Holiday Ghost Event: Road Less Traveled

[shnpc]

WHO: Everyone, affected and not
TONE: Not of this world
RATING: PG
WHEN: December 11th through 12th
WHERE: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
WHAT: Due to visiting holiday ghosts, some students and staff find themselves living as they would have if something in their lives did or didn't happen. An alternate version who could be better or worse off!
NOTE: This signals the event start. Use any posting format you want, and feel free to post about this as well on the journals!

Comments

[preanimator]

You can go into your dorm, you just can't come into ours. Did Kirkland kick you out or something? [He's starting to look at Moriarty a bit suspiciously, though ... he's usually so much more together than this, this is weird.]

[ihaveanappforthat]

...right. Are you feeling alright? Kirkland is in Slytherin, isn't he? I don't see why he'd kick me out if I don't even go in there.

I think something strange is going on...

[preanimator]

[blinks ... and then sighs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose under his glasses] It's the damn castle playing silly buggers again, isn't it? It likes to do it every now and then, but I thought we were in the clear when a bunch of students got turned into little kids.

All right, so let's check facts. You're still Jim Moriarty, right? Except you're in Ravenclaw now instead of Slytherin. Have you still got some weird thing going on with Holmes?

[ihaveanappforthat]

Oh! Yes, I remember that. Rather a pain that one.

[He smiles and ducks his head slightly as he scratches the back of his neck.

Then he looks utterly uncomfortable at the mention of Sherlock.]

Not really? We're friends, aside from that nothing weird.

[He fidgets slightly. Does he have to add the fact that he might be the only one who knows Jim is so far in the closet he's in Narnia?]

Wait - why would I be Slytherin?

[preanimator]

[It might be helpful! Not that Herbert cares all that much - he's one of the very few out and gay students at Hogwarts, though it happened because of a spell. He's just noticed Holmes's odd fascination with Moriarity, and has privately speculated, though he's never really asked about it.]

Because that's where you got Sorted. [impatiently] I don't know, because you're clever and ambitious, I guess. Obviously you're smart enough to be in Ravenclaw ... well, now you are. And you sound like you're from somewhere other than Dublin now, so I expect some other things have changed. Holmes would probably know more. [sighs] Which means we'll have to find him.

[ihaveanappforthat]

[He pulls a face, almost looking offended.]

Portlaoise, mate. I'm not fond of Dublin, knobheads flock there.

[He stuffs his hands in his pockets, a nervous habit, but there's a friendly upward tug of his lips.]

Can we not? I'd really rather pass that up.

[His dark amber gaze locks with Herbert's for a brief second then it averts to the ground quickly.]

Are you not going to let me in my dorm then? I'd - I'd rather not go to Slytherin's...

[preanimator]

[That really isn't typical behavior, and Herbert frowns briefly.] It's not your dorm, though. I mean, your things won't be up there, and there's no bed for you. I guess you can come up if you want, I don't care. You might get in trouble, though.

[ihaveanappforthat]

[Moriarty wets his lips before chewing at his bottom one.]

I don't like this.

[He purses his lips into a thin line.]

No one else is going to want me in there either, if I'm normally a Slytherin, will they?

[He pauses, thinking.]

I don't want to upset anyone.

[preanimator]

I don't honestly know that anyone will care that much. It's not as though no one likes you or anything. [scratches the back of his head] Who do you normally have for roommates? Or think you do? I'm not actually sure how this works, if you've gotten false memories or something.

[ihaveanappforthat]

They don't feel false; I hope they're not false.

[He looks up as though recalling.]

You, [He seems rather pleased by this fact. Herbert is being such a little sweetheart.], Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Daniel Pierce and Sherlock Holmes.

[preanimator]

Pierce? I don't know a Daniel Pierce. The rest are all right, though, so that's something at least. Who's the Slytherin 6th year boys, then?

[Ah, Jim, you've never been stupid enough or entirely too clever in a way that pisses Herbert off. Probably because from what he knows, you're in Slytherin and not sharing a room with him.]

We need to find someone else, too, to see if it's you or me that's askew. Has anyone else thought it was odd you were wearing Ravenclaw robes?

[ihaveanappforthat]

Really? He can be sort of... [He stops nervously and scratches the back of his head.]

Right - right - yes.

Kirkland, Edelstein, Beilschmidt, and [More bitterly added...] Young if I recall correctly.

[His dark gaze is brought back to Herbert.]

I have to say it's me, I've gotten quite a few odd looks but the majority of the people I've seen are either sorted differently or acting strange.

[preanimator]

Well, these things don't usually last more than a few days, anyway. [gives him a thoughtful look] It would be interesting to find out if you just have different memories, or if you're actually physically an entirely different version, though. But I'm not sure how we'd test that.

[ihaveanappforthat]

[He shrugs and smiles.] Test away if you can think of something. Do I seem different? I must if you didn't know how to react to me. You pulled a rather confused and disgruntled face. Hm, I'm not sure how one could test it..

[preanimator]

I don't really know you well enough to know what to test for, though I suppose you must know me better, now, if we've spent the past six years rooming together. [a little thrown by that thought, actually, hm] But it was mostly the robes I was reacting to, though you do seem different. Less ... edgy, I guess.