story would take over as the new foundation as we explored their story after the Happy Ever After. It would be the new beginning. But alas, it is not meant to be and we can only hope that the continuation of the show into season seven without Emma Swan doesn’t completely derail the beauty of her story or the culmination of Emma and Hook’s relationship. I will feel cheated if it does.

We’re going to win – I like your confidence Emma. And we know you will. How remains to be seen. Who will live? Who will die? How will they set up a new season that features only three of the existing characters in continuing roles…? My heart hurts at the thought of it and with the knowledge that you can’t please everyone…