[Timewarp] Oh Dear

[Sophie Ann Thistlecomb]

01 January 1937
1:15am

"Oh dear."

It was English, and to hell with the French. Sophie had no interest in being chained at Beauxbatons for the holidays, but some awful clause in her contract specified otherwise - and there she was, standing. Mouth agape. In her party dress, such as it was, but also her slippers.

"Oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear-" She repeated the words until they weren't words at all, but a silent mantra that fell from her lips and did little to calm her. Instead, her fingers flexed, digging into her dress as it hung limply around her hips, even the smallest motion rippling the thin chain around her neck. Sophie stared, the vibrant hues of the sky rippling overhead and reflecting in her eyes.

"Oh dear oh dear oh crap oh dear."

She wasn't meant to be a professor, not really. She wasn't any good at it, and besides - her French was textbook and not dialect. The vernacular escaped her, and so did her wits.

Grabbing onto another person, Sophie would her arm around their shoulders.

"It'll be okay." She whispered, mostly for herself but hopefully - just for show - for them.

Sophie swallowed.

"Yeah. It will be just fine."

[Katherine Sauveterre]

Kat wasn't afraid, because she was used to change, and this was just something that happened every other day in her life. She and papa had traveled around the world, changed the way they thought, spoke, acted to suit the situation, and it had become a part of her life.

This, however, was a stranger sort of change, a curious flickering and shimmering in the sky. Kat's first instinct was to run to Papa because he always knew what to do, but suddenly she realized that this was something that even he would not be able to control. No, this was something a lot larger than them.

So she smiled and took it in instead, enjoying the pretty lights for what they were worth. They were rather nice to watch.

Someone swore next to her.

Kat looked around, startled, and was even more surprised to find that the guilty person had been a Professor.

"It'll be okay."

Of course it would be. Kat did not understand. There was nothing wrong with change; it was a good thing.

"Yeah. It will be just fine."

"Yes, Professor," she said meekly instead, barely realizing that they were both speaking English. There was no point upsetting someone who was obviously upset already, and Kat prided herself on her etiquette lessons.

"What's going on?" she asked, wondering if the Professor would at least be able to enlighten her as to what sort of change this was.

[Dunn Chevalier]

He took a deep sigh as he looked over at Thistlecomb through the opened door to the Ballroom,, he had made it his own private game to torment here with advances here and there throughout the term but this was something else entirely. He couldn’t push anything else on her today, she looked like she was the one most likely to have a breakdown and crumble on the floor.

Dunn shifted into the room just in time to see her reach out and grab a student.

She seemed to take it with grace, which wasn’t a real surprise considering she was a Prefet from the Studio Art école. They studied etiquette here, which meant that most of them would be able to hold themselves throughout the chaos that was unfolding around them.

The irony, of course, being Thistlecomb’s state.

“Sophie,” he said as he approached and put his hand on her shoulder “Language, students, relax.”

He was generally a calm - almost monotone - man, rarely lifting a finger if he didn’t have to or twitching a facial muscle if he could avoid having to do so but tonight his words had depth behind them. It was obvious that he was concerned, not just for the mysterious lights in the sky but also because of how people had started reacting to the events around him.

If there was a time for empathy, it was now.

“Miss Sauveterre, I’m afraid that I haven’t the foggiest idea what is happening out there.”

He removed his hand from the shoulder and walked closer to one of the windows, trying to see if the lights were playing a trick on his mind or if the specs of white and yellow in the distance really were appearing and disappearing - rearranging themselves on the horizon.

One of the brighter buildings was a stadium, only finished a few months ago (apparently the muggles watched sports there, he didn’t much care) suddenly vanished in a quiver.

Dunn took a step back and raised his hand to his face in shock before looking over to the other Professor and Prefet.

“I think... that stadium just vanished, what is happening...”

He tried to keep his voice down, not wanting to provoke a chaotic response in the people around him. But he knew, sooner or later they would start to notice the town as well.

The Professor cleared his throat and tried to adjust his clothes, something - anything - to occupy his mind and prevent him from panicking.

[Vincenzo Montolivo]

Vincenzo looked at the sudden lights that engulfed the night sky. Standing on the ballroom unaware of whats happening around him. The young Italian looked over to the Cannes stadium which disappeared and his jaw dropped. "NO, football was the only thing I like here." He said to himself. He then took a deep breath. "I guess there wont be practice tomorrow." Again he said in a low voice.  He then felt his heart skip a beat as he felt something important disappeared other than the stadium but he couldn't think of what.

He walked over to the window and kept staring. He felt something odd he looked at his feet and his addidas shoes disappeared and changed with black leather shoes. The bright shine in his eyes disappeared completely and he felt his heart being broken. 'Why my sambas? Why? Curse you world curse you!' He thought to himself.  He stood there silent and looked at the sky.

He then turned to look at the Professor Chevalier. He walked towards him and said. "Professor my sneakers magically changed into black leather shoes that look very old for my taste." He said as his expression was as if he saw something horrible like watching the Directrice on a date. Vincenzo already skipped the panic stage and head into shock. You see those shoes meant the world to him. He bought them with his own money working in Palermo on the docks and they were part of who he is.