| Details for Beware of Swooping Magpies |
| Summary: | A mother and daughter were out for a stroll in Merlin Park when suddenly, the witch transformed into a magpie. As onlookers speculated whether it was a bad potion or transfiguration gone wrong, the magpie started swooping. But a quick stupefy stunned the magpie and she was rushed off to St. Mungo's. |
| Date: | Wednesday, June 29, 1941 |
| Location: | Merlin Square |
| Plot: | Zoanthropy Epidemic |
| Related: | Confusing Magpie at Mungos |
| Characters |
    |
Little poofs of clouds drift lazily across the sky. Every so often, one veils the sun, briefly dimming it. In the heart of the Mysticked District, wizards and witches of all ages have gathered to enjoy the warm summer sun. Elderly wizards doze on park benches. A pair of young sweethearts sit by the pond, holding hands as they soak their feet. Children laugh, bouncing across the soft grass.
A little girl with a pair of long braids and a bright blue dress leaps across a meandering path. Not far behind, her mother slowly follows with a good-natured smile. She wears simple, black robes - well-made, but a bit worn. As the little girl comes to the marble statue of Merlin and starts to climb, the witch calls to her, "Get down, Agatha. That's dangerous!"
Once more, Xylina has come to the park to spend the afternoon reading - a basket of goodies to nibble on along with a drink in hand, besides the small blanket for putting out over the grass. Humming to herself, she heads down the path towards the statue, though this day, without her feline companion. Seems someone won on stubbornness and got to stay home!
Adrian is sitting on the stone bench beside the statue of Merlin, idly munching a caramel apple. It was a lazy summer day, it seemed, and what entertainment he found seemed only to come from people watching. When the little girl started climbing, his dark eyes turned upward slowly with curiosity. 'Is she going to make it..?' he wonders, shifting slightly. He was wearing neatly pressed, forest green robes over a pair of black slacks and polished shoes. His family preferred to appear to be wealthy, even if they were really rather average.
At the marble statue, the girl, about five years old, hesitates at her mother's call. But then, as small children are wont to do, she sloooowly starts to continue climbing, all while watching her mother. "Agatha!" The woman's call is a bit sharper and she strides over. Taking such long steps, one might catch a glimpse of the bandages around her ankles. The woman swoops in and picks up her child. "None of that now, alright?" she scolds. The Australian accent is coming out stronger now. "Do we have to go home early?"
The girl scrunches up her face, ready to cry, when suddenly she just stares up her mother. The woman's nose is sprouting out of her face - getting long and shiny. "Mum! You’ve got a beak!" cries the girl. The woman stares back down at her daughter, frowning. "How dare you speak to your mother like that?"
Xylina is busy spreading out her blanket, though she hears the mother calling to her child. It's not till the girl cries out again, that the young Gryffindor turns to find out what's going on. Cue the pause and stare as she realizes the girl is telling the truth - her mother is indeed, growing a beak! Moving forwards, she clears her throat, "Ma'am? Hmm… she's not lying!" A quick glance around is given, perhaps to see if anyone is seeing what she's seeing!
Adrian starts to ignore the pair when the mother collects her child, then - as was likely the case for any who were within earshot - he snapped his head around to stare when the girl mentioned her mother growing a beak. 'What in the world..?' Adrian's eyes boggled, and without thinking his hand reached for his wand within his robes. Then he remembered the rule against underage wizardry away from Hogwarts. "Tch!" he hisses, stuffing the wodden shaft back into his pocket. He wanted to figure out what this was! "Er… I think you should have that looked at," he comments, standing up to get a closer look. Reaching out catiously, he touches the smooth surface of the strange beak with a frown on his face. "So odd…"
A white beak with a dark tip has fully erupted out of the witch's face from between her eyes to the tip of her chin. Holding her squirming daughter, she turns to fix Xylina with a death stare. She goes to speak, but the beak opens and all that comes out is an ill-tempered chittering. The sound clearly shocks the witch, but she doesn't drop her daughter. She steps back, looking left, right, and left again - much faster than an average person might. She blinks and her eyes are nothing but inky pools of black. The little girl shrieks in her arms, crying now. Only then does the witch shakily put her daughter down, but keeps hold of her hand. Tears leak from the frightened child's eyes as she stares at her mother. The beak opens again, emitting a softer warble. However, as Adrian’s hand reaches out towards her face, the beak turns sharply in its direction and snaps at his fingers.
Entering into the Square shortly after the initial confusion and question asked by the small girl comes Victor. He is walking at a comfortable stride, his pace easy. While not close enough to have heard the girl's odd question, the chirping and warbling coming from the open beak is enough to draw Victor's attention and his eyes widen in surprise.
Adrian snaps his hand back quickly in surprise, but not quickly enough to evade the sharp nip to his fingers. Cursing, the Carrow boy examines the nail bed of his index finger, which has been torn slightly and was starting to bleed. "Cripes, you old hag! I was trying to help!" Grumbling, Adrian started to turn to walk away. Hopefully the damn thing wouldn't get infected…
Entering into the Square shortly after the initial confusion and question asked by the small girl comes Victor. He is walking at a comfortable stride, his pace easy. While not close enough to have heard the girl's odd question, the chirping and warbling coming from the open beak is enough to draw Victor's attention and his eyes widen in surprise. As the beak snaps toward Adrian's fingers, Victor starts heading in that direction.
Xylina paused where she stood, watching as Adrian reaches out towards the mother and gets snapped at. During the distraction, she herself, attempts to get the young girl away from her mother, slipping up quietly to the girl's other side to take her other hand and gives a not so gentle tug in hopes of getting the mother to let go. Something just isn't right with the woman, and it is Xy's hopes to protect the girl.
The witch looks quite startled when her beak catches Adrian’s finger. As Xylina tugs on the little girl's hand, the witch lets go and stumbles back. Scared now, she blinks repeatedly, turning her face this way and that. More witches and wizards have taken notice and begin to approach. Again, she stumbles, having trouble keeping her balance. She starts sinking to the ground. No, not sinking. Shrinking! Smaller and smaller, until she disappears under the heap of her dark robes. "Mum! Muum!! Maamaaa!" wails the little girl, pulling against Xylina's hand, trying to reach for the small lump bouncing and twitching under the pile of fabric.
Xylina almost loses track of the girl's hand when she tugs on it, trying to get back to her mother who has now… shrunk? "Wow…. is she an Animagus?" She questions, moving to help the poor bird free of the robes if able. Can't let the poor thing suffocate, right? "We'll take you home, okay, Agatha? Surely your mum will show up back there?"
Adrian had managed to suck most of the blood off of his finger, and he turns his head to give the thing thrashing under the robes a long scowl. If she /was/ an Animagus, she should darn well be in better control of herself. If not.. then he had no idea what was going on, but that thing was a menace! "Someone put that thing in a cage!" he barks, not very happy aboout being bit.
Having made it over to where both students stand over the thrashing lump in the pile of clothing, Victor glances at Adrian and says softly, "Easy." He indicates the scared girl and says, "She is scared, that is not a thing, it is her mother." He crouches down at the pile of clothing, a hand reaching to gently indicate that Xylina should perhaps pull back. "If she were an animagus, her clothing would have changed with her." Kind eyes turn toward the crying girl and Victor asks with a cheery voice, "Hi dear. Does your mother often transfigure herself?"
The moment Xylina pulls back the robes, a tiny storm of black and grey feathers erupts from them. It runs on the grass, flapping in distress, not much different from an emotional chicken. At the mention of a cage, the magpie chitters angrily at Adrian. Then it veers around to face her child and the gathering crowd. She chitters at them all, as if asking for help. An elderly wizard frowns through his spectacles at the poor bird. "That there lass don't look none like an animagus. Seems upset don'she? Like she been transformed an' cannae transform back." A witch wearing crimson robes joins in, saying, "Perhaps it's a potion gone wrong? Someone should take her to St. Mungo's." But the bespectacled wizard isn't listening to the crimson-robbed witch. Instead, he's watching Victor and with a smile, he says, "Ah! Good thinkin' lad. Transfiguration gone wrong. Spell damage. There ye 'ave it." Unfortunately, the little girl isn't much help. She wails for her mother with big teardrops sliding down her flushed, chubby cheeks.
Adrian frowns slightly, glancing at the wailing child and sighing. Well, he'd best not get caught up in this mess.. "Well, you can't just expect us to do NOTHING," he retorts to Victor, getting annoyed by all the noise and commotion - he hated the sound of children crying, and the squawking? Awful. "Contain her somehow! She's going to get loose and terrorize the town!"
"True.." Xylina says with a bob of her head when Victor points out the woman's clothes did not transfer with her. "Then I dunno… this is.. odd." She continues while attempting to help get the bird free of robes. When finally a fold is undone, and the bird spies freedom, it's off and away, leaving Xy to pull back and offer comfort to the crying girl, "It's okay, Agatha. We'll take care of your mother." Patpat on the girl's shoulder. "What's your favorite snack? We'll get one on the way back to your home, and see if we can't speak to your father too, hmm?" With other's offering ideas of what's gone on, she gives attention to the still crying girl.
Victor frowns at the uproar if "helpful" voices around the small group as the bird pops out and goes to running and chittering about. He listens to everyone, while still trying to picture the woman's transformation. "Well…" he says at length. "Whether it is spell damage or potion work going awry, she should be taken to St. Mungo's in any case." His attention is to the bird now, given that the crying child is no help. He pulls the woman's clothes over toward the bird and says hesitantly, "Can you understand me?"
Free of the confines of her robes, the witch-turned-magpie stands in the grass and tilts her head this way and that. Her movements become far more birdlike by the moment. As Victor speaks to her, the magpie fixes one eye on the boy. But then she just takes flight with a flutter of black and grey feathers. It circles in the air, emitting its ill-tempered chitter until settling on a nearby branch.
Rubbing at her tears, little Agatha peeks up at Xylina. "Crisps…" she answers softly when asked what her favorite snack is. But then she adds, "Papa's gone. And mum said I'm not supposed to go with strangers." The magpie chitters again, giving its only warning before it takes flight and swoops down on the first person she sees standing too close to her daughter. Sharp talons aim to rake across the top of Adrian's dark-haired head.
Free of the confines of her robes, the witch-turned-magpie stands in the grass and tilts her head this way and that. Her movements become far more birdlike by the moment. As Victor speaks to her, the magpie fixes one eye on the boy. But then she just takes flight with a flutter of black and grey feathers. It circles in the air, emitting its ill-tempered chitter until settling on a nearby branch.
Rubbing at her tears, little Agatha peeks up at Xylina. "Crisps…" she answers softly when asked what her favorite snack is. But then she adds, "Papa's gone. And mum said I'm not supposed to go with strangers." The magpie chitters again, its only warning before it takes flight and swoops down on the first person she sees standing too close to her daughter. Sharp talons aim to rake across the top of Adrian's dark-haired head.
Adrian hears the squawk before he sees a mass of black feathers aiming for his head. He tried to duck, but the talons found their mark! "Ow! You bloody pigeon!" he yells as he bats at the bird with his fists. As soon as he gets her feet untangled from his hair, he runs for it! No way is he sticking around another minute!
Victor moves quickly as the bird leaps into the air and takes flight. He stands upright, slipping his wand free and whipping it through the air. He pauses, as the bird hovers so near Adrian's head, but as soon as he had beaten the thing free and taken to running, Victor bellows, "Stupefy!" An angry red burst explodes from the tip of his wand and flies directly for the flapping bird.
Aiden wanders into Merlins square, hearing a commotion and curious as this young lad is he wants to check things out. He comes in amazed at what hes seeing and he cant seem to put words to it but a smile creeps across his face. Finally he speaks up as he steps closer a bit. "Um… Excuse me whats going on here?" Aiden asks innocently.
Xylina nods to the little girl, "Crisps it is then. We'll take care of things.." When the bird darts about Aiden, she ducks her own head, shielding Agatha in the process just in case the bird comes after them. Who knows what the feather headed thing might do now!
The feathered fiend (magpie - same thing) loops back up into the air over the cluster of wizards and witches. It flutters and flaps overhead, chittering angrily before swooping at Xylina. The sharp talons rake across Xylina's arms as she tries to shield herself and the girl. But before the magpie can regain altitude and cause any more trouble, the red light of Victor's stunning spell shoots her out of the sky. The magpie topples onto the grass where it lays motionless. "Mummie!" shrieks the little girl as she tries to pull away from Xylina to go to the felled magpie.
Thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, another boy on his first summer home from Hogwarts, sidles up next to Aidan. He wears a shabby muggle bowler hat that is far too big for his head. "Someone said it's a transfiguration gone wrong. Or maybe a bad potion! Some witch turned into a magpie and is 'ttackin everyone in sight!"
There comes a hiss of surprise when the magpie's talons scrape down her arm, Xylina shooing at the bird, "Go on now, I'm not doing anything to hurt her!" And then that's when Victor's spell hits the bird, and the thing drops down into the grass. Catching hold of the girl, she keeps Agatha from running towards her mother just yet, "She's fine, just stunned. We'll take her to St. Mungo's. Okay?" Wary of the bird waking and trying to make another go of it!
Victor sighs as he watches the bird tumble from the air and land in the grass. He glances around to the assembled witches and wizards and then says, "Well don't just stand there. Someone run to the pet shop and ask if we can borrow a cage long enough to get the poor woman to St. Mungos. Tell her that Victor Proudmore from the Ministry of Magic Beast Division sent you."
Aiden stands there in a confused silence for a moment or so. "So yer sayin' this stuff is the work of someone experimentin?" Aiden asks the boy. He continues to watch the scene hes not about to go running off anywhere his curiosity is already peaked and he wants to find out more.
Little Agatha grows quiet as Xylina speaks soothingly to her. She sniffles, wiping her nose with her sleeve as she watches the heap of feathers that is her mother. Looking up at Xylina, she says, "The healers will make her all better?"
When 'someone' in the crowd is asked to go fetch a bird-cage, no one moves at first. Luckily, there is a student with high hopes of joining the RCMC next year who siezes his chance to impress Victor. "Right away, Mr. Proudmore!" he shouts before dashing off down the park path.
Next to Aiden, the little boy in the shabby bowler hat gives a mighty shrug. "Mayhaps. S'what I heard at least."
"They should be able to help her, yes." Xylina says with another nod of her head to little Agatha. "We'll let Mr. Proudmore here, take her to Mungos. Me and you will go get a crisp, and then we'll go by. Do you have an aunt or grandmother or someone we can call?" She'll keep the girl busy while they wait for a cage to put the stunned magpie-mother in.
Victor walks over to the small bird and crouches down beside it while he waits for the cage to be brought back so as to stop any unwitting passerby from stepping on the woman. He reaches out with the tip of his wand and prods the bird gently, his eyes trained on her closely. When the cage is delivered, he will use the womans clothes to pick her up and place her into the cage so as not to touch her with his skin.
Aiden watches intently everything that is going on. "So whatcher sayin is all thats known is juss rumors?" He asks the boy next to him. Its at this point he takes a couple of steps forward his curiosity now peaked more than ever. Aiden continues to inch forward hoping to try and figure out from looking what everyone is so freaked out about.
"No…" responds Agatha softly. "Just me and mum 'ere in London. Gran lives in Perth." The elderly wizard, a bit bent with age, smiles kindly up at Xylina. "Yer a sweet lass fer lookin after the little one. But I imagine the 'ealers'll call someone ta take care of the girl 'til 'er mother is right again." He pauses, glancing down at the little girl. "Which I imagine will be very soon, me dear."
A young witch with a long, black braid approaches Victor as he prods the unconscious bird with his wand. "How long do you suppose the poor witch will remained stunned? Shouldn't someone… um… bundle her up or something?" But just then, the wizard from before comes sprinting back and the matter is resolved. The elder wizard straightens as best he can to aim a smile at Victor. "Well then. Glad ta see she's in the Ministry's capable 'ands. Good luck to ye." As he begins to shuffle off, most others in the crowd begin to disburse as well. The little boy in the bowler hat who had been speaking to Aiden wants to stay, but his aunt leads him away.
"We all have to watch out for one another." Xylina answers the elderly wizard with a polite smile, one that warms when she turns to Agatha, "So let us go get some crisps.. see.. Mr. Proudmore has your mum in the cage. We'll get her clothes and all, then head to Mungos, okay? They'll call your gran and get her over, and if she can't come.. maybe you could come hang out with me at my Aunt's house till she does." A nod is given to Victor once the magpie is put into the cage, and with Agatha's help, she'll gather the lady's robes to stow in the basket she'd left on the grass nearby. "We'll meet you there, sir?" She says to Victor, assuming he'll take the bird and cage on to Mungo's.
Placing the woman/bird into the cage, Victor gently closes and latches the cage. With that he stands and casts a glance toward Xylina and the girl and says, "If you don't mind escorting her, we will go to the Leaky Cauldron and use the Floo there to reach St. Mungo's." With that, Victor sets off, leading the way and then ensuring everyone makes it through the fireplace to the Hospital, where he will pass off the cage after giving a thorough report.