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Gauvain's gaze shifted from the departing form of Natalie Lebrun -- one of "his own" -- accompanying her injured Papillonlisse little brother and the Médicomage, and his eyes came to rest on Professor Dutour, giving the older man a long, unreadable look. The Metamorphose instructor had returned to Beauxbatons after the Elemental Incident in 1997, and had come from a background of security and enforcement in Neroli, so in Gauvain's eyes this apparent egregious lack of oversight was unthinkable. Add to that the youth and innocence of Bastien, the victim... as well as the fact that Gauvain's best friend Gaston was currently under suspicion for the circumstances... and Monsieur Améliore was a very, deeply unhappy man. But as always, his countenance remained unperturbed, all his thoughts and feelings on the subject kept rigorously under control."'Tragic' isn't a powerful enough word for it," Gauvain agreed with that part at least. Gaston had excelled in both Hypnose and Créatures Magiques when they were Beauxbatons roommates as children. When Gaston had applied to be a professor just a few short years after Gauvain had been hired in, Gauvain was elated, despite the circumstances. His childhood best friend preferred creatures, to the point where he had actually read the textbooks for the course even though his parents had not allowed him to take the course; but after his O.W.L.s and his coming of age, he convinced their then-professor of Créatures Magiques to let him sit the O.W.L. late (and pass it, of course) and subsequently take the N.E.W.T. course. So Gaston's mild disappointment that only the Hypnose position had been open at the time was understandable, as was his elation when this year's intended Créatures Magiques substitute turned out to be better at Hypnose, and he finally had the position he had dreamed of.The point was, Gauvain knew of few others with not only the skill and expertise, but also the caution and wisdom, to properly deal with any type of magical creature. So wherever this spiders had come from, or how they had begun to spread and propagate... it was not the doing of Gaston Malinat."I would put my faith in Professor Malinat against any magical creature in the world," Gauvain went on. "You are not as fortunate as I am, Arsène, to have watched his brilliance develop from the very beginning of our time as Beauxbatons students. This was the subject he was meant to teach all along. No, something else is at work here. Whether sinister, mischievous, or just plain irresponsible, I have no idea yet." He placed one elegant, slender finger up to his temple and brought it down the side of his face thoughtfully. "Who called for the Médicomage - was it you? Tell me again any details you can recall. The smallest thing may uncover a clue of some sort."
Personally Gauvain disagreed with Olympe's disciplinary choice against Gaston, even in spite of the parent letters. To his way of thinking, you needed a fully certified, fully capable, and full autonomous Care of Magical Creatures professor in order to combat an invasion of said magical creatures. He had not argued at that time and didn't see any advantage to be gained by doing so in the future; furthermore Olympe probably knew that Gauvain didn't approve, having worked together as long as they had, but after all Olympe was the one who had the authority to make these decisions, not him, and she was not under any obligation to consult him (or any other teachers) before carrying out summary judgment."I see," Gauvain replied regrettably to Arsène's response of coming onto the scene later. He had hoped someone mature - an adult of any age - would have a first-hand account of what happened. Circumstances being what they were, they had to accept the eyewitness reports from the student body with the understanding that details were missed or added unintentionally, personal biases were included in the tellings, and trauma would colour their recollection of events for days if not weeks to come."How much larger have they gotten? Precisely, I mean?" he went on with the inquiries, not just of Professor Dutour but of his other comrades and peers that were examining and discussing the scene. He had no fear of spiders, venomous or otherwise; if he had his way, there would be a complete security sweep starting right now with himself at the head of the charge, but in reality the safety of the students and a clear-headed review of the environment surrounding this incident were needed more than an extermination brigade.
She’d been on her way out for a walk on the grounds when she was intercepted by a wide-eyed frantic student who (after being reminded to take several deep breaths) managed to get out that her friend’s brother had been attacked by a spider and would she please come straightaway.In seconds, Mina was all business: her experience as Head Healer came roaring back as she Summoned her emergency kit and set off at a brisk pace with the student, asking even-toned but direct questions about what had transpired. Thinking ahead she slipped her hand into the neck of her robes, finding the amulet she wore as a necklace and tapping it once with her wand.Since the Second Wizarding War in Britain, additional safety measures were put into place at Beauxbâtons for medical emergencies. One of these was that, by means of a Protean Charm on the amulet, Mina had direct communication with L’Hôpital’s Médicomage dispatch center as well as its on-call Emergency Healers. At her signal, several things would happen simultaneously: the fireplace in her office would connect securely to L’Hôpital’s via the Floo Network, a Médicomage would be delegated from L’Hôpital via Floo to help stabilize and transport, and L’Hôpital’s Emergency Healers would be notified of a potential incoming patient.As the pair stepped out into the weak November sunlight, Mina reviewed what had been discovered about the creatures in the few short weeks since their sudden appearance. Not unlike many non-mammalian predatory creatures, the spiders’ venom was an evolutionary adaptation intended to immobilize or incapacitate its prey. From what Mina could discern from reports, the venom of this particular species contained an anticoagulant: that is, it interfered with the body’s natural clotting factors. It was much more difficult to reverse a neurotoxin; she very much hoped there wasn’t more than one type of venom.When she arrived on the scene, she was relieved to find the poor child awake with his sister at his side. There was a fair amount of blood, but it was more of a steady oozing trickle with no sign of spurting: that was good. She checked his radial pulse, nodding with satisfaction when she felt it thrumming steadily under her fingers. Likely no significant arterial compromise, then, which was a very good sign.She spoken soothingly to the terrified child as she finished examining him, talking him through all she was doing as she conjured a long cloth bandage and bound the arm a short distance above the site of injury, creating a tourniquet. It was faster and safer than starting with an incantation, since she didn’t know what exactly she was dealing with, and it would buy her more time to focus. The muscle memory of tying a tourniquet, however, was an all-too-familiar action that briefly and abruptly flashed her back to her time during the Great War – and, specifically, her beloved Marcel.But she did what many in her profession did best: took a second to compartmentalize, then turned her attention back to the task at hand.Once she completed her initial assessment and stabilization, she took a moment to more carefully examine him via spellwork. She didn’t have the means to brew a definitive antidote on-the-spot (she’d leave that to her capable colleagues in the Creature-induced Injuries unit), but she did have a mild sedative that would safely slow his heart rate and thus slow the spread of the toxin. Over the years, Mina had also picked up a helpful binding spell of sorts that would (temporarily) further aid in slowing the venom’s progress.L’Hôpital’s Médicomage (accompanied by a Medi-in-Training) arrived just then, and Mina gave the pair efficient hand-off of the situation as the newcomers did their own brief assessment. Filomena took a moment to examine their surroundings more closely, then, and noted that both Arsène and Gauvain were watching; perhaps they would have some collateral information. Moments later, the now-intentionally-unconscious student was levitated onto a Conjured stretcher, and the quintet whisked back to Mina’s office.
As the Médicomage, trainee, and Lebrun siblings vanished into the green flames, the elderly witch sighed heavily and massaged her temples.This was deeply concerning, to say the least.She had witnessed many concerning things in her lifetime, but few instances were more emotionally-taxing than serious injuries to children. She’d need to report this to Olympe, without question – however she needed more information, firsthand accounts. Was the attack provoked? Any identifiable triggers?The poor boy had understandably been too distraught to reliably describe what had transpired. And all she’d managed to get from his sister was that she hadn’t seen it happen but did hear screaming followed by a loud BANG, and by the time she was able to see the scene all she saw was her brother lying on the ground. Both would likely need to be gently interviewed again once the dust settled, in hopes of gleaning any additional information that might be helpful (that also hopefully would not traumatize them) – but that would, ultimately, fall to Olympe.She remembered, then, that she had seen Arsène and Gauvain at the scene: best to start with them.
The Healer made her way back outside, offering a gentle word or a light touch on the shoulder to those she passed near the doors to the grounds who appeared visibly-shaken.It didn’t take long for her still-sharp eyes to find her colleagues.“Sometimes I wonder whether I am getting too old for this sort of thing,” she remarked dryly, clasping her hands loosely before her. The witch’s brain was already processing what she’d just partaken in, and was neatly cataloguing it away for her to reflect upon and fully-process later. She eyed the pair of men directly.“Is there a chance that either of you saw exactly what happened?”
That was the second time that Professor Dutour had said the students weren't safe here, and Gauvain studiously did not look at his counterpart's face despite the urge to give him a sharp expression and a closer examination. The repetition was suspicious... or rather, it would have been, if he was taking part in a murder mystery with no explanation whatsoever. This was only an injury, a grave one but still treatable, and the cause was known, and moreover as schoolteachers it was their job to make clear judgments about the wellbeing of their students. Gauvain, you paranoid old fool, this is not Neroli, he reminded himself.Before he could respond either wisely or foolishly, Mme. Bellantoni approached them. Gauvain was especially grateful for her presence on the grounds and for how efficiently she had worked to take care of Bastien until the Medicomage had arrived to transport him. Understandably, she had questions for them - some of the same questions Arsène and Gauvain had already asked one another. "Neither of us witnessed the incident, Filomena," Gauvain replied apologetically. "We've already grilled one another. So far it appears that only members of the student body were anywhere near the incident when it actually occurred."For a moment an awkward silence rested between the three staff members. None of them had first-hand details about the incident, but all of them had seen enough of the consequences to be aware of the danger levels here at Beauxbatons. "I... agree with something you've said twice now, Arsène. Though I'm not happy to say it out loud. The palace is not safe for the children any more." He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. "Yet what can we do with all of the students until the infestation is dealt with? I hope Olympe knows of some other place where we can house and educate them in the meantime. Interrupting the school term would be detrimental to their development."Truthfully, he felt quite sorry for Olympe, having to make decisions in response to the situation. He was relieved that it was not his decision to make, but was sure that their dear headmistress was agonizing much worse than the three of them were.