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*set in the Harry Potter world*
It is a cold night, at the turn of the year. You are anywhere and everywhere spanning from an all-wizard club in London, surrounded by raucous laughter and dance music, to sitting by the fire and watching the clock tick its way to midnight.
At midnight, an owl swoops through the window, the tips of its wings touching the rafters as it flies towards you. A heavy envelope falls on your head: it is royal green and the seal is shaped like a swan.
Tentatively, you open it. The envelope consists of several thin sheets of parchment, a green card, and a tiny silver key.
The card reads:
If you are surrounded by people, you notice an audible hush in the room, as folks peer over your shoulder and gape at each others' faces. If you are alone, you notice the light in the room become dimmer, the feel of your own breath when it stills against your lips.
'It's back.'
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Dear X,
You have been selected for our first trial period at Wynbald, along with five other witches/wizards. This selection has been made regardless of age or education of the persons involved. The school year is to begin on the second of January; a member of our highly efficient teaching staff is to arrive on your doorstep at midnight tomorrow, to accompany you on the journey. You will be flying there. There is no choice involved.
You are to send this owl back with this letter; please sign your real name on any part of the parchment. If you do not, you will find that your mind will change quite shortly, and it is with much regret that we inform you that you have no choice in this matter either.
We hope to see you at Wynbald shortly.
Sincerely,
Jemima Gollonk,
Headmistress and Wynbald Educational Counsellor.
Pack your bags. Say your goodbyes.
It looks like you're going to Wynbald.
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Wynbald: A History
Eighteen years ago, Hogwarts closed down. No one knew the real reason why, but it was reported in the Daily Prophet that it was for renovation purposes. Rumours spread that there was still dark magic lingering within the walls, that the administration wished to remove all traces of it before opening it once more. Some were even inclined to think that the closure was permanent.
When owls were sent out, making the news official, people panicked. Parents arranged for home-tutors, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang saw an influx of frazzled foreigners, and some children were even sent as far as Japan for education. What would Britain do without Hogwarts?
In January of that year, another letter arrived. Perhaps your parents remember this, if you are not muggle-born, or perhaps you have heard already, from your peers, of Wynbald.
Wynbald was a school for magic, opened in Scotland--somewhere not far from Hadrian's Wall, it was rumoured—and it would facilitate all magical children until Hogwarts reopened. It ran for scarcely a year, under the administration of one Jemima Gollonk, a talented witch who had previously, and very publicly, left her post of Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic.
In April of 1999, Jemima Gollonk disappeared.
In June, when the children returned, it was reported that all of them were visibly shaken. Something about them had changed. But nothing out of the ordinary was reported, except that the school was said to have 'a disconcerting air about it'. The teaching staff, all of whom had been obliviated, were found sitting on a stile somewhere in Northumberland. Ministry Officials visited the school, but they learned nothing.
Because the school, too, had disappeared. Without a trace. No one understood what had happened, and when Hogwarts reopened in September 1999 and Gollonk remained missing, the case was closed and labelled as 'confunded'.
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Now, sixteen years later, each of those children have died. All at the same time, all at the exact same moment in April when Jemima Gollonk herself was noted to have disappeared. It created quite the kerfuffle, because this was the first mass killing since Lord Voldemort was defeated; it is also baffling, because no single person could have pulled such a stunt off on their own. But there were no signs, no disturbances, nothing odd that the relatives of the deceased noticed.
Besides a small 'x' carved on the corpses' faces.
A warning: You might be swamped with journalists for a time. You might receive several letters from people treating you as if you were already dead. There is only one rule, where Wynbald is concerned:
Trust no-one.
There is something more to the castle than one can tell, something dark that moves through the halls....
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Roles:
1. (Student 1) - @Jhinx
2. Malcolm Winters-Beckly (Student) - @AdrianMoon
3. Barnaby Bennet (Student) - @hermione315
4. (Student 4) -
5. (Student 5) -
6. Nicholas Holmes (Student) - @Lareine
7. Professor Jemima Gollonk (Headmistress) - @Pompadour
8. Professor Knoll (Spell Structure and Transfiguration) - @artsy
9. Professor Friedrich (Alchemy and Charms) - @Lareine
10. Professor Turnbull (Potions) - @Meandbooks
11. Mystery Narrator (???) - @Pompadour
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