Life had gotten incredibly messy in the span of two days. She and Figaro were back to not talking, mostly because she'd literally broken his nose of course she didn't feel particularly bad about the actual breaking of his nose. If he knew how to keep his mouth shut then the whole fight never would have started in the first place. But no, Figaro had a huge mouth and now Zel had been outed and Sophie had completely lost her mind. In all fairness the stress of the first two months of the year had been much worse for her. She'd been trying to take care of Ollie, and carry around this big secret of Zel's, trying to help him help his sister but she couldn't really talk to anyone about it, and then there were classes and whatever was going on with Deus. It all made her brain hurt, a lot. When Ollie had told her she wasn't coming back because being in school felt wrong it was like the last little bit that was making her hold herself together just went away.

So now she sat, with the rest of the members of SAWS who had been involved in the actual physical fight, waiting for Headmaster Reid to deal with them all. She was going to fall on her sword so to speak if it came down to it. She'd leave the group if it would mean he wouldn't force them to disband - though at this point she didn't know how anyone could have any faith in them at all. They couldn't even trust one another apparently. Sophie felt like she had failed so many people on so many levels that it physically hurt to lift her head... but even in all of that she still wasn't really sorry that she'd let him have it. The danger he had put Zel in, the ramifications, the Sasha of it all. It was like the only way Fig learned anything was the hard way, the having his teeth kicked in way. Sophie also didn't particularly understand how she was the bad guy in all of this, why Zel had said she wasn't trust worthy. She had warned him that secrets couldn't stay secrets forever, that telling the other boys was a stopgap measure to buy him some time.

Now everything was ruined forever.

Figaro sat as far from Sophie as his chair would allow.  Waiting, like she was, for the intimidating Headmaster Reid to lay down judgement.  Figaro had already heard nine tales about it from his Head of House, and the last twenty-four hours in Hufflepuff Commonroom had likely been the most tense and awkward the house had ever seen.   Not only that, but a key feature of his punishment with Sandusky had been a mandatory silencing charm.  He'd only been under the spell for a day now, but it was honestly one of the most frustrating things he'd ever felt.  He kept opening his mouth to say something and nothing came out, and he'd have to just clamp it shut again.  He had to keep writing it down on a scrap of paper to explain.

"silencing charm" 

His professors had been notified and were given leave to lift temporarily for classwork it if they wanted, but predictably, none of them had yet. 

He slouched in his chair, head down, trying very hard to settle the knot in his stomach.  He was dreading his mum finding out - but that would happen.  He didn't see a way he could ever redeem himself to Zel, Sophie or anyone else in the school.  He wondered if Adon or Fauna would catch wind.  In his mind, this was an event that the entire Wizarding World would find out about and scold him for.  Maybe even Rita Skeeter would write an article. 

He frowned.  His life was ruined forever. 

Figaro sighed, gaze glued to his hands. 

He chanced a glance at Sophie.  He didn't know how to feel about her.  She'd trusted him so much as to recommend Zel tell him and Seto - should he be happy about that? Clearly it wasn't something he'd been able to handle, and he resented her for putting him in that positions.  Ah yes. And she'd also broken his nose.  The seventh year lads were giving him no end of shit for letting a girl beat him up, but they had apparently never been hit in the face by Sophie Flickwick.  His nose was fixed now, although it still smarted a little.  And someone told him it looked crooked.

Nicholas wasn't a stranger to the headmaster's office, though it was his first time in the office with its current occupant.  Though this was the first time he'd been in here after being stabbed, and by an eating utensil no less.  He still wasn't sure if the pain in his leg was worse than the embarrassment of vomiting after, blood didn't normally bother him but seeing his on a fork had been too much.  He had already sent two Gryffindor fifth years sprawling up the stairs after they started miming puking with well placed trip jinxes. A jinx wouldn't help them out today, though he wondered if he could get the Headmaster without getting caught.

Tripping the Headmaster wouldn't ease the tension he felt sitting next to Sophie.  At least Fig couldn't speak and make things worse. Nicholas hoped they would just get extra detentions or more points taken away. No reason to disband an already technically unofficial group.  Not like it had been a group function anyways, the whole fight was completely unrelated to SAWS.  Other than of course the people involved.  Nicholas would have even offered to take the fall for Sophie if it helped her and SAWS, but Sophie hadn't exactly stealthily broken Fig's nose.

In his mind at least, a fight was bound to happen eventually.  The Headmaster should just be happy no one was stuck in the hospital wing for days or worse.  And be happy Nicholas wasn't going to mention the fork stabbing to his mother since she wouldn't know that was a relatively minor injury at Hogwarts and she could definitely be louder than Sophie and would figure out a way to get to Hogwarts and yell at someone.

Church, for all intents and purposes, looked like a soldier at attention. His back was ramrod straight, feet spaced shoulder width apart, hands folded neatly in his lap. But of all things it was probably his expression, or lack thereof, that gave him the full look. Eyes forward and unmoving, his normal slight glare was completely replaced by a now perfectly neutral face. Which was good considering the near panic attack he was having inside his head. Thoughts raged and warred against each other. Suppose his father had tought him something after all, how to keep calm when needed.

Personally, he didn't exactly see why he was here. Aside from the fact that he was in SAWS... And that he had been there. Well okay he did get exactly why he was here. It just seemed... Unneeded. His only involvement was him trying to keep it from happening. Which he had admittedly failed to do, but it had happened much to fast to really accomplish anything. Second year girl tackling him notwithstanding...

Still, no point in making excuses. He didn't stop it, so in some sense it was his fault it did happen. Church let out a small sigh, mostly inaudible. Wasn't long now. Church just wished they'd get it over with.

Herschel had been most displeased when he heard about what had happened in the great hall between members of SAWS. Two professors had handled the situation, and he trusted the judgment of those he employed, so Herschel decided he would only look into one facet of the matter. That particular facet being SAWS and the ramifications on the group. Miss Flickwick had assured him that the group would be on its best behavior as the year went on, and that something so disruptive had happened caused him a lot of pain and agitation. But Herschel wasn't one to show those emotions publicly, especially not to his students.

He had requested to meet with all those involved in the matter who were also involved with SAWS. He wanted to hear from all of them what had happened, how they felt about it, and hoped that having a mature discussion would be possible and that good would come of it. They were just children. Children made mistakes. But he had to be sure that they learned from those mistakes.

When he finally arrived, Herschel gave all of them a look which conveyed his disappointment. Then he settled into the high backed chair behind his desk. "I want this meeting to go as smoothly as possible," he said with an even tone. "I trust that you are all mature enough to discuss this matter as adults. If you cannot, then I will ask you not to participate." He eyed Figaro, and couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I shall allow you to speak, Mr. Sellaphix, but if you set one toe out of line back to the silence for you."

"Now, first I want an explanation. I have heard from many- staff and students- exactly what happened. But I find it beneficial to start from square one. Miss Flickwick, since I entrusted you with SAWS at the beginning of the year, would be so kind as to oblige?"

Headmaster Reid's voice was sharp in the silence of his tall tower office, ornately adorned, rich with history and import.  His voice cut through the air and settled in Figaro's ears like a stone. 

But his eyebrows perked up when the Headmaster said he would lift his Silence for this discussion, but as soon as Figaro let that sink in, he was actually not as happy about that as he thought.  He was historically not very good with mature discussions - ask anyone in SAWS - and so he would have almost rather remained Silenced than risk blowing it and being re-Silenced.  Almost.

He bit his lip and waited.  Headmaster Reid addressed Sophie first.  But instinct kicked in and he leaned forward at once to interject.  He felt like he should clear things up right away and make it clear that he'd accidentally let it slip at Hufflepuff, and that it wasn't about SAWS.

However, the Headmaster had not yet lifted his Silence, and Fig's moving mouth made no sound.  It only took him half a breath to remember (again) the muzzle he wasn't quite used to yet.  He clamped his mouth shut, sighed heavily, and slouched back into his seat.  He grit his teeth.  It wasn't funny.

Sophie slowly raised her head, which felt far to heavy for her tiny body and looked at the Headmaster, hands folded in her lap, gripping one another so tightly her knuckles turned white, "I..." she paused and bit her lip, looking down the row of students in the office before clearing her throat and trying to start again, "In mid September Zel came to me asking about SAWS, and in that conversation told me that he had been attacked over the summer because his mother was abusing his sister and withholding Wolfsbane from her. I offered to help him as much as I could, with whatever connections I could still find at the liaison office. He was very adamant, seeing how Ollie had been treated and the pressure she was under being a known Werewolf that this be kept secret. I didn't think it was the best choice, but obviously it's his life and he had to deal with this in the way he best saw fit. I did tell him that it would probably be best, if he really wanted to keep things low key, to talk to his dorm mates. Seto and Sellaphix are not exactly known for tact and often speak without thinking. When I made this suggestion I thought...I thought we would talk to them together and that it would drive home the seriousness of the situation, how ashamed Zel was, how scared...and that they would both be adult  and kind enough to spare him abject humiliation by outting him accidentally".

Looking down at her shoes she paused for a breath, chewing the inside of her cheek as her stomach found it's way to her throat and she had to take a moment to keep from losing her composure, "The other night at dinner I was tallking to Cassie and overheard Figaro bring up scars and from that comment moved onto Zel's attack scars. It's at this point that things get a little blurry for me. Josh yelled at him, then I yelled at him...andbeanedhimwithanapple, then Zel was yelling, and kicked Figaro in the stomach, in the commotion I was pushed into Sellaphix, and he shoved me off, at which point I fell back against the table. There was a hex thrown, I think it hit Mai, Nick was stabbed in the leg, and I rather lost control of myself and punched Figaro so hard I broke his nose...and someone kneed me in the head while I was sitting on top of Fig, trying to decide if I was going to punch him again. Professors Sandusky and Hagrid broke up the fight...and I'm told I threw up on Harcroft's shoes before blacking out and Zel carrying me to the Hospital Hut".

She narrowed her eyes at the kitten faces on her flats, trying to remember if that was all that had happened. When she finally looked up she gave a helpless shrug and let out a long breath, "Zel said I was untrustworthy, that SAWS was untrustworthy, and Figaro accused me of trying to set him up," she paused twisting the ring on her middle finger, "at the end of the day, the crux of the matter is - while it was not my intention, and more than likely Figaro or Seto would have blurted something out by accident anyway - because of my advice Trumble has now not only been outted as a werewolf to Hogwarts, but the four other schools. His privacy has been violated, his anonymity stolen from him and he's now being subjected to the same looks and whispers that drove Ollie to leave school at the beginning of the month. I broke my promise not only to you, but to myself that this year would be different. In one night all the good work SAWS has tried to do was tarnished and someone I care very much about is suffering. I let you and the rest of the staff down in setting a standard for the kind of exemplary behavior and restraint that someone in my position should exhibit. I understand that i have not lived up to my part of our arrangement while you have honored yours. I will step down as interim leader of SAWS and leave the group if it means you won't force them to disband". 

Being in trouble was not a normal feeling for Cassie Flickwick. She was not familiar with being sat down to discuss her actions, and the actions of her peers. To a degree perhaps if she had known instantly at the fight would result in such a punishment or situation she might not have literately leaped into battle. Well of course she knew a fight had consequences but she thought she was protecting. Maybe she had been in the wrong? Perhaps she leapt at her ex too soon. She replayed the scene in her head as she sat there, hunched and embarrassed. Shame shrouded Cassie for her actions. Cassie sat in the chair awkwardly, she was not sure of the custom that was appropriate it. Cassie crossed her ankles and tucked them under the chair. It was silly to be caught up in this fight and SAWS had been doing so well, or at least Cassie had thought so.

Listening as the Headmaster addressed her, the shame clouded her mind even more. She felt horrid. She did not want to shame the Headmaster who had been so kind to their cause or at least remotely understanding a far cry better than the previous. Cassie shivered as she looked up at him finally, he seemed far more foreboding today than he had ever before. Gosh she really did not like this getting in trouble thing. Cassie glanced over at Sophie wanted to give her some form of reassuring look (though she failed). With a heavy sigh she looked back down at her lap, she was not made for this rebellious trouble maker life. She regretted the fight and her actions, she had mauled Seto and had hurt Huxley. The poor bloke must think her beating him up or something. Cassie felt rather horrid about that still, perhaps she should apologize again.

Though as Sophie spoke she felt her jaw drop as she took it all in. How could one person, so small, handle all that? Cassie looked over at Sophie and reached out her hand to pat her cousin's shoulder. "Don't take such a burden Sophie." She found herself piping up. "It was not just you and I know you think you should be above it all but with all you are trying to handle you are bound to be overwhelmed with emotions." She looked at her cousin concerned. She just felt so horrid that she could not have been there for her and understand more. She felt like she had let her cousin down. Sophie deserved someone to focus on her and help her through this, while she tried to help so many others. Cassie felt like she should have known. She felt even more ashamed. "And you are not the only SAWS member to jump into the fight Sophie." It didn't matter if she had taken the first lung or whatever, the rest followed suit. No, Sophie should not take all the punishment. Figaro shouldn't have said the things he had said, Zel had the right for anonymity.