Eiji sat quietly, waiting with whatever patience he could muster for it to be his turn to speak. Though he hardly felt like it would be worth the effort, this woman had clearly made up her mind and had done so with nothing but juvenile finger pointing. No hard facts, only vague time frames and instances of convenient solo observation by each of the Beauxbatons students.

"I did not do this," he stated flatly and concisely. "In terms of those accusations against myself, Kaiser and I never speak not engage with one another outside of lessons. No such conversation took place. I told Missa and Trinetta no plan because there was no plan to tell them about. I manipulated no first years into doing my bidding because there was no bidding to rope them into and, particularly, Cecelia and Phoebe are like family. I know they would not do anything like this. Without any certain timelines, your students are not providing enough framework for any of us to produce alibis." He paused to look at Professor Noble specifically for a moment, if anyone here could provide an unbiased character observation it would likely be that man since Eiji spent much time in private tutoring with the Potions Master. "I am a person who hates waste, Headmistress Desmarais. I don't like waste. Professor Noble can easily attest to this in my handling of ingredients and failed brews alone. More than wasted objects, I hate wasting my time and energy." He glanced at Trinetta and Missa specifically before looking back at the harpy of a headmistress, his tone teetering on hostile now and then. It was hard not to when all they were being shown was hostility in return. "I spent a great deal of time preparing to ask Missa to this ball, hand crafted a double-sided puzzle for her to complete. I gave it to her in the library, something Professor Sissay can confirm. I would not waste my time and risk public humiliation in people seeing that side of me just to destroy decorations later and crush her excitement. It would have been a complete waste of my time, hours better spend studying for OWLs."

Much like right now. This trial was a complete waste of everyone's time, but apparently that was something the Beauxbatons students enjoyed doing. They needed a better hobby.

Feeling Kaiser's foot against hers, the first year glanced at him, sniffling a little and doing her best to put on a brave face even though she felt very much like having a temper tantrum right there in front of everyone in the room. She might've, too, had it not been for Professor Noble. Finally someone was speaking for them. Finally someone was questioning these LIARS who were able to say WHATEVER they wanted without ANY proof and have the headmistress buy it. A headmistress who didn't even WANT to hear Noble's words, even if they made ALL the sense in the world. WHY wasn't Headmaster Trent saying anything? It had been the PERFECT time and he just...wasn't and Cecelia never felt so let down. She wasn't a bad kid. She wasn't. ...Why was she starting to feel like one, though?

When it was their turn to speak, the small blonde found it difficult to word what she was feeling, which was SO frustrating because it felt like only moments before she'd had ALL the things in the world to say. Maybe it was better, she figured, since her mum had always told her that speaking out of anger wasn't the best thing to do. She still FELT the anger, but the feeling was being quelled by the sadness she felt when she saw people that she KNEW were smarter and nicer and better than they were given credit for being BLAMED for such mean spirited things.

Phoebe's guilt over the pillow incident, one she didn't even REALIZE had taken place, was met with raised eyebrows, but also a look that she hoped her friend knew meant she wasn't upset about it. Something she'd said about her wand stuck with her, too, and Cecelia found herself looking down at her own wand and then slipping it out of the holster so when it was her turn, she could offer it up.

Standing when Eiji had finished his defense, the eleven year old shifted from one foot to the other and did her best not to let her chin wobble or her voice shake. "You can test my wand, too, I don't mind," She said softly, holding it up briefly before lowering her arm back to her side. "My mum spent a lot of money for a pretty new dress for me. It was just the right amount of twirly and she knew how excited I was about wearing it. Everyone who knows me knew. I've never been to a proper ball before...I was really excited to go to one. I wouldn't want to ruin it. I would never do that." She glanced at the others, the ones being blamed for things, and stood up a little taller, drawing strength from having them nearby. "We practiced dancing and everything..." The headmistress KNEW that and was STILL acting like none of them cared about the ball at all. It was just SO confusing to her. "And Phoebe, Bernie, and I don't frequent the arena. We don't. And THOSE kids are just saying words and anyone can make up stories about someone and it's JUST a story unless they can show evidence like Professor Noble was saying." She crossed her arms. "I could tell a story about ALL of them and say they did bad things, too, but I WOULDN'T because I DON'T lie about people I don't even know. It's WRONG and if this school has such good students, why didn't they learn THAT yet, Headmistress?" Her eyes searched the older woman's, trying to find an answer there even though she knew it was pointless. No matter WHAT they said, it was their word against the word of kids she adored, and clearly thought could do no wrong.

"I didn't do anything wrong." She fell quiet then, taking a seat again, wand on her lap. She just wanted to go home.

There were a lot of things happening at once and he didn't know what to focus on. He vaguely caught sight of Trent arriving not long after he did, something that wasn't doing enough to calm him down. He was glad that the man was here, sure, but it wasn't....... enough. He didn't know what the man would be like in something like this.

Again, he wanted Emma.

More and more people started to arrive, but Lucas was only vaguely noticing them. There were a lot more things going through his head, like what he was here for and how loudly his heart was beating and why no one was noticing how little AIR there was in this room! He would almost start flapping his hand in front of his face if he wasn't so focused on the hundreds of other things going through his brain right now.

But Desmarais's voice broke through his thoughts and he looked over at her, instead. HOOLIGANS?! Uh?? Scrunching up his nose, he looked over at whoever was sitting next to him and then back at the French Headmistress again. She was biased. BIASED. When did they become HOOLIGANS?! She hadn’t even explained - or the French students hadn’t explained - what they’d done wrong and she was already calling them names?!

Lucas didn’t like this at-

WHAT?!

No....... NO.

They thought he and Kaiser were responsible for destroying the OBSERVATORY?! Or, well, that’s what it sounded like.

His mouth fell open in HORROR as he stared at the older student (Lars), and then at Kaiser, and then back again. This was rubbish. RUBBISH. Wasn’t he there to see everything? Didn’t he use his EYES?! The Gryffindor could feel something bubbling up inside of him. Anger, frustration........ whatever it was, it left him feeling sick to his stomach. He wanted to scream - this time, for entirely different reasons - but instead, he gripped onto the edge of his seat a little harder than necessary.

Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry.

When another one of the older Beauxbatons lot (Aesha) spoke, his green eyes found her, instead, and he listened to whatever it is she had to say. But, after hearing her accusations, he wished he hadn’t. The bubble of anger only seemed to grow but this time, it was met with a frown on the fourth year’s face as he looked over at Cecelia, Phoebe, and Bernadette. So this was about the decorations, was it? And they had been visiting the arena frequently to try and destroy it?

He had a LOT he wanted to say about this. A L O T.

Was it time to speak yet?!

No, was the answer, as another Beauxbatons student (Luc) started speaking. And the more he spoke, the more confused and angry he was becoming. He didn’t know the two Slytherins well, if at all, but sabotaging the ball and...... what was it? Teaching the French a lesson? Yeah, it didn’t sound right. He wasn’t believing it for one second. Sorry, try again.

At least Noble had something to say and, for once, Lucas was relieved with what he was saying. The man had a way of looking and sounding scarier than normal, but not today! Today, he was talking a lot of sense and it was almost enough to make him actually cry, whether it was from anger or relief.

But the French Headmistress wasn’t allowing it and that only caused his shoulders to slump and for him to grip the edges of his seat once again.

When it was their turn to speak, he didn’t immediately speak. It wasn’t his time. And he still felt a lot of anger bubbling up inside of him that he was sure it would bubble up and out if he spoke too soon. So, he stayed quiet and listened to whatever it is that the others had to say. Even people in the audience were speaking up and he......... almost forgot that some of them were there. There was more to focus on than he would’ve liked.

Enough was enough. When Cece was done speaking, Lucas stood up, despite being tall already. In any other situation, he would’ve chose to stay quiet or only chose to speak while looking as small as possible. But today, with the blood pounding in his ears and his fists clenched at his sides, he was choosing to say anything he wanted to. "You can check my wand too. Even give me Veritaserum, if you like, but you’re not going to find anything," What was the word? "terrible or incriminating because I didn’t do anything."

Breathe.

"I love Astronomy. I always have. Sometimes, Professor Sissay gives me extra worksheets to work on." Maybe he shouldn’t mention how much he liked sitting in the Observatory. "So tELL ME, why would I try and destroy a space for the only subject I’m confident in?" HMM? "And not to mention, I was also upset and comforting Professor Sissay when we noticed what happened to the Observatory. We came there at similar times, I wouldn’t have even had the time!"

He had MORE words to say about that but there were first years present.

What was next? Decorations? "I don’t know where she got the idea that I was going to the Arena multiple times but that is not true. I don’t care enough about the decorations to try and destroy them. I didn’t even know they were there!" Which, he felt was especially important. "And while I didn’t like the sound of a ball or dancing or partners, a lot of my friends cared about all of those things and I wouldn’t want to ruin their fun. I just wouldn’t. In fact,"

Oh merlin oh no oh no.

No no no no no. STOP talking, Dakest.

"I was........ even going to ask someone to go. I was plucking up the courage to ask him." His voice trailed off slightly as the sound of his heartbeat became MUCH louder. This was a bad idea.

"None of these....... these....... accusations are true. They don’t even have hard, solid, scientific fACTS, which is what we need. And without those, we can’t start blaming people because there’s no basis. It’s just not true." And with that, he sat down again, his heart still thumping wildly in his chest.

The more he watched was the worse things got. Somewhere back in the first set of testimonies, they'd crossed the line of "ridiculous". Introducing logic that then got shot down brought them into a whole new category that the man could scarcely think to name.

That whole metaphor of a train wreck and not being able to look away was...nearly accurate. Malachi had long since buried his face in his hands in disbelief. Were they really doing this? Had he fallen asleep at dinner after too much turkey? There had to be an explanation outside of this 'reality'.

Except, nope, this...this was really happening.

The Headmaster straightened in his seat when his own students began to speak and you know what? He felt just awful. He'd brought them to a place where they clearly were not welcome and the effects of that were as transparent as this trial. If he had somewhere else, he'd have taken them in a heart beat. At the moment, he felt stuck between a rock and a hard place and at a loss as to how to properly rescue them.

He cringed at the thinly veiled accusation of one Hufflepuff before turning his gaze to Desmarais. "It's all hearsay at best. A terrible case of 'he said she said' at worse." Was he hoping Ojeda hadn't just set her off,? Absolutely. "Let's end this. Neither set of students had motive and if we only have spoken words as evidence then the evidence is severely lacking." Assuming he was allowed to make these calls. Did Headmaster mean anything while he was here? Time to find out. "It's nearly time for dinner. It's been a long day and emotions are running understandably high...but there's nothing to convict on. Now, I'm not saying your students are liars." So as not to offend her delicate sensibilities. "But I'm saying mine aren't either. They've given you their side of the story and offered ways for you to verify. That's that unless your students make the same offer. Either way, my students are done being accused without due cause."

She...was honestly feeling SO attacked right now and it showed in the way the anger contorted her expression into one of unmistakable rage.

Her students had been the perfect hosts through all the devastation the Hogwarts students had brought. She herself OPENED HER HOME to them and that Hufflepuff had the nerve...the gall....—and those others. The sappy tales of lies. Looking forward to the ball her butt (pardon her French). Everyone was so quick to assume her students were the ones lying but these students and their fake tears and fake expressions of hurt, did they think she would fall for it?

Well they thought wrong.

In fact, why had she agreed indeed. Why had she subjected herself to those who had such a poor reputation to begin with? At this point, there was only one thing to be done.

“You are right.” She told their Headmaster. On his own, he wasn’t a bad man but he couldn’t see his students for the rotten seeds they were. It left him blind and made him weak. Incompetent. He didn’t have the level of discipline this lot needed and she wouldn’t allow that to soil her school any further. “I am done wiz zhis pointless run around. I am done listening to lies. Mostly, I am done putting up wiz zhe rotten attitudez.” Ojeda had been outright mocking her and no one bothered to acknowledge it. Well. She would. “Get out. All of you. Tonight. You will leave L’Académie de Magie Beauxbatons. I don’t want a single one of you stepping foot back inside zhis castle az long az I am Headmistress. I ‘av ‘it my limit and will not allow you to tarnish anysing elze. Zhat is my final ruling, Malachi and I will ‘ear no more of zhis. Pack your students and GO.”

Ungrateful rats. They had a roof over their heads and more culture in one corner of this castle than Hogwarts contained all over. They had an opportunity for something great and threw it all away. Then they had the nerve to go trying to deny it all and paint her students to be the bad guys. No more if that.

As much as Mathys wished to side with his headmistress, being in her foul graces had brought about great strain since the fiasco that had been the rose garden towards the start of term, there was something unsettling about the manner in which certain events were unveiling themselves. The gargoyles' consistent unrest, the slashes and damage cause by fire, his pupils somewhat erratic behavior...there was much that did not add up in his eyes. Thus, the Papillonlisse Head of House had spent his past hour deep in investigation and what he had unearthed was almost intimidating onto himself for not having a firmer grasp on such affairs.

His heard drumming in his chest loudly enough to drown out his the pounding of his Hebridean Black boots against the pristine marble floor as he moved with great haste. With a swift wave of one of his strong hands, the doors to the Inquisitorial Hall burst open with a great BANG as either door struck against the walls with a force that nearly knocked them entirely off their hinges.

"ATTENDEZ!" he commanded as he marched into he grand hall. "S'il vous plaît, attendez. I have evidence zat none of zese Hogwarts students are guilty of destroying ze ball's decorations. Nor do I believe any human has. Ziss ees ze work of a creature. Zat ees why ze gargoyles have been on edge all ziss time, because zere ees something een our great school zat ought not to be. Ze scorch marks and ze pattern ze flames take een all ze dahmages we have see ees far too organic for any wand. None of zese students deed ziss and we should be searching eenstead for a creature stowaway before sings escalate furthair."

"AH HA!" Phoebe wiped the tears from her face, leaving a streak of powder and tears from her nose to her temple and giving her a slightly erratic look. "I told you we were innocent! I told you! And..." She threw her arms around Cece, since she was forgiven AND vindicated all at the same time. Bestest best friend.

"And now your dumb school full of mean liars is full of bad beasts, just like ours is full of mist, and who do you think is gonna HELP YOU?" Not them, nope. These Hogwarts students were outie 5000, and she hoped all those dumb French faced liars got eaten by dragons and then pooped out and then eaten by worms and then pooped out AGAIN. "We obviously will help you because we are decent human beings. Right, Headmaster?"

Angry tears spilled down her cheeks as the headmistress just cast aside ALL the things they'd said as if they were made up. WHY did she even allow them to speak if she didn't CARE how they felt or what they had to say? She didn't want the truth, she just wanted to be able to say she had a trial so when people questioned HER behavior, she'd have something to make her look fair and open minded. It made Cecelia wish that ALL her precious roses would burn up and the garden would NEVER grow another rose for the REST of the time she was headmistress.

"Wouldn't want to step foot in this school again even if I was PAID to," She grumbled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. This was it, then. She'd get to go home and maybe it was earlier than she'd expected, but home was infinitely better than here. At least at home she could be herself without feeling like some sort of criminal. She'd pack her bags right now. Could they g-

Oh.

OH!

Cecelia KNEW it! She KNEW they were liars and now the headmistress knew it too 'cause even THEIR care of magical creatures professor was on their side in this AND he had evidence! She sat up in her seat, eyes widening slightly as she listened to what the man had to say and y'know, the blonde had NEVER felt so relieved, SO triumphant, SO full of need to say I TOLD YOU SO in her ENTIRE life. Luckily she channeled ALL that need into a LOOK that VERY much said just that and it was directed RIGHT at the headmistress because SHE had been wrong about things ALL along. Mean old headmistress jumping to conclusions just because the Hogwarts students weren't what she was used to. They hadn't done ANY tarnishing on purpose and now SHE owed them an apology!

The first year hugged Phoebe back tightly, some of her white makeup coming off on the small blonde's cheek and hair, but she DIDN'T care. They were INNOCENT and they were together and they'd stuck up for themselves and she felt PROUD of them, too.

Nodding her head ALL seriously along with everything her friend had said, she found herself softening slightly at the end because yeah, Hogwarts would help. They would because they were NOTHING like these kids who'd accused them for their own enjoyment. "I'll help look. 'M pretty good with creatures." But she'd ONLY help because the ONE person who had been kind to them from this school was asking for it and THAT was the ONLY reason.

Nettie couldn't help herself - she shot the Headmistress a LOOK when she reprimanded her. This wasn't a REAL trial obviously, so forgive her for not taking it seriously or following the proper protocol.

What happened after that was a whirlwind of emotions. First, she found herself BEAMING at Eiji has he - in front of PEOPLE! - talked about the adorable puzzle he'd made for Missa, which was such a moment of GROWTH for him and probably so hard that she couldn't help but be proud of her friend. A few moments later though, it came crashing down as she heard the younger students have their say in defending themselves. They just sounded utterly CRUSHED. How dare the Beauxbaton students do this to them! She could take whatever they threw at her, but leave the first years out of this!

Her heart dropped even further on this roller coaster of emotions when the Desmarais, having completely lost her mind, announced they all had to leave immediately. While part of her would have been relieved to be out of here away from the judgmental students here, they had no where else to go! As far as any of them were aware, there was still an evil mist hanging over the castle. Where would they all go?!

Frowning, and ready to stand up and really give her a piece of her mind - what was the Headmistress gonna do anyways? Kick her out? - when the super handsome Nostredame reappeared! She'd almost forgotten about him! Her attraction to him had dropped significantly after she'd been reamed out by him unnecessarily in class.

Wait, there was some sort of creature out there? The creature that was responsible for...the destruction of the Ombrelune common room? It all came screaming back to her, and she had never even considered that some sort of creature had been behind all of this...she had been so sure the Beauxbaton students had done it...

...This had been such a whirlwind couple of minutes, that Trinetta Gladin was speechless for once. She sighed heavily and slumped in her chair, rubbing her temples with her eyes closed.

She was just so done.

Uh... HUH?!

This wasn't their fault? Well no kidding. Bernie sat up straight when De Nostredame burst into the torture chamber. She had been prepared for no one to believe them (sure enough, it had happened), for someone to get upset (sure enough, it had happened), for the Headmaster to defend them (sure enough, it had happened, but not quickly enough in her opinion), and for the Headmistress to kick them out (sure enough, it had happened). But for someone FRENCH to defend Hogwarts' honor?

THAT was a surprise.

"FiNALLy," Bernie exhaled, letting out the breath of anxiety she'd been holding this whole time. She even relinquished her tight grip on her wand, and felt comfortable enough to stuff it into her boot (her usual hiding spot). The she leapt up from her chair to help, because she had been REFORMED from her suspension and HADN'T even said a WORD FOR or AGAINST ANyoNE this WHOLE TIME. She'd been counting on her word to not count, see?

Whatever, they to go find this mess-making monster! "I'll look for ze creature. I have a map of the castle."

Let the record Schmoe that Finneas had wanted to interject several times. There were many things that did not sit right with him throughout the duration of the trial. The first being the lack of substantial evidence. The second being the clear apparent bias. The third being how uncomfortable these chairs were. But the Headmistress already had it out for him and Professor Noble had done quite a great job on his own.

So.

Instead, Finneas just kept looking back and forth from student to student as they spoke. He very much had to stay aware of his demeanor as Eiji surprised everyone with his long-winded defense. Finneas had never seen the boy speak so much in one sitting. That on it's own was enough reason to declare them innocent. In Schmoe's humble opinion, anyway.

......... HUH?

After all of that they were being kicked out????????? But--

........................ DOUBLE HUH?

They were ........... not being kicked out?

Incredibly confused, and slightly disoriented from all that whipping his head back and forth, Finneas clumsily stood up from his seat and raised his wand in the air. He blinked a few several times. "Where do you suggest we start?" Looking. Because he would help to look. For the creature. That had evidently started this mess to begin with.

Finneas literally had no idea what was going on anymore.

There was a lot to unpack here.

So much had been said by so many people, Trent was trying to call an end to this joke of a trial (making absolute sense in the process, too), and Desmarais, unsurprisingly, had apparently only heard what she'd wanted to hear. There hadn't even been an answer to his question about the pensieve, which had been a completely serious one. No, she was just abandoning all pretence and ordering that they get out of Beauxbatons.

To be honest, Kaiser would gladly go, it was sort of a relief. He didn't like it here at all, and leaving en masse was much better than being kicked out as an individual. Without so much of a word of protest on his lips, he made to stand up so he could go and pack the few belongings he owned.

But then de Nostredame arrived.

Kaiser could have laughed out loud. Evidence that the Hogwarts kids hadn't done anything? Well, there hadn't been evidence that they had done anything, and that hadn't made a blind bit of difference. What did evidence matter? The fact that nobody else had been behind whatever had happened was more surprising, and doubtful - if this was all to do with a creature, Kaiser couldn't help but wonder if those lying students had set it loose in the castle or something.

Also, if evidence counted for anything, they'd at least face the consequences for trying to put the Hogwarts students in the frame and bearing false witness, but that was unlikely to happen.

As for the 'we should be searching' part, Kaiser raised his eyebrows slightly. Other kids were volunteering to help, but he was not going to be one of them. Which, according to Phoebe's logic, did not make him a decent human being, but that was okay because he already knew he wasn't one. Sure, it was kind of petty, but after all of this, he didn't really see why they should help. Who was to say Desmarais wouldn't accept their help and then kick them out anyway once the problem was solved? Which - again - leaving would be fine, the issue was everything behind it, everything that led them to that point.

Not that he said any of this. Actually, Kaiser remained pointedly silent and waited for other people to start leaving. Once everyone dispersed he'd just be on his way.

Noble practically scowled. "I disagree," he replied to the Headmistress. "I merely wish to ensure a fair trial, and cross-examination is an important part of that." It wasn't his fault that her witnesses were starting to appear less than credible. Between those wishy-washy testimonies, the Hogwarts students' protests (because really, who had ever heard Kaiser speak so much?), and the forensic tests he'd conducted in the time before the trial, he had a growing sense that something else was going on here.

...the question was, what?

He watched, as one after one his students defended themselves and their peers. In some ways, it was a remarkable turn of community, seeing all the houses united in such a way. “I can confirm, Eiji is remarkably fastidious with his use of ingredients…and the use of his time,” Noble said with a nod. It was something he could admire in the boy, especially in comparison to many of his inattentive and sometimes negligent peers in Noble’s classroom, though admittedly sometimes it could wear a little thin. And apparently the gossipers in his lesson had been correct about the Slytherin’s invitation to attend the ball. And Lucas had been intending to ask someone to the ball too? Cue Noble surprised.

What Noble wasn’t surprised at, however, was the lack of impact any of this rebuttal had on the Headmistress, even after Trent finally spoke up. Though saying I'm not suggesting your students are liars... rather gave the impression that was exactly what he was doing, so it was hardly a surprise the overly sensitive French Headmistress didn't take it too well. Ewan’s slip of the tongue – yes, Noble noticed – probably didn’t help either.

And by not well, he actually meant terribly, because she was actually throwing them out. Over-reaction, much? So more for French hospitality. He'd been about to raise his voice to get the attention of the Hufflepuffs, to escort them back to the Bellefeuille Common Room, when de Nostredame interrupted proceedings.

...work of a creature? Noble looked thoughtful a moment, before pulling three vials from the pocket of his robes. He swirled them twice clockwise, before peering at the rusty red precipitate that had formed. The results had perplexed him earlier, when he’d tested the sample in the arena – to the point he’d repeated the procedure it twice – but now... well, a creature seemed a much more logical explanation to the magical residue contaminating the scene. de Nostredame was correct, it’d been much too organic for a wand, especially one of a student.

“Now that you raise the possibility, it seems my own investigations concur, Professor de Nostredame,” Noble spoke above the offers of help from the Hogwarts students. “And if the magical signature I detected is to be believed, the sooner we find this creature, the better. Perhaps we should split into groups to coordinate the search?”

You need not look too far to find this rumored "creature". For those close enough to the windows, you'll notice smoke rising toward the twilight sky. At its base, reds and oranges and yellows.

Fire! What's worse, if you squinted and knew enough of the castle's geography, you'd know the fire was coming from the garden of roses the Headmistress prized so much.

While it may be hard to tell from this room, the fire is spreading indiscriminately.

Best get on that...

Elisa was among the audience to this... trial? Would it really be called that considering the lack of care on her school's testimony? Having not been a witness to the incident, all she could really do was sit by the sidelines and observe near the window. The more she heard from the Beauxbatons, the more appealing she found the outdoors again. Privately, she felt pity for the Headmistress. Headmistress Desmarais seemed like she could use the vacation from the school itself if anything. Nothing seemed to matter on what they said and collectively even the students who minded their own business were going to be considered trouble. Oh well.

Elisa rested her chin over her open palm while she glanced at the nearby window. Could this end now? Please? Even though the handsome Creature professor seemed to have evidence to prove their school's innocence, would that even matter? Her eyes were captivated by a seeming mist growing in the sky. It had the occasional sparkle of red and... wait. That's smoke. She squinted. Did anyone else see this? Glancing around. "Look everyone, there's a fire outside!" Elisa said, no longer had any other reason to keep quiet. Her index finger-pointing in the direction of the smoke.

Missa couldn't believe this day was actually real. But then again, this was a great example of how unfair things could be when awful people are in authority. She actually felt sad for the Beaux kids - how pathetic their lives would be when this is who they looked up to.

She watched as one by one all of them lied, accusing herself and her friends of things which were clearly bull. And then her friends, one by one, got up and actually defended themselves. Honestly why were they were even bothering? It was so clear what the stupid woman would do, and besides she didn't feel like staying there anymore when they were so grossly unwelcome.

So she chose not to get up, and not answer, but she watched as Eiji did - and honestly she hated that he had to tell the entire population of a private thing that was supposed to just be between them. Ugh.

It was ALL so frustrating.

And then there it was. The stupid woman was asking them to leave. WELL GLADLY. She turned to look at the headmaster - ready to tell him they should leave RIGHT AWAY - when the mysterious creature professor spoke.

....

Well.

Okay then.

She honestly wasn't surprised. At least one of them was competent enough to realise the truth. But she was however surprised with the way everyone just started jumping up and down to help.

The fifteen year old looked at the headmaster, clearly unimpressed and annoyed, "Are we going to ignore how this basically proves her students were lying?" she asked him flatly, before pointedly looking at the horrible Beaux liars, and then at the French queen too. "You are going to conveniently ignore this, aren't you?" Because of course.

Ugh. She couldn't help but roll her eyes, which is also when her eyes fell on the windows nearby - and her hand reached out for Eiji's, before pointing at the smoke.

He wasn’t at all surprised by the turn of events. State the obvious and suddenly you’re looking at needing new accommodations for your students. Malachi took a deep breath while the woman huffed and puffed. Was it bad that there was a part of him that was relieved?

He couldn’t send the students home, not with the rest of the term yet to be taught and some having major exams at the end...and they couldn’t stay here...which meant he’d need to pull something out of his hat in the time it took to get the carriages ready but surely anything was better than remaining at odds for months to come. That last month in Hogsmeade hadn’t been the worst. Not ideal but it wasn’t the worst. If he could get in contact with the—Precious Bean #4 say what now?

Yes, Malachi had heard the creature professor burst in and say it couldn’t be a student. Yes, he’d heard Noble more or less confirm. No, he didn’t think that meant they were unexpelled and the man was still prepared to lead his students out, get them packed and on their way.

One student, then another, then Professors offering to help... well, that was plainly problematic.

Trent turned to face the exit and gestured for his students to come along. “We’ve got much packing to do and it sounds like this environment isn’t safe for my students to begin with. We left a castle overrun with creatures and don’t need to reintroduce ourselves to danger. Further, the Headmistress hasn’t asked for our help and we don’t dare overstep our shaky place in her presence.“ Smoke?

The Headmaster stopped just at the doorway and looked toward one of the windows. Smoke AND a fire. That much was confirmed by the Ravenclaw’s shout. Toward the garden by the looks of it. Little James over there was right, they were decent people and would be happy to help but....and this was a big “but”...Malachi Neil Trent had a petty streak. Pettier when there was nothing left to lose. They’d already been kicked out. This castle was now a sinking ship with that fire. They were within every right to walk away.

Calmly, Malachi turned to Giselle. “By the looks of it, that creature has torched its way through your rose garden. It’s a pity. We want to help, truly. We’re nothing if not charitable, but you’ve kicked us out and anyway, you wouldn’t want the help of a bunch of incompetent, malicious, problematic students. Or would you?” Tick tock, the fire was spreading. He’d wait for her to beg or at the very least a please. He and his students had suffered enough indignities. Too much to be offering help to a woman who may still have been too pompous to admit it.

Patrick had been standing watching what was going on, feeling himself grow more and more frustrated with each passing minute. He felt as if he was having one of the absolute worst last years as a Hogwarts students. He could seriously count off the ways that this term had been ridiculously terrible. One he was not at Hogwarts finishing out his last term. Two his common room while not shared with their host students, was a broom closet. How did that happen? Three All of the french students seemed to detest them and for what reason? Four The kitchen, what kind of kitchen didn't really want you there snacking? He just wanted the house elves to make him a sandwich like back at Hogwarts.

Not even realizing it his thoughts, and running list was going on and on and on. Like that ridiculous song that never ended he used to sing at his muggle school. Shaking his head he heard the headmaster talking about the creature starting a fire in the rose garden. His eyes grew wide.

Wait? Was Headmaster Trent standing his ground and making the Headmistress.... grovel? Oh this was getting interesting. He watched the whole event curious to see what exactly would transpire

The series of events that transpired next had sent Carsyn's head waffling back and forth. Sure her fellow students had put up a decent argument and the Headmaster seemed to stand for them with a final statement saying let's move on... and then they were all expelled?? But then the creatures professor - french - backed them and said it wasn't a student, but a creature.

And then Noble confirmed it.

And then there was smoke.

And the Headmaster in a brave turn of events, said they had packing to do and clearly couldn't be set into the foot of danger as they just left a dangerous place. What did this mean for her though? Did this mean summer started early? Would she and Eron have an extra two or three months for their backpacking adventure?

She had notes about Beauxbatons school that could help the case, maybe, having been taking notes since the beginning in attempt to co-author a book about the school. One similar to Hogwarts, A History, but a Beauxbatons version. But did any of that matter now? What did matter was that they were leaving the French with no choice but to beg them to stay; the French were fully at their ... mercy. And honestly it felt grand to have the tables turned around in such a way where they were needed.

Although there was another question that the fourth year had; other than the fact that their students obviously made up lies. What about the tainted water down at the rose gardens that day for yoga? A creature couldn't have tainted water, could they have? But now wasn't the time to speak, was it? It seemed there were more pressing issues, which awaited the headmistress it seemed to reverse her ruling. And then they could have another discussion about their hosts.

Cole felt that the events that transpired in front of him was like watching a drama on tv only his peers we're the role players. Cece and the others gave good arguments to attest for their innocence and Headmaster Trent backed them. Cole thought that the french headmistress was going to give it a rest then when she announced that they we're all expelled from her castle. They we're supposed to leave in the middle of the school year? Was she serious? Granted the french students hadn't exactly been hospitable and had lied but where could they go? Hogwarts wasn't an option last they'd heard.

Shaking his head Cole waited for instructions from Headmaster Trent when the french CoMC professor arrived and announced that all the incidents we're caused by a creature. What creature would start a fire or sabotage ball ornaments? It seemed too farfetched.

Then Elisa shouted about smoke coming from the window. Looking out the window at the billowing smoke Cole wondered why Headmaster Trent didn't order them immediately to help stop the fire. Looking around at his peers and the surrounding professors he called down "Headmaster, professors shouldn't we try to stop the fire before it spreads everywhere?"

Mathys's arrival changed nothing.

If nothing else, it provided further proof that they needed to remove the Hogwarts students from the castle before they could ruin anything else. Don't ask her why everyone looked so triumphant and thought it showed any sort of innocence but the one who took the cake was the Ravenclaw asking if she'd ignore it all. "It iz obvious your horde 'az brought a creature into my castle wiz zhem. Zhis does not absolve you." She pointed out, firmly.

It was obvious. As clear as day.

Something else that became clear to her? The smoke and fire off in the distance. Giselle jumped from her seat immediately, screaming in abject horror at the imagery of her roses burning. Nevermind that she couldn't actually see them, the thought was enough. The despair crippled her in the first few seconds.

By the time she came back to her senses, Malachi was at the door instructing his students to get packed. What was he SAYING?? Had he lost every last one of his senses???? They couldn't leave in the face of this disaster. After all she'd done. Given them a home. To just leave! To decide he wouldn't help...because...what...? Slowly, realization dawned on the French woman. He...intended for her to beg, didn't he?

Non! She wouldn't! She couldn't!

But the roses...and as the Gryffindor pointed out, the rest of the castle if they didn't put an end to it. She waited a moment longer to see if he would budge at the insistence of his student but when he didn't, it took every muscle in her to swallow the lump of anger and humiliation that bubbled up. How dare he put her in this spot. Exasperated, she conceded. "Fine. Fine fine. I need your help, fine. Before zhe castle burns, we 'av to do somesing! We 'av to go." Ugh. This would kill her. "Please."

"Vance, as I've just stated, we won't be offering our help without the expressed permission of the Headmistress." He'd said it all of two seconds ago and would not be budgeting on it until Desmarais did. This was her pride and her castle. She would have to give up one to keep the other. His students would not have their names dragged through the dirt then jump to her aid as soon as it became convenient.

"We've not had a good record of offering help when she didn't ask for it and here, she has not asked for it." If she kept not asking for it, his students would really need to get a move on. The elves would be able to help.

But there seemed no need. Eventually the woman came to her senses and they could get back on track. Trent nodded once, somewhat satisfied that she understood she'd lost the upperhand in the situation and was willing to concede that it could not be done alone. There was just one thing. "My students didn't take any creature to your castle. Our help is under the condition you not turn the blame on them after."

The man waited for her own, reluctant, nod of confirmation before turning to his students. "Alright, the Headmistress, in her hour of need, is humbly asking our help to save her garden. I want no reckless behaviour. Water spells will be the way to go. If you're not sure what to do, I suggest you hang back or stick close to a professor. Let's get moving before it's too late."

And with that, the Headmaster exited the Inquisitorial Hall at something of a jog as he headed for the rose garden.

And there it was. What the Headmistress had been wanting to do ever since the rose bush incident. "Gladly." In fact, Dalia was already beside the doors to the hall, having started walking that way after saying her piece. She was completely over this place. Even more so after having to dodge the door as it was slammed open by Professor Nostredame, nearly missing being hit in the face.

What was that? A creature? "A creature that your students no doubt let in...." But that pronouncement plus the offers of help from those misguided first years was enough to make her rejoin her fellow students, if only to better hear the conversation.

Wait, Professor Noble had done his own investigation? And he waited until NOW to bring it up? And he agreed that it was a creature? And he was agreeing with the misguided first years? At least her fellow fifth years were showing more sense. As it seemed was Headmaster Trent. Or he was making the horrible Headmistress beg for it (their help, that was). An action that had a smirk spreading across the Cuban's face.

The smirk was wiped off Dalia's face when, after Desmarais did indeed beg, Trent agreed to help. "What?! We're just going to help them clean up their mess?! The one they just tried to blame on several Hogwarts students?!" Apparently, they were. Ugh, she'd much rather be packing right now.

A fire? Again?!

Cecelia's first year heart and mind didn't quite get the verbal tug of war going on between Headmaster Trent and the Headmistress, but what she DID know was that if they really were going to go off and pack while the headmistress's grounds continued to burn, all her precious roses AND the rest of the beautiful scenery Cece had come to appreciate were done for. HER students didn't seem as eager to do ANY of the hard work it'd take to put out the flames and this was ANOTHER reason it was so strange to her that the woman defended them so passionately. She was a strange creature, the headmistress. One of the few creatures Cecelia could not find it in her heart to like.

The small blonde stood, blue-green eyes shifting from one adult to the other as the older woman finally, FINALLY found some sense and asked for help. She even said please and everything, which was KIND of funny to watch because it looked as if it had been a painful thing for her to say. Well, GOOD. She'd been making THEM feel horrible from the moment they arrived, so she figured it was only fair to have her feeling uncomfortable in the end.

As soon as Trent made an exit, the small blonde paused to frown slightly at the headmsitress, and then she took off after him. She might not DESERVE their help, but Cecelia didn't like the idea of letting something so bad happen to the grounds just because they weren't getting on with their host school. That sort of thing seeemed unforgivable.

YES! ADVENTURE AND SAVING PEOPLE TIME! Phoebe bounded back to her feet and danced back and forth, just waiting for the Headmaster to tell them they could go and save the day. And. They. Were. Off.

"For the record, I expect a full written apology in my permanent record and no mention of false charges. Or you'll be hearing from my grandmother." Phoebe gave the Headmistress (who was SCREAMING over her roses) a little hair flip as she headed out the door right behind Cece.