What Lies Beneath

[Iris Parevelle]

December 22, 6 AM.

Down in the very last level of the Ministry in the long since used courtroom sat Iris, across from her was an unconscious girl restrained by magical chains in her chair. The girls body was filled with numerous cuts and bruises. The blood had dried by now, but once she awoke she would come to face a very plenty of pain. Beyond the capture of the wolf, Iris had spent most of the night taking her anger and frustrations out on the beast until the thing finall passed out. Which was too bad for Iris, since she had started having fun. The table in front of Iris was filled with numerous folders, and an open document before her. She hadn't slept and had been up all night researching through the many folders that piled around her.

Iris thoughtfully tapped her pen gently on the table, she had just nearly gone through everything. The criminal? Mei Carmine. Fifteen year old Hogwarts student. Grades? Average. Life? Normal. Looks? ... average. She looked up for a moment bitterly staring at the girl. She wondered when she'd wake so she could have more fun, the anticipation was killing her.

[Mei Carmine]

It was dark and something like a nightmare plagued the night's rest that Mei had been hoping to have. There was a wolf and a little girl, that was all she remembered but every time the wolf came close to the little girl Mei saw herself standing over the still, bloodied body of Lily Potter. She had been unable to wake for a while and imagined the wolf running through the woods, tripping and falling receiving numerous cuts to its limbs and face as it bolted through the low lying trees. After a moment of darkness Mei woke with a loud scream and began thrashing about trying to go somewhere but she was constrained. There was no way to move, something was stopping her.

Then the pain hit. She fell forwards a little hair a curtain around her face and matted. Like the fur that had been on her body the night before. Flashes of the previous night assaulted her mind and tears began to fall with silent sobs racking her already worn body. She was shaking, weak and exhausted remembering only a few things now before they would all be gone from her mind. She knew she had seen herself do them but the nature of the change meant that she could barely remember what had happened, like a dream. Feeling a chill in the room she examined the floor through blurred eyes. It was marble. She must have been somewhere other than Hogwarts.

She looked up after a moment, allowing her head to fall backwards and rest on the back of the chair examining her surroundings. It looked to be a court room or some description. It must have been the ministry, then she had been stopped. At least that was a relief that washed over her suddenly. Her breathing was swift as, due to the pain and fear she began to realise her predicament.
"Oh no... Please, tell me they're alright." She tried to say but it came out as more of an incoherent mumble.

By that point she managed to focus her eyes on the woman before her. She seemed familiar and it felt as though she was having deja vu of some description. Her breathing quickened and she attempted to pull out of the restraints only able to move slightly before the pain overcame her causing her to cry out and slump forwards again. The wolf defeated.

[Iris Parevelle]

Iris was unphased by the sobbing, though she was pleased to find that the little twit decided to finally come around. Carefully she stood up, picking the file up along with her. With slow steps she began to walk toward the girl, her heels clacking loudly against the surface causing almost an echo to sound through the empty courtroom. "Mei Carmine, born 2005, gender female, occupation student.... " she rambled in a monotonous tone, reading from the file. She stopped, looking up from the folder and stared up at the girl. "Funny, I don't see anything here that says Reckless, Moronic.. Imbecile" she uttered the last words harshly, she wasn't in the mood to play. If it was one thing that pissed her off most, it was a careless werewolf, the very reason why the world was in such shit at the present. Stupid beasts who don't understand their place in society... who take for granted the freedom they're given, the medicine they're offered.. But what did they care?

"Hope you had fun while it lasted" she closed the folder shut, and leaned in close to the girl "Because now its my turn."she smiled deviously, eyes glazing over the already injured girl. She wasn't worried what the Ministry would think, such obvious injuries could easily be explained prior to her capture.

[Mei Carmine]

Mei's eyes moved slowly upwards as she searched for the woman who was speaking. Eventually, she found the woman and fixed her unfocused eyes upon the woman as she moved about the room causing her to feel a little dizzy. She was dressed which was a comfort to learn as she doubted she would have been able to face this kind of interrogation in her usual apparel after changing back from a werewolf. The woman had just read off a list of facts about her. It was so strange to be profiled as such that she nearly, for the briefest moment, forgot all the pain she was in and smiled in a tired, resigned manner dropping her eyes back to the ground as she allowed the next words spoken to be imprinted in her memories.

Moron and imbecile were at least founded in their application as such. Reckless, she felt, was somewhat less so. She remembered taking the potion before everything became something of a blur in her mind. She remembered only flashes after that and then the pain. It seemed as though the only memories that remained were just warped by odd vision. As though she had been standing there watching herself but also within her own mind. She knew, at least, that when she changed she could see herself doing things but be unable to stop it. She could think but do nothing else. Perhaps the most important fact was that when she awoke in the morning... She remembered nothing only nightmares. Usually they were fairly convoluted with no proper meaning. Symbolic if you will. But the aspects of the nightmares she remembered were... Different to normal ones.

She cleared her throat and looked back up towards the woman and laughed a little.
"You think that was fun...?" She asked softly after a moment, "I don't even remember anything..."
She was already in more trouble than she could have ever imagined there was no point in pretending anymore that she was a meek little student, the daughter of a muggle and a ministry worker. There was no point even fighting what would happen. She had no wand, it was probably still in her room or the Quidditch stands. If she was lucky. It was far more likely that she would be expelled or something and forced to live as a beast for the rest of her life. Even then, that too would not be permitted. She brought her mind to the present determined to focus and not slip into delirium as she seemed to be doing.

[Iris Parevelle]

"Oh, so now you finally feel guilty about it?" she asked, faking a surprised tone. She hated these beasts, they always had the same excuse for getting caught in these mishaps. 'I didnt MEAN to it just happened'. Tch. If it was something she hated more, it was those who thought they were above and beyond the rules. Rules were there to protect people, and were not meant to be broken on account of fulfilling some pitiful desire to be a rebel. Glaring coldly at her beneath her frames she added "Did you feel that way when you decided that you just didn't feel like taking your medication? Or was it after you savagely ruined another girls life?" she questioned nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders and playing along with the girl and her deluded fantasies where she felt victimized. Disgusting.

it was pitiful to her that a person could suddenly change their attitudes once caught. Their previous feelings of bravery and courage vanished in an instant, leaving a putrid puddle of disgust. She wanted nothing more than to tear her innards out and forcefeed them back to her. Iris still could not come to terms with the fact that they allowed these creatures to roam carelessly amongst the rest of the population. She wasn't insisting they be terminated, no... she wasn't that cruel. All she demanded was that they be left amonst themselves, imprisoned in a safeguarded facility, isolated from the rest of the world. Then they wouldn't have to worry about silly things like beasts going wild and being forced to play this game of cat and mouse come full moon.

"Explain something to me... " she began, and started to pace around the girls chair, her heels clacked against the stone floor "How anyone can still consider themselves human, after such a thing? Really, i'd love to know. Because here I am just racking my brain as to how anyone in their right minds could do something so callous." She stopped before her and stared at her "This is a crime, Miss Carmine. I trust you understand that?"

[Mei Carmine]

Mei sat there quietly for a moment and shook her head a little with a confused frown. She remembered taking her potion... But there wasn't all that much there... There was only a small amount and then... She kept shaking her head as the woman before her spoke.
"No, I remember taking my potion." She muttered

Savagely ruined another girl's life? She racked her memories and something seemed to make itself known to her. The image of a girl covered in blood and then an older boy trying to stop her from doing... Something. But it had to be a dream.
"No! No. I couldn't have." Speaking loudly caused pain to shoot through her head as though she had drunk a little too much firewhisky.
She recoiled slightly into the chair shying away from the woman before her, looking anywhere but at her face knowing that she would see the truth there. The movement caused her to whimper slightly in pain realising only now that she was bruised and also bleeding.

Something fired up within her when the woman before her mentioned something about being human. She seemed to be asking the questions Mei asked herself almost everyday. Half blood, half breed, half human. It had been something in Mei's mind for a while now. Something that always troubled her but to have these thoughts voiced by someone who knew nothing of it was, if anything, abhorrent to Mei.

"Well according to your laws I'm not human so what do I care what happens! Yes I know I broke the damn law! I guess that when one isn't classified as human they aren't even given an opportunity to defend themselves in court! Not that it would make a difference, you've probably got them all in your little pocket so no matter what I said, it would make no difference!" As she spoke she struggled a little against the chains but upon finishing she stopped fighting and sunk back into it turning away from her interrogator.

She closed her eyes trying to dim the pain she felt and push it from her mind thinking back on events at Hogwarts preceding anything that might have happened last night. She wanted to feel as far away as possible. She felt something in the wolf fighting for control of the situation. It wasn't so much that but it was more that she felt slightly more... vicious...

[Iris Parevelle]

"Unfortunately the law doesn't share my opinion on the matter. Deluded fools, Can't even see a beast even if its seated right in front of them" she grumbled to herself. They all let loose eventually.. It was their inner nature. Iris drifted back to her desk and planted herself onto the edge of the desk, crossing one leg over the other planting the folder onto her lap, her eyes scanning the folder for something specific. Once she found it, she pulled her glasses off, lifting her head to look at the beast once more. Just looking at her brought an unpleasant taste to her mouth.

"The ministry seems to think its unacceptable to send a student to be executed. But do you know what I think?" she asked. it was rhetorical once more, she had no interest in this things opinion "Regardless of age, sex or circumstance, everyone is a viable option for death especially when it concerns the breaking of law" Her voice was serious and cold, and did not waver. She wasn't messing around anymore. She might not have been able to punish her directly, but Iris had no intetion of making things easy by just letting this thing be swept under the rug.

"Fortunately for me, I can still exercise some order in this chaotic situation." She smiled deviously at her, unable to contain the delight. She wasn't fond of anyone being let off so easily and made it her duty to grasp some sort of control in any situation. Iris hopped off the desk and tossed the folder carelessly onto the table. "Your mother will be charged with neglect of containing the beast she owns. Perhaps this will make you understand the severity of the situation hm?" she raised a brow at her and wondered for a moment how much longer she could keep the brat chained up before anyone noticed.

[Mei Carmine]

Mei sat silently for a moment but her heart had just about dropped into her stomach. She was rather thankful that she wouldn't be killed... executed but at the same time she felt a little tinge of regret almost as though she had hoped that something would have happened. At least if she had been locked away where she couldn't harm anyone. She felt so incredibly conflicted in her views feeling as though she deserved a second chance but also every punishment one of her kind would receive for a similar crime. If someone only thought to do something about the werewolf problem when she had been younger perhaps this would have never happened...

She averted her gaze from the woman as she spoke about who precisely deserved death. She wondered how many people this woman had sentenced to death. How many she had directly or indirectly killed. At the same time, Mei realised that she hardly held the moral high ground. She was obviously here because of something she had done and, as far as she was aware, she had attacked someone.

"No. I was at school when it happened so it was my fault alone. How was she to know anything about this?" She responded desperately when her captor mentioned the punishment that would befall her, or rather, her mother.
It was not a fair punishment but then, since when had anything about werewolves been remotely fair? She shook her head a little.
"Please... Please let it be something else. It's not her fault! It was my fault!"
She was practically begging now...