The Butterwand Black Market :: OPEN

15 December 1922
8:00pm

Chaos had descended upon Hogwarts.

In the days since the Headmaster’s ban on Butterwand & Co. sweets, the castle was split in two.

The staff had thrown themselves into conducting searches with an intensity usually reserved for evil professors or missing students. Professors prowled corridors with narrowed eyes. Prefects, who were dedicated to their jobs, waited near dormitory entrances. Bags were inspected, trunks rifled through, and more than one unfortunate student was interrogated over a bulky coat pocket.

A small collection of students were indifferent to the sweets or openly supported the ban. Some muttered about disrupted classes, emotional outbursts, or the arguments erupting across common rooms. Others simply enjoyed watching chaos unfold.

But for much of the student body? The ban had transformed candy into treasure.

What had once been calmly traded between friends after dinner had become contraband of the highest order. Velvet Cloud Truffles were whispered about in corridors. Fizzing Starshards disappeared into hidden sleeves. Rainbow Pop Lollies secretly changed hands as if it were an illicit potions or cursed trinket.

A handful of students had quietly begun working together toward one noble and entirely reasonable goal:

GET. THE. CANDY.

Older siblings became reluctant couriers. Parents eager to purchase affection sent suspiciously heavy packages. Family house elves, bribed with praise, proved unexpectedly helpful.

The staff was not blind to these efforts.

Common rooms were searched with regularity. Dormitories suffered surprise inspections. Book bags were overturned. Coat pockets patted down.

Still, Hogwarts students were nothing if not creative.

False bottoms in trunks began appearing. Book bags suddenly had hidden pockets, thanks to the sewing lessons in Applied Magic. Coat linings grew mysteriously bulky, hollowed out textbooks, charmed teapots, bewitched socks, and enchanted hiding spots appeared overnight. Magic itself became an accomplice, helping sweets vanish into places no professor would reasonably think to search.

And somewhere amid the growing chaos, quiet meetings, secret trades, rumors of covert suppliers. Tonight, a small group of students arranged a meeting to discuss, conspire, plan, gossip, trade, complain and negotiate.

It was time to finally get their hands on the candy.

---

((OOC: Come one come all! Any student interested in joining the movement, feel free to join this meeting. There will be discussions about how to get more candy. Trading. Starting rumors to direct attention elsewhere. How to hide and conceal. And a large dose of complaining, because… teenagers.))

Chewing on a bag of ordinary jelly slugs, Maevie leaned back against the wall of the clocktower, legs stretched out in front of her. “We need to do something,” she said, looking around the group of gathered students, voice insistent. “I lost half a box of Honey Sunsets today! Professor Briar searched us on the way back to the common room.”

Maevie shook her head, plopping another jelly slug.

The news had broken like a wave against rock, crashing over their heads and eliciting outcries and protest throughout the entire school. Maevie had sat in stunned silence for a good minute before the real meaning of the announcement had sunken in. Immediately followed by a low thrum of panic.

They couldn’t take the sweets away. She needed them. They were all she looked forward to after a day of long lessons and fighting haunting thoughts. Everything felt nicer and lighter.

“We need to hide everything,” she continued with determination, nodding decidedly, “before they start searching our dorms. I heard someone say that they heard Professor Blackwood say that he wants to turn over the entire castle.”

She held her bag of jelly slugs to her left, offering one to the person sitting next to her*.

“But where could we hide the sweets? Do you think they have spells to find them with?” Her gaze darted across various faces, worry lacing her words. “I don’t think we’d have a chance then.”

The possibility alone flipped her stomach upside down.

---

*this could be you!

“We need to do something, I lost half a box of Honey Sunsets today! Professor Briar searched us on the way back to the common room.” Brooks was pacing. He did that a lot now. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. He needed to move. His skin itched with with an unnerving electric current constantly running under his skin.

Maevie was here, along with a host of other concerned students. The Professors had no right to confiscate their property. They bought it. It was theirs. He was looking into the legal implications, but his mind had trouble focusing lately.

“We need to hide everything, before they start searching our dorms. I heard someone say that they heard Professor Blackwood say that he wants to turn over the entire castle.”

Yeah, THAT was a problem. His stash was getting alarmingly small. Down to just a few Cloudberry Chews, one Rainbow Lolly and a Velvet Cloud Truffle. Brooks' eyes twitched thinking about an empty box of candy. It wouldn’t be long now.

“But where could we hide the sweets? Do you think they have spells to find them with? I don’t think we’d have a chance then.”

Brooks stopped in front of Maevie, giving her a reassuring smile. Unfortunately the sentiment failed when his left eye kept twitching in a very strange manner. Taking a jelly slub from his friend, he chomped down on it with a scowl. It wasn’t the same. No rush of adrenaline or surge of emotion. The only candy his body craved was currently on the Staff’s hit list.

“If we work together we can figure this out. The way I see it we have a few specific problems.” He said, counting them off on his fingers.

• Purchasing the candy
  
• Getting it inside the castle without detection
  
• Hiding the candy
  
• Keeping the staff in the dark

Brooks resumed his pacing, needing to move to expel the pent up energy and frustration.

“Of my last three orders, I only got one past the staff’s checks. And of course there is no money reimbursement. I’m sure I can stock up during Christmas Break, but the staff will be prepared for that. We need to work on concealment charms. Altering our luggage with false bottoms. Protection charms wouldn’t be a bad idea as well.”

He wasn’t focused on any one person as he spoke, just spouting out ideas into the universe, hoping something resonated with the others so they could work on a plan.

“Before I came to the castle I read a few history books on the place. There were mentions of tunnels. All very vague,” he said, waving his left hand in the air, as if to indicate the tunnels could be anywhere. “If we could find these tunnels, theirs a chance we could get out of the castle, restock, and get back in without the staff ever being the wiser. Anyone ever find a tunnel in their time here?”

Sitting quietly in the corner by herself was Morgan, which was strange enough for anyone who knew her.

She had candy. She wasn’t going to say where she hid it.

It was the portraits that were her main problem. They’d always been her problem. They reported everything she did to her father, no matter how much she tried to get them on her side. Most of the kids at school just had to worry about prefect patrols, professors, and the new aurors. But she also had the stupid portraits.

Morgan had been careful, possibly more careful than anyone here, which was saying something given that Rook had apparently read actual books concerning concealment strategy.

“—anyone ever find a tunnel in their time here?”

Green eyes cut to her best friend across the room. Just for a second. The particular look of someone who had information and was deciding what to do with it.

She looked away momentarily, then looked back.

“Maybe,” she said to the room in general, but only looking at the boy. “Depends on what you’re offering.”

She pulled her toad from her bag and set him on her knee, and then rested her hand on him so he couldn’t hop away.

“And for the record,” she added, “the portraits are a separate problem… they don’t watch everyone like they watch me. So if I help, I need someone to run interference on them.”

"And this is the clocktower."

It was a lovely night for a tour. On far too many occasions, Rae had caught Benji's little sister stewing in her own frustration, whether because she was lost – typical for first years, doubly typical for a first year who insisted on walking the exact route to each class every single time without deviation – or in need of a place that didn't contain so many people. Kathryn was a strange one, but in many ways, the Slytherin thought she understood. She was overwhelmed and unsure how to cope.

Where big feelings tended to make her explode, they made the 11-year-old implode.

Most didn't notice. With how quiet Kathryn usually was and how tightly wound she seemed even on a good day, many found it easier to overlook the tension that nearly constantly flowed through her tiny frame.

"It's lucky you're a Ravenclaw. Makes this one of the better places for escape without you needing to cross the entire castle." Something told her walking through the stimulation was half the problem. "Anyway, I know you don't go out after curfew, but if you did, I have it on good authority," being a prefect herself, "that not many prefects and professors can be arsed with coming all the way up here for patrols, even if they are assigned." Were there some? Without a doubt. She wasn't one of them. If her path didn't take her to the lake, then she wasn't going.

She tugged on the slim wrist she'd been holding, wanting to show her the best hiding places within the castle when...

Portraits and tunnels? Candy and confiscations? The addicts were at it again. It boggled her mind just how engrossed in this new craze most of the castle had become in such a short span of time. The girl, who herself had a sweet tooth, had opted out the moment she saw what it had done to the others. All her candy was pure, coming either from Billie or her father through the new elf he'd procured to better maintain the townhouse in Mayfair.

Suffice it to say, she didn't want whatever they were having.

"Well, well," Rae tutted at the gathered group. It didn't take Einstein to realise what was going on, not for the girl who saw resistance as a second form of oxygen – provoked or otherwise.

"Look, Kathryn," the girl had made it clear in her little way how...not fond of 'Katie' she happened to be, and Rae had chosen to honour that. "Addicts in their natural habitat. Talking big plans without the experience to see it through. Not to worry, they're not usually here."

She came to a stop before them, carrying along the first year with her.

The prefect shook her head. "Not a useful student in sight. This will never work." She didn't say it unkindly, but as a matter of fact. Dark brown eyes swept from face to face. A new boy who read a book and thought that made him a Hogwarts expert. The daughter of the Gryffindor head of house himself – and now the Ravenclaw one, too. You know, the one who used dark magic for fun and saw interrogation as performance art? No-longer-so-little Maevie Golding who looked like she just needed a fix and would fish it from the toilets if she had to. She saw determination; she saw some desperation; she didn't see expertise. "Your tunnels will have you in detention for weeks. Who do you think mapped them?"

As a former smuggler on the real streets of London, Rae could only watch the cracks they couldn't see. She could fill them in, of course.

For the right price.

Ruth Anaya did nothing for free.

The…clock…tower.

Kathryn had seen the clock on many occasions. While her wrist sported its own method of telling time, the girl was partial to glancing up at the magnificent structure whenever she was close enough. She liked the grand look of it and how…absolute it seemed to be. It clanged on occasion, its vibrations strummed through her, making her one with its ding. It had never occurred to her that there was a way to get inside it and had that thought crossed her mind, she wouldn’t have imagined that it was allowed.

The logical conclusion was that, Ruth being a prefect, her showing her the way must have meant it was perfectly sanctioned. Reality was different. It hadn’t taken long for her to realise that the older girl saw rules more as…suggestions than anything that should hinder whatever path she walked.

When she returned to Ravenclaw tower, she would ask Julia before making any plans to return to such a place. The little girl made note of it, though. She hadn’t disliked Ruth’s suggestion of a tour and had made adequate adjustments to her schedule a week in advance in order to accommodate it. To such a practical mind, understanding the layout of the place she now lived only made sense. In fact, the thought had crossed her mind independently, usually on the days she was most frustrated and in need of an escape, but practice—doing it on her own—proved much less feasible.

“Look Kathryn.”

She was looking, but unlike her older companion, she didn’t know what she was looking at, if not all the reason she needed to never return. Too many students. They talked about the dreadful candy and rule breaking.

Did the professors know they were here? Did Mr. Maddox know his daughter was warning about portraits and how she can help them further break the rules? He wouldn’t like that and Morgan wouldn’t like whatever he would do after. It made no sense to her, students doing things they shouldn’t with full knowledge that consequences were not things they enjoyed. Why break the rules then? The headmaster and staff were only trying to protect them from themselves. Gluttony and a lack of self control had swept the castle unconscionably. Soon, they would all be bursting at the seams of their uniforms, fat and undesirable.

The derision she felt wrinkled her nose but the little girl said nothing. Kathryn simply listened while Ruth told them things that didn’t sound anything like “stop what you’re doing”.

It was unacceptable but she suspected the Slytherin prefect already knew that and simply didn’t care.

Well then.

The thought crossed her mind to ask her mother all these questions that bounced around in her mind but…they weren’t on speaking terms currently. Her mother was likely unaware given that she wasn’t prone to speech. Kathryn was learning to keep things to herself for the sake of a peaceful existence now that she’d been banished from her mother’s room.

Maybe she would ask Mr. Maddox.

Maevie nodded along to Brooks' ideas, a little relieved that he seemed to have much more of a plan than she did. She had nothing, in fact, only a skittish panic that fluttered through her chest.

“Concealment charms could work,” she piped up, thoughtful. “We would have to help each other though. I don’t think I can do those. But maybe we can transfigure the boxes to look like something else. Like books. Or different sweets.” Would that fool the professors? Maybe if they found a willing seventh year who was really good at magic, maybe they'd have a chance.

But Brooks had another idea.

The mention of tunnels made Maevie straighten, a spark of intrigue dimming her despair. That sounded much cooler! Like an adventure. She had never heard of such a thing though, gaze darting from student to student in the hope that maybe someone else had. A vague sense of excited anticipation had her initial gloom forgotten for the moment.

“Depends on what you’re offering.”

Morgan spoke up and Maevie looked around, stuffing another jelly slug into her mouth. “Well, we’re offering mutual benefit of avoiding detection!”, she blurted with an air of someone that already thought they’d found their solution. “We can distract the portraits and you show us the tunnels!”

Easy! Done!

"Look, Kathryn." A new voice added to the mix and Maevie’s head whipped around, a surge of panic freezing every muscle when she saw who it was. "Addicts in their natural habitat. Talking big plans without the experience to see it through. Not to worry, they're not usually here."

Rae rounded the corner, a young Ravenclaw by her side. Maevie's heart jumped into a frantic rhythm. The older girl was a prefect. Would she tell on them and what they’d discussed? Her optimism deflated like a balloon losing all air at once.

Her mum would kill her.

Hold on—

“Addicts?” Maevie looked at Rae, half affronted, half confused. “We’re not addicts. We just want to keep our sweets!” The word useless slapped to her forehead like a label too, and Maevie inwardly shrunk. Maybe the tunnel plan wasn't that great after all? Uncertain, her gaze flicked to Brooks.

Brooks stopped pacing. For the first time since this whole meeting started, somebody had actually said something useful. His eyes immediately went to Morgan. "Wait. You know where one is?"

Forget concealment charms, false bottom trunks and random hiding spots. No more begging parents for orders, owl deliveries at all hours of the night and less hygienic hiding spots when trying to smuggle the candy into the castle. A tunnel would change everything. He took a step toward her, practically vibrating with energy and residual candy effects still burning off. "I knew it. I knew there had to be tunnels. You can't tell me a castle this old doesn't have secret passages. That's just common sense."

Then Rae opened her mouth. He didn’t really know the girl, but if she started throwing words around like ‘addict’ he didn’t think they would be besties anytime soon. His face immediately twisted into a frown. "Addicts?" he repeated.

That seemed very presumptuous. "We ain't addicts." His statement would have carried more weight if his eye hadn't twitched halfway through it. "We just like candy."

His eye twitched again, a tremor shook his hand, the pacing continued. "It’s really good candy. Have you tried it?" He paused, mind going a mile a minute, trying to process everything while a persistent voice kept repeating the different names of the candy in his head.

His attention drifted back toward Morgan. "The portrait thing ain't that big a problem. We can figure that out later." Probably. He had thoughts, would they work? Maybe. Hopefully.

Right now there were more important things to discuss. "The tunnels are the important part." Then his attention shifted back toward Rae.

She was awfully confident for somebody who claimed the whole thing was doomed. Brooks narrowed his eyes, taking her in. Full of confidence and arrogance. It was a helpful mix if she knew things, otherwise it was annoying and she could leave.

"You know, for somebody saying this'll never work, you sound like somebody who's thought about it before. I've been here a few months, I’ve barely scratched the surface of this place. If you want to be helpful, please enlighten us on your superior knowledge of the castle and its secrets."

Rae was older and a Prefect. The true question was could she be trusted. Until more information surfaced, he would watch her carefully and take what information she would give.

"Are the tunnels watched regularly? On a patrol schedule? You say you've mapped them, great, but have you actually accessed them to see where they come out? Are you here to help or just pass judgement? One is helpful, the other is not wanted or needed. His words came out with more of a snap then intended. His emotions all over the place lately.

The twitch barely noticeable now, Brooks folded his arms looking around the dusty clock tower. Thankfully, void of portraits. “If we have the location of a tunnel and information on why this is a bad idea, that's already more information than we had five minutes ago. Now all we need is a plan to get around the aurors and patrols, getting to Hogsmeade to purchase in bulk, where to hide it, how to advertise without the Professors finding out, how to keep the rumor mill at bay, how much to charge and about fifteen other issues. See… Easy peasy.”

“Wait. You know where one is? I knew it. I knew there had to be tunnels. You can’t tell me a castle this old doesn’t have secret passages. That’s just common sense.”[/b]

Morgan couldn’t help but to let a smirk cross her lips. She had never seen a tunnel herself, had only heard rumors and had a good idea of where one might be. But with the portraits watching her so closely, she’d yet to be able to check to see if the rumors were true.

[i]“Well, we’re offering mutual benefit of avoiding detection! We can distract the portraits and you show us the tunnels!”

She raised her brow at the younger girl, assessing her. She’d never been one for divination and reading auras, but the redhead looked absolutely sugared up. It was a problem, really.

And then another voice entered. Morgan looked at Ruth and then spotted the familiar face of her blonde step-sister. Kate.

Ruth was talking, and Morgan was listening, though her eyes were on her best friend. Rook’s eye was twitching in a way that would have been a lot funnier if she wasn’t honestly a bit concerned for him.

“Addicts. Right,” she said flatly. She moved her eyes to Ruth’s form, trying to gauge whether she was to be trusted. She was a prefect, afterall, and while Morgan did consider her a friend (the girl had taught her how to set something on fire in her first year), they’d had their moments.

Benji, for one.

That was over. The boy was scheduled to marry this prefect and he was now her step-brother.

Ruth had insinuated that she knew the tunnels, which definitely peaked her interest.

“For the right price,” she echoed the words back at Ruth as if she was considering it. “So name it. Because you haven’t turned and walked away or told us that it won’t work.”

Morgan stroked David’s head absently, completely unbothered by everything going on around her. Kate rarely spoke. She was safe.

“And for what it’s worth,” she glanced briefly at her step-sister before looking back at Rae and continuing, “some of us have more to lose than others. So if you’ve mapped the tunnels, I’d like to know which ones have the quietest portraits.”

“Addicts?” Maevie looked at Rae, half affronted, half confused. “We’re not addicts. We just want to keep our sweets!” Not-So-Little Maevie said.

"Addicts? We ain't addicts. We just like candy." Morgan's newest obsession added.

Rae's cheeks puffed, able to hold in her laughter for a few solid seconds before they erupted. Not addicts, they said while holding secret meetings to get their hands on the candy. The lengths they insisted on going to for something that was only a passing fancy... to insinuate otherwise was almost insulting. Then again, addicts seldom realised they were addicted. "Prove it then," she countered, dark eyes twinkling with almost predatory amusement. She'd watched a boy twitching his way into the hospital wing, kind of like the way the Brooks boy twitched now. "Abandon this nonsense and do what the professors say, then. It's no big deal, right? Just something you like, but nothing you couldn't live without? Winter break's right around the counter."

But they wouldn't.

They were cooped up in the clock tower trying to figure out how to break every Hogwarts rule they could find and have Morgan grounded until she grew grey hair.

Not very good friends, were they?

Rae waved off the tunnel assumptions, not surprised they hadn't heard right or had jumped to the wrong conclusions. Such was the life of those who obsessively had other things on their brain.

"I didn't say I mapped the tunnels. If I were your biggest stumbling block, the candy would already be yours." The girl wasn't nearly as invested despite knowing where those tunnels were herself. "The professors know about the tunnels; the headmaster alone has a whole map, very hush-hush, need to know. But if you're that keen to run into one of them out on a nightly stroll, then be my guest." Sometimes, it wasn't what you knew; it was what the people standing in your way knew.

The professors, unfortunately for them, knew too much for such plans to succeed.

"You know, for somebody saying this'll never work, you sound like somebody who's thought about it before. I've been here a few months, I’ve barely scratched the surface of this place. If you want to be helpful, please enlighten us on your superior knowledge of the castle and its secrets."

Rae patted Kathryn's head.

"Don't be like him, Kathryn. Too many words, too few of them mean much." She smoothed back a single loose strand that had managed to get away. "If I didn't consider helping, I'd have simply let you continue planning." The list he'd just rattled off spoke for itself. Getting all that done on their own? With every form of authority against them and no experience of their own taking such risks.

Tsk.

“For the right price. So name it. Because you haven’t turned and walked away or told us that it won’t work.”

It was a good question. What did she want for it? What could they offer her? "We'll consider it a debt for now, and I'll give it more thought." Rae had no worry about them backing out after the fact. An addict would do anything to get their next fix. In the same way, she mind sinking the ship even if she happened to be standing on it just to make a point. Consequences didn't mean the same thing to her that it obviously did to them.

"Are the tunnels watched regularly? On a patrol schedule? You say you've mapped them, great, but have you actually accessed them to see where they come out? Are you here to help or just pass judgement? One is helpful, the other is not wanted or needed.

There he went again, trying to aggravate the hand that tried to feed him. Ravenclaws truly were the most insufferable inhabitants within the castle. Her patience could tolerate them only in short bursts.

"Don't need to know where the tunnels lead out. You know what slips through the forbidden forest and into Hogsmeade without much worry?" Rather than allow them to answer, Rae eased away from Kathryn, focusing as she let the magic take her. Heat flooded her muscles as the transformation began, and when it ended, a midnight black Alexander archipelago wolf. Rae spun once for good measure before stretching back into the form of a girl.

"But getting it from Hogsmeade is only half your battle, isn't it? You'll need friends in high places to get past the inspections. I happen to know a pair of prefects who don't mind taking advantage of the less fortunate."

Benji would love to make a quick buck off this candy craze and she liked a good show.

Tunnels?

Sneaking?

Addicts?

Was this...were they...?

Kathryn's blood ran cold at the realisation of what she stood witnessing. There was nothing sanctioned about this meeting, nothing proper and nothing that should continue. The candy was no good for them. She had seen firsthand the way it had changed those who partook of it. This meeting alone was enough evidence of the horrid nature of those sweets. Now, more than ever, watching the flecks of desperation cropping up, the little girl was glad she hadn't allowed even a drop to cross her lips.

Were she more expressive, she would have looked at Ruth with abject horror. She was here...offering to help them break the rules.

What would they all do once they'd gotten into trouble? Would they even care?

"Don't be like him, Kathryn. Too many words, too few of them mean much."

That...that hardly seemed like the problem in this scenario. They were talking about sneaking through dark tunnels the headmaster apparently knew about and bringing more of that scourge into the castle. It would never end. The tables would become sticky. The chairs. Many commonly shared areas would be taken over by the sugar-crazy nonsense. They would become even more insufferable. Ruth wouldn't dare.

A silly thought; of course, she would. The girl was chaos incarnate when it suited her to be.

And Morgan, she should've known better. Mr. Maddox wouldn't like this at all.

Kathryn was appalled by what she'd stumbled onto, more appalled than she could find the right words for – even if unspoken. Someone had to tell someone. Not her, but someone. Perhaps if she told Avery, he might be inclined to tell someone who might put a stop to it. He was always trying to be the most responsible person in any room and liked talking more than people wanted him to.

Then Ruth turned into a wolf, and Kathryn's eyes grew to the size of saucers. She'd only ever seen Mr. Maddox do something like that, and most times, he was leaving fur on her mother's couch.

Her brother's girlfriend had....teeth – and, frankly, even more fur that could be left in places. Just how many worries was the little girl meant to carry in the span of one night?

It hardly seemed sustainable.

Rae was not impressed with their responses to her accusation.

"Prove it then. Abandon this nonsense and do what the professors say, then. It's no big deal, right? Just something you like, but nothing you couldn't live without? Winter break's right around the counter."

Maevie’s mouth opened to protest but the words died on her tongue. Was she an addict? She’d thought addicts were those that drank too much alcohol or did a lot of drugs. But this was about chocolate and caramel and lollies. It wasn’t the same, was it?

Was it?!

But the thought of giving up the sweets sat unwell and that churned her guts.

Closing her mouth, Maevie settled back against the wall, shrinking a little further into herself. She wished her jelly slugs were something else right now. She stuffed another one into her mouth nonetheless.

Meanwhile the discussion continued. Maevie watched it silently, eyes darting back and forth between Morgan, Brooks and Rae, glad she could leave it to the others. It all made her feel incompetent somehow — everyone had ideas. Maevie had nothing. The tunnels had seemed like the ultimate plan at first, but the longer this went on, the more she realized how little she had thought it through.

Like the fact that the professors might know of them, would patrol them if they did. Were there enchantments cast on their entrances, could they even access them? Suddenly it all seemed impossible again, her earlier excitement waning.

And then Rae transformed into a wolf, right there in front of them, as though that was a normal thing to do.

Maevie stared, open-mouthed, flabbergasted. Rae was an animagus?! She wasn’t even in seventh year yet! Was that something you were supposed to be able to do by sixth year? Would she have to learn that too? When she’d first heard of it, the process had sounded outright ridiculous.

“So…so you—” Maevie shook her head, trying to get her bearings straight. “So you can walk into Hogsmeade like that and buy candy for everyone and bring it back?” Was that what this plan was going to be?

Brooks was annoyed. Rae dismantled their tunnel idea piece by piece, and even more annoying, she made sense.

Her wolf was impressive, as all animagus were. But the fact that she could get into Hogsmeade undetected was the really impressive piece of information. He chose to ignore the implication that he was an addict. Mainly because he didn’t have an argument against. He knew it was an issue, the twitching and itching to his skin told a story, but it wasn’t something he needed to worry about yet.

He had plans. Once the candy was flowing it wouldn’t matter.

Brooks stopped pacing. For the first time all evening he looked thoughtful rather than restless. The wheels were turning in his head. Bridging the two halves of his life.

”I think we’re looking at this wrong. We keep talking about how to get candy into the castle, but that’s not the actual problem.”

For months, everyone had been treating each order like a separate operation. Each student with their own mission. One student, one package, one hiding spot, one stash. Sure, some kids would team up, but even then it was only a few working as one.

It was stupid. The realization hit him at once. Back home, his family made alcohol. His dad and mum owned a pub, muggle in the front, magical in the basement. Liam Garren made whisky and ale, and not the cheap stuff.

When prohibition started in 1920 everything changed. The conversations went from sales and batch ideas to distribution, supply, inventory and transportation. And above all else, secrecy. Lucky for his muggle father, his magical wife helped immensely in their cover.

Unfortunately, his dad got caught up in a raid, and died in the process. Thankfully, in this situation, the stakes weren’t as high.

”You know what this feels like? America. Prohibition. My dad owned a pub and distillery. The government banned alcohol, but that didn’t mean people stopped drinking. They just got smarter.”

His eyes went around the room, taking in the people there. It wasn’t enough, but with the prefects Rae was talking about, it might work.

”The people who made the money weren’t the ones selling one or two bottles. It was the ones stock piling crates. We don’t need fifty students trying to get candy into the castle. We need five.”

He resumed his pacing. This time, not to soothe the itch, but to think and plan.

”We need people with access. People who know things, who can help get past the patrols. People with information.” His eyes met Mysty’s, she had a lot to offer here. With a Head of House father and step mother, she had access to more information than most. Then his eyes hit Rae. The jury was still out on her, but she was here, so that was something.

”Information, transportation, inventory, storage. The rest is just distribution.” The idea was taking shape now, one supply chain, one stockpile, a small team handling inventory and distribution. Everyone would buy from them. No random owls trying to get past the inspections.

Organized. Efficient. Smart. Profitable.

“The adults are treating this like a bunch of kids hiding sweets.” Brooks folded his arms, a smile breaking out on his face. ”Maybe we should stop acting like a bunch of kids hiding sweets.”

"I didn't say I mapped the tunnels. If I were your biggest stumbling block, the candy would already be yours. The professors know about the tunnels; the headmaster alone has a whole map, very hush-hush, need to know. But if you're that keen to run into one of them out on a nightly stroll, then be my guest."

Morgan scowled slightly. Of course the Headmaster would have a map. And, from what she knew about her own father, he likely knew of them too. Tunnels wouldn’t work. Not in the way that they’d begun thinking.

"Don't need to know where the tunnels lead out. You know what slips through the forbidden forest and into Hogsmeade without much worry?"

She watched the older girl, noticed the shifting and was interested to know what form she’d taken, but that was as far as the curiosity went. From what Morgan knew about Ruth, which she thought was quite a bit, it didn’t surprise her that the girl had learned how to be an animagus.

"But getting it from Hogsmeade is only half your battle, isn't it? You'll need friends in high places to get past the inspections. I happen to know a pair of prefects who don't mind taking advantage of the less fortunate."

Morgan raised her brow. She knew of one; Benji. Her own brother. Step-brother. This is why he shouldn’t be put in a position of power. He never used it right. But then, Morgan thought, that depended on perspective.

Green eyes flicked over to Brooks just in time to see his eyes settle on hers. She didn’t look away, only nodded slightly because she understood her value with the plan. She knew things. Sometimes she wasn’t as observant as others, but she knew things.

“The adults are treating this like a bunch of kids hiding sweets. Maybe we should stop acting like a bunch of kids hiding sweets.”

She nodded again and looked over at Rae. “He’d definitely help,” she said, not saying the name of Kathryn’s brother. She knew the girl wouldn’t talk, but she also didn’t trust her to not give their plans away. “And your wolf is brilliant.”

Sometimes, Rae forgot there were people who didn't know she'd been training to be an animagus. It wasn't a secret, not for the girl who'd rattled on to just about anyone who'd listen, but she supposed she hadn't exactly been flaunting it after. There hadn't been any need. She'd undergone the training for herself, wanting to be like her adoptive mother and finding that bit of magic fascinating enough to warrant her diligence.

Maevie's surprise tickled parts of her.

“So…so you—So you can walk into Hogsmeade like that and buy candy for everyone and bring it back?”

"I could, yeah. I stop by every now and then." Not wanting to be bothered with the long waits for Hogsmeade weekends. "It's not too far a trek and Echo enjoys spreading her legs."

“He’d definitely help. And your wolf is brilliant.”

Of course, he would. Benji never passed on a hustle, and these people were ripe for the picking. Twitching, grand plans to throw themselves into tunnels they'd likely never seen, whole plans to commit organised school crime? Oh, yeah, she and her boyfriend would have a field day, making a few galleons while they were at it.

"Thanks," she grinned at the compliment on her wolf form. She hadn't known what to expect – had dreaded a salmon, as Ren liked to joke about, or something diminutive like a flobberworm. It had caused her so much anxiety in the days leading up to it that Rae had nearly changed her mind entirely. A Gryffindor she was not. She didn't want to think about botching it the way Barlowe had done (or worse) or spending her life being a cockroach. She'd wanted to be regal and imposing like Billie. Imagine her delight to find herself able to howl at the moon. "I'll fill him in when I see him later. Let you know his thoughts."

But then there was Brooks.

Ravenclaws talked...a lot.

Not Kathryn, bless her. An entire operation right under their noses in the clock tower, and the girl hadn't let out so much as a peep. Brooks, though? He was looking to give Avery Hale a run for his money. Rae waited for him to be done repeating everything she'd said in greater detail while talking about things concerning his American parents and their prohibition. In the last two years, the Slytherin girl had learned an unfortunate number of things about the United States and all the woes that never used to be her problem. She'd been... incentivised to remember names, markets, and pitfalls for that one magical day when she would take on a dynasty she never asked for across the ocean.

They would all have to forgive her lack of enthusiasm.

"If you're quite done preaching things we already know, we can set about making a real plan." It was obvious they would need all those things, and even more obvious they couldn't keep acting like kids who wanted candy. She'd just said as much, using far fewer words than the full feature that the Ravenclaw had provided. Sometimes, they effortlessly convinced her that they truly did like the sound of their own voices.

There was no other way any of this would work but those proper and careful planning with many moving parts. One did not simply waltz into Hogwarts with contraband candy.

"That all comes down to having people in the right places." Like she'd said. "The professors are counting on us prefects to help maintain the line. Don't fuck it up for us, and we'll continue benefiting from that trust. That means we can't be sloppy. Don't go running your mouth to people you aren't 1000% sure you can trust; don't sell to people you haven't seen twitching the way you do. Not everyone's a friend." And this lot seemed...trusting.

"Leave the smuggling bit to us. We'll know the details about any raids or sudden spot checks, candy availability, and scheduled intake. You'll be our only point of contact, and we won't be palming these off to anyone outside this circle standing right here. If you bring anyone else, we'll pretend we don't know what you're talking about and trash the candy ourselves. You can decide how you'd like to distribute it and what risks you wanna take after. Just ensure we get our cut."

She wouldn't be storing anything, nor would she be selling to anyone. Ruth Anaya wasn't trying to become the face of this misguided venture. The safest people in any scheme were the ones who, while pivotal, could prove the least involvement.

Kathryn Elise stood the picture of porcelain poise, but on the inside, she was scandalised.

While she'd been able to convince herself before that this was nothing more than idle talk borne from a desperation to receive more sugar, it was becoming clearer and clearer that they...actually planned to act on these bad ideas. There was talk of prohibition, prefects going behind the backs of professors, and sneaking through a forest whose name told everyone of the level of restriction it carried.

For what? Candy? The girl knew she'd always been shielded by her mother's private rooms in the past, but surely she'd have noticed if the population had always been so... obsessed.

Morgan had used the word 'brilliant' and while the girl had used it in reference to Ruth's animagus form, Kathryn couldn't help but see the bitter irony. There was nothing brilliant about any of this. They'd been told 'no'. The professors had said the candy wasn't allowed. In her mind, that was reason enough not to do it, not an invitation to find more innovative ways of getting it done.

Day after day, she watched the castle descend into more chaos. There were students who had begun to act the plum fool. She didn't know any of them well enough to know whether it might actually have been their baseline and a result of improper upbrining, but she knew it couldn't be allowed to continue.

From what she'd heard, at least some of the professors were beginning to link it to the candy consumption, yet they wanted to bring in more?

Madness.

They'd lost their minds, all of them. They wanted the madness to continue. They wanted fools prancing through the halls belting showtunes at the tops of their lungs or boldly declaring both love and hate within the same breath. They probably welcomed the disruptions and the way they could sometimes halt a class for a few minutes.

She did not.

Hogwarts was enough of an adjustment without the added nonsense that no one seemed in control of.

Reaching up, she took hold of Ruth's sleeve and tugged. They had contributed enough and witnessed enough. It was time to leave. There would be no further aiding and abetting, no offering of questionable services. She would be putting an end to this in what little way she could. That started with taking her brother's girlfriend away before things could get even further out of hand.

When the other girl merely patted her arm but continued standing there, Kathryn tugged a little harder.

It was time to go.