The Meditation Room
 

https://s19.postimg.org/4l4gbl0hv/Meditation_Room_2.jpg

Welcome to the Room of Meditation! Professor Vance is of the mind that to be a good interpreter of the future and of the Divination arts, then you need to clear your mind from all other thoughts and to be in a room that opens up all your senses. The room is decorated in warm pink, purples, greens, blues and with a high concentration of incense possibly lavender but you'd have to smell to see, it varies from day to day. As you step in relaxing, soothing instrumental music starts to play quietly to help stimulate your mind and senses emanating from somewhere unspecific.

The room is set up with round tables for working alone or with a small group. The wooden chairs are cushioned and charmed to be comfortable even for those that spend several hours in here. In the back wall cabinets of mahogany you will find any divination material you may need for practice sessions from stones, tarot cards and crystal balls to name a select few. If they haven't been already snagged then you can also find hand models for palmistry readings and astrology posters. Near the entrance there are cupboards with tea cups, saucers, leaves and kettles. Be mindful not to break any china! If you do Professor Vance will not be pleased.

This room is open to all students of any year to use for study, practice divination or just to relax the mind from the ongoing school happenings.[/color]

OOC: This room is for students and staff alike to RP in. Please follow all classroom, school and general SS rules. Just because Professor Vance may not be in the room doesn't mean she won't hear what's going on in here.

There were some Slytherin students she knew that had signed their names on the staying at school form when she had made her regular morning visit in the common room a few days before. It was how Laurel herself had done a few times when she had been a student at the school too. Her siblings and her had stayed at school while their parents had gone away to see aunt Mildred in Wales. Aunt Mildred had bless her soul had been quite a character.

On this particular day Laurel left her office with a stack of letters and packages in hand intending to go to the owlery to send away some letters to family, friends and Alexander. The blond seer and diviner was walking in her own thoughts thinking about orchestrating a Christmas party with Rose's help as she passed by the Meditation Room and heard the horrible sound of a crystal ball hitting the floor and shattering.

Dropping her letters and packages to the floor in shock Laurel hurriedly made her way into the Meditation Room to survey the damage. Pulse beating rapidly her gaze darted left and right as she took in the sight of the shattered crystal pieces on the floor in the seemingly deserted room except for Flynn that had his nose in a book not too far away. Turning her gaze to him Laurel asked "Flynn, do you know anything about this shattered crystal ball?"

different timeline
 

After all her classes were over for the day, Kitty resumed her final patrol sweep before nightfall. There was no trouble that day, so she finished early with the sun still shining in the sky. It was falling quickly though, soon it would nightfall.

But before going to bed, there was something important that needed to be done: a visit to the meditation room to talk with Professor Vance. Earlier that day, she'd asked for permission to visit after classes to discuss something she cared deeply about. What it was she hadn't said - but she'd requested to meet in the meditation room. This room gave her comfort because it reminded her of Yoga.

Flynn casually flipped through this book about.... what was this about? He hadn't even bothered to look at the title before opening it. He did not even bother to actually read it either; there weren't many pictures and the text was long and boring. He was counting down in his head, and as soon as he reached zero, he was going to leave because surely that meant nobody would show up and question him about the broken crystal ball on the ground.

three.... two..... one....

.................................

He turned to look at his Head of House when she entered then he looked at the broken glass on the floor then he looked back at her. "I was in my own little world reading, Professor Vance," he explained. "I'm going to have to answer your question with a.... no?" He was innocent until proven guilty.

Classes had ended several hours ago and the dinner in the hall had been delicious as usual. The house elves wonderful cooking made it hard for Laurel to hold on to her vow of only eating dessert on weekends. After her early patrol shift she had gone down to the dungeons to look in on her snakes.

When she left the snake den many minutes later than planned after sorting out some fights and damages after pranks pulled, nightfall had come. Laurel tiredly headed back up to her tower and courters to answer a few personal letters before heading to bed. But first she couldn't forget Kitty Valentine.

Heading into the Meditation Room as they had agreed on Laurel hoped that Kitty hadn't given up and gone to bed, since she was very late. Spotting the dark haired head of the head girl with some feeling of relief Laurel called out quietly. "Good evening Kitty! I'm sorry I'm late. I had to sort out a number of things in the Slytherin Common Room which kept me away."

Laurel looked from the shattered pieces of crystal ball glass to Flynn and back and around the room trying to piece together what most likely had happened. Even though Flynn said he knew nothing about the crystal balls demise and was in his own little bubble reading she somehow doubted his sincerity. He was the only other person present. Of course someone could have slipped out before she got there but it seemed more probable to assume that Flynn was responsible for the precious balls shattered state.

Taking her wand out Laurel whispered a non verbal spell that lifted up the shattered crystal pieces from off the floor and into her opened purse. With that done she turned her attention to Flynn. "What are you reading about?"

Flynn watched as the shattered pieces of the crystal ball floated into her purse, and during that time, he thought about casually (or as casually as he could) walk out. He was estimating how far the door was from where he was sitting and whether he could make it out in time before she turned to look....

He was too slow because she was not asking him yet another question.

He looked away from the door and turned his attention to Professor Vance. "Oh," he said. "It's about -" He showed her the cover of the book, glancing at it briefly before he did, and added, "- crystal balls. What a coincidence, am I right?" Cue the innocent small because that's what he was: innocent. He closed the book now and placed it on the table then added, "Are you staying here for the Holidays, Professor Vance?" He could attempt to change the subject; it was worth a shot.

It was a very comforting room. Plus, it had been a long day, and now it was late. After a few minutes, she'd gone to sit in one of the chairs. She was just starting to nod off when Professor Vance called out her name quietly. Snapping out of it, she stood and shifted on her feet a little awkwardly.

"It's okay Professor Vance, I understand," she said in the same quite tone the professor was using. The mention of Slytherin house piqued her interest. "Ooh, really? I suppose it's none of my business, but I always wanted to see the Slytherin common room. And the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor ones. Those are the only places of the castle I've never been in." Not counting secret passageways or boys bathrooms and dormitories, of course.

She paused for a few moments, now not sure how to phrase what was on her mind. "There are some things I've been wondering about recently, now that I'm going to graduate." It actually hurt saying those words. She didn't want to leave. 'And I thing you were the best person to ask some of those questions."

Flynn. Flynn. Flynn. Was he so innocent as he tried very hard to get her to believe? Laurel doubted it. He had an untruthful air about him that said it all. As she closed her purse to look at the snake boy again Laurel assumed that he had calculated the length to the door and if he would have time to run out before she looked up from the shattered ball. It was what she would have done.

Someone needed to teach Flynn to lie properly because it was obvious that he hadn't been reading two lines in the book he claimed to have been reading. Walking over to the table Laurel casually pulled the book towards her saying "Oh, I see the books is about crystal balls too. Imagine that... Have you learned anything new then?"

Slipping into one of the empty chairs at the table she nodded over at Flynn. "Yes I'm staying at school over the holidays. Will you be staying too Flynn or are you going home?"

The meditation was a room for unwinding, a room for comfort and contemplation as well as divination readings. It didn't surprise her that she woke Kitty up even if she hadn't meant to startle her. It was pretty late and the eagle girl was probably tired and the room had a relaxing effect on most people so nodding off in there was not uncommon. "I'm sorry if startled you awake Kitty." Laurel apologized. Smiling she said "Oh you are, well every house has its secrets, but the common rooms basically have the same outlook with dorms and so on." Then they had their individualities which Kitty didn't need to know anything about. "You can read about the houses and their common rooms in Hogwarts A History or ask Mr Kennedy for some other books." The Hogwarts library had a vast amount books that deserved to be read after all.

Laurel listened intently as Kitty brought up the heart of the reason for wanting this meeting. Glancing around the room her eyes after a moment stopped on the head girl again as she inclined her head slightly at the vote of confidence. "I shall do my best to answer your questions to the best of my abilities Kitty. Shall we sit down somewhere?"

"No it's okay," she said in response to Laurel's apology about waking her up. The chair wasn't really a bed, so no shame in waking her up there. "I once asked my friend Mason to take pictures of the Slytherin common room so I could include them in my album of the castle. Still, I always thought it was strange that prefects couldn't go into all the common rooms."

Oh well. Kitty didn't expect that to change anytime soon, and she didn't want to be seen as complaining. She was just making observations.

She moved to sit on one of the chairs when Laurel mentioned sitting. This was the chair she'd been dozing off on before. Obviously now she was wide awake. The professor was ready to listen to her questions. "Well, as you know I'm going to graduate this year. I'm a little uncertain about my future outside Hogwarts, and I wondered if you ever saw anything. Even by accident. I don't know how often you receive prophecies, but I was just curious." She trailed off awkwardly.

Flynn knew Professor Vance was on to him, but he was still trying to play it smooth.

He sat there, watching her, as she took the book from him. Oh, what did he learn? Could he abandon ship now? Because he had learned NOTHING. He barely even learned anything in class, to be quite honest. Actually, no, he had learned something in class: how to force himself to stay awake. He already had an aching feeling that he would be failing his Divination OWL. Divination was so boring. "I learned that they break easily," he said, "and that they break by themselves sometimes."

He scratched his chin when the conversation switched over to something new, which was what he had wanted to happen. "I'm staying this year," he answered her. He did not want to deal with his mother's boyfriend, who he still was unsure about. Besides, with everyone gone, he could have the couch in the common room allllll to himself!

Middle of the night
 

Darkness fell upon the castle as a certain Hufflepuff second year made her way to the vacant Meditation Room, her large brown eyes unusually unfocused. Entering the room she seemed drawn to the assortment of crystal balls. There was a crash as an abundance of crystal balls shattered. The entranced Daisy removed a crystal ball and left something for Professor Vance.

Daisy left the Howler on one of the round tables and fled with an evil glint in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. A few moments later Daisy was outside the room, looking at her hands which were bleeding for some reason. Why was she out of bed? What was the reason she was where she was? Daisy reached into her dressing gown pocket...and her eyes widened in shock. She quickly fled, fear filling her.

Kitty was evidently tired but a chair was a poor place to sleep in so Laurel was glad that her apology was accepted. Shrugging she responded "It's always been that way. Prefects can't go into all the common rooms. You are free to discuss that with Headmistress Hawthorne though if you wish?" Laurel knew when her knowledge was limited.

Following Kitty over to the chairs, and chose the one adjacent to Kitty to enable easy conversing. The questions the seventh year girl had were not unnatural at all. Most students were uncertain about what lied ahead after they graduated. Smiling kindly she explained. "I SEE things and it's not something I can turn off with a switch so I get premonitions several times a day. I can though focus my Eye on one person if requested to." Thinking Laurel asked "What in your future are you most curious about? Love perhaps?"

It was amusing to watch Flynn, and she could almost hear how the wheels turned swiftly as he tried to grasp for something to say that obviously didn't sound like a confession. Laurel knew that he had broken her crystal ball and she didn't need her Inner Eye to tell her that. They could keep up the dance for now. It passed the time.

Furrowing her brows with interest Laurel said "Really? Weird, because they aren't supposed to be able to break. I put unbreakable charms on all my crystal balls. Did you see how the ball broke?" What did you do Flynn to cause it to break, hmm?

Blowing some blond strands out of her eyes and then pushing them back behind her ears with a hand she nodded "The christmas dinner will be something extra. The house elves always try to outdo themselves and there will be some presents too. Have you got a favourite christmas dish?"

Waking up in the middle of the night in her bed in her courters and sweating and out of breath Laurel sat up and turned on the light. She had had a bad nightmare, that was all. Glancing at the clock on her bedside table she shook her head at herself as her breathing slowed down. Nobody would be up at this hour anyway and shatter all her crystal balls in the meditation room. It was a crazy thought. It didn't make any sense. It was just the nightmare playing tricks on her, it had to be. Laurel had no enemies in the school and no student or colleague would have any wish to do her harm right?

Not being able go back to sleep just yet Laurel rose from her bed to go drink some water. With her glass in hand she went over to her window to look out at the grounds. After some sips of water she decided that she wouldn't get any sleep with the uneasy thoughts chasing around in her head until she had seen with her own eyes that everything was fine.

Throwing on some robes she left her office and headed towards the meditation room. The first sign that something was very wrong was the sight of door to the meditation hanging ajar. She knew she had closed it only a few hours ago on her patrol with Rose. Pulling her wand out and gripping it hard she stepped over the threshold to the meditation room. The sight that met had her eyes watering up and her breath hitching as she cried out in acute agony.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"This cannot be, not all my Crystal BAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLS!"

The whole room was in shambles, everywhere she looked she just saw complete heart wrenching disaster. Someone had gone to extreme lengths to totally destroy her beautiful room but there was no visible sight or trail of who that could have been. Shaking head, tears now streaming down her face and anger fuming in her veins and her Inner Eye tingling like crazy shooting images at her.

Laurel took a deep breath trying to calm herself before she walked on shaky heels towards on of the tables where something violet lied almost like it was awating her. Coming closer she saw what it was. Picking up the violet coloured envelope with numb fingers, she opened it up.

From afar, the envelope may have appeared to look violet, but its true colour was revealed the moment proper lighting hit it: red. The envelope began to shake violently the moment it was picked up. It then burst into flames, smoke forming into the shape of a winged animal, screaming:

"THOSE WHO STRUGGLE CANNOT SEE WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS.
STOP GAZING THROUGH YOUR CRYSTAL BALLS AND LOOK
AT WHAT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, SEER!"
Once its message had been delivered, it continued to burn. The only evidence left of the letter being ashes.

When Laurel opened up the envelope that was actually red and not violet as she had first thought it began to shake violently in her hands. It shook so much that she dropped it to the floor. It was good that she did because next minute the envelope burst into flames and the smoke formed itself into a winged bird in flight that screamed out its message to her before it disintegrated into a small pile of ashes.

Laurel stood shell-shocked for several moments repeating the howlers message in her head trying to grasp what it meant. Shaking, numb, teary-eyed, seething with anger and confusion she soon after left to go back to her courters but only after firmly locking the meditation room shut. She needed to sleep and thus she left for her office thinking that she'd deal with the cleanup and other actions when she was of a clearer mind.

earlier timeline!
 

She shrugged when Laurel recommended talking to Professor Hawthorne. "Maybe I will. I don't want to be annoying or anything. I just thought it was strange how private parts of the castle are."

But she didn't want to talk about that anymore, at least not now that the subject had changed to what she was curious about. "I've had a few nightmares this year about being arrested," she confessed, a confession she hadn't made to anyone else. "Partly I think those dreams were caused because of that weird message I don't remember writing on the floor, and how Ronan accused me of being in the Cult of Walpurgis. But you've probably heard how I plan to protest the Statute. In some of my dreams I get arrested while I'm protesting." She paused before continuing, and it was it was clear asking the next question was upsetting. "And I was wondering if maybe you've seen something like that in my future - if I become an activist after graduating. I don't ever, ever, EVER want to go to Azkaban."

The question about love made her smile despite how serious she was feeling. "I dunno, did you see any Gothic guys in my future?"She was glad love was brought up as it relieved some of the tension she was feeling.

"If there were no secrets or private parts to the castle wouldn't that be strange too?" Professor Vance asked. It was Kitty that had brought it up after all. If there were no mysteries or secrets there would be nothing to be curious or interested about.

Honestly though Hogwarts private parts wasn't why Kitty had wanted to see Laurel at this late hour. And there it came. She had had nightmares of getting arrested and they had increased after the ordeal she had been through a few months ago. Writing that weird message on the floor and being accused by Ronan to being in the Cult of Walpurgis. Kitty was clearly upset. Laurel chose her words carefully when she responded. "When we go through ordeals like the one where you wrote a message in blood that you can't remember doing and get accused of being a cult member it can get to your head and seep into your dreams. It's natural to worry, wonder and be scared and confused."

"There are other ways to protest the Statue then to become an activist and do things that would land you in Azkaban Kitty." Laurel said getting serious. "You've clearly taken the first step already. You put words to your fears and to what you don't want to happen. Remember that its only you Kitty that can decide what you are willing to do and not."

Yes, love. A much better subject for a growing teen girl. "I've seen some guys in your future yes but I don't know if they were Gothic per say. They wore makeup though." Laurel pondered.