Nancy was walking down the corridor on the...well, she was exactly sure which floor she was on at the moment. She'd managed to get lost once again, and this time even in the first few days of the new term. Gee! She really needed a map of this place due to her sense of direction being as good as a flobberworm's...although, flobberworms probably didn't get lost as often as she did. This could of course also be because they normally didn't live as long as humans did...whatever.

Above all, the feeling of nervousness due to the upcoming try-outs had apparently decided that now was the time to appear again. What was she supposed to do? Leaning against a nearby wall Nancy started rubbin gher temples trying to clear her head and get rid of the nagging anxiety inside her.

Varius was going down the floors one by one after his run in with the nurse on the seventh floor. It had taken him almost thirty minutes to get this far down because the stupid stairs kept moving and disappearing and he swore he could hear one of them start yelling 'weeeeeeeeeee' as it swung between floors. Maybe he could conduct an opera with the more musically inclined stairways?

Anyway, as he reached the fourth floor, he decided that it was a lost cause at this moment in time to continue all the way down to his common room which was all the way beside the Great Hall! It was rather convenient that the library was on the floor he decided to call it quits on, however. He could then take out some books about Runes and begin making his own runic language as he had always dreamed of doing... well, not actually until a couple of moments ago.

Hey, was that Pernipants and Plymouth?

Plymouth had remained quiet as he and Copernicus started up the stairs. He was brooding quietly at having lost five points. Plymouth hadn't really grasped the whole deal about points, but he was pretty sure that losing points was a bad thing.


Plymouth had his hands in his pockets as they made the odd and random trip up staircases that seemed to have a mind of their own. He wanted to ask Copernicus how they moved, or what he thought the point of moving stairs were, or if the staircases had some sort of secret agenda.... but he didn't. He was sulking and he didn't talk when he was sulking.

And Copernicus had GAINED five points, so Plymouth didn't want him gloating.

Finally, he just burst out with "I don't even know what I DID! Some lesson - that OLD man... I hope I don't have to have HIS class!"

"You can't talk to people here the way you talk to me or to your mother. They're... they want to be treated with respect. And I think that professor was cany enough to be able to tell if you were just sucking up to get on his good side." Honestly, Copernicus had no clue what he had done, but he liked it.

"Oh, no."

Yes, by golly it was! Varius' very good friends! Or so he liked to call them. Honestly, if mistaking them for band members, then going on a badger or lemur or ant hunt or whatever it was and then proceeding to match make them up with ex-school friends wasn't friendship then what the hell was?

"PERNIPANTS! PLY---" he hadn't quite made up a nickname for Plymouth yet, "---MOUTH"

He ran over to them, in his usual way that could be mistaken for a Ministry worker on a few too many at the annual Christmas office party. "How are you two?" he asked, rubbing their heads simultaneously. "Are you finding your way about okay? I am doing alright, thanks for asking. Have you been talking to the portraits?" He only asked because he had overheard them talking about an older man who sounded to be somewhat of a grump which reminded him of that portrait on the seventh floor who had cussed at him.

Plymouth was seething from Copernicus's uppity remarks. Plymouth needed someone to agree with him, tell him that the old man had been OLD and hairy and WRONG -- not agree with the old man and tell Plymouth he was disrespectful. Luckily for Copernicus though, Varius showed up.


Plymouth bent a little to allow Varius to rub his head. "You can rub my ear hair, little man."

"Uh, no... we're looking for our common room. Have you seen where all the blue people are headed?" He could tell Plymouth hadn't taken his 'helpful' advice as well as hoped. Oh well. Copernicus tried to be a good person and a courteous friend, but he couldn't LIE.

Walking down the hallway, Liz spots Copernicus looking lost with his brother Plymouth.

Shifting her bag to her other shoulder she heads over to them, quietly.

"Your ear hair?" Varius repeated, confused, "Thank you for the invitation Plymouth, but I think I shall pass." He, for once, realised how strange such an invite was but thought nothing more of it due to the fact that he had the attention span of a Walrus... unless Walrus' have rather large attention spans, in which case ignore the above metaphor.

"The Ravenclaw common room? Why yes, I know where it is! It's in the library of course. It only makes sense though, after all use little bluebirds (get it? blue... and a bird mascot... yes? no? okay.) are the smartest in the school and books are your tools for success."

He pondered for a moment, stroking his chin in that stereotypical way old, wise men tend to do, "I think I overheard someone say there is a statue of a cherub and you have to be able to say the alphabet backwards in under a minute in order to gain access. I haven't tried it myself yet..."

"I don't think I can say the alphabet backwards in less than a minute," Plymouth admitted as he rubbed the weird ear hair. "Z.. Y.. X.. W.. V.. U... T...," okay so maybe Plymouth could. Maybe Copernicus couldn't and he'd have to sleep out in the halls. Or in the library. Or maybe Plymouth would fake not being able to and be sent HOME where he belonged in the first place.


"Hey Liz!" Plymouth waved. "She's one of the blue birds, as Varius so kindly named us. Bet she can help."

"Hi Plymouth." Liz greets him with a sweet smile. "I was wondering where you to were off to, I didn't see you at breakfast."

"Do you need any help?" Liz asks and turns to Copernicus, "or are you just checking out the beautiful wall here?" she finishes with a grin.

"Miss Liz!" Copernicus brightened at the sight of her. She knew where their common room was. And she seemed bright, so she probably knew how to get rid of ear hair. If Plymouth was nice... they'd ask her. "We're a bit turned around. Have you met Varius? Varius, this is Liz."

"Why hello Liz. I am Varius, just informing these two flabbergasted fluxworms where their common room is. Ravenclaws, eh?" he rolled his eyes in a joking manner, completely ignorant and oblivious to that fact that Liz, too, was a Ravenclaw.

"Speaking of alphabets - I intend to write my own runic alphabet! Aren't you all impressed? I'm going to call it... well, I don't know yet, but it will come to me," he smiled sweetly at them all.

Giving a pretty smile to Copernicus. "Good morning to you!"

"I don't believe I have." Liz says looking slightly down to the young man, "Hello! I'm Liz." she says holding out her hand.

"Oh, that would be fun," she says to Varius. "I love Ancient Ruins, and the alphabets they have."

Varius was a certified loony. Not that Plymouth didn't already know this, but it was interesting how each encounter with Varius only deepened Plymouth's impression of the kid.

"Um." And that Liz girl, the one he'd met before -- was kind of making him sick with the way she was talking to Copernicus. Copernicus was as lame a three day old toast and had no sense of loyalty. No, Plymouth wasn't bitter.


"I'm impressed, Varius," Plymouth grumbled. "But, admittedly, little dude, I'd be a lot more impressed if your alphabet had directions to the Common Room. Or to someone who could get rid of this blasted ear hair," Plymouth said as he had a finger dug into his left ear.

Looking at Plymouth at the mention of ear hair, Liz asks "Are you having a problem with umm, ear hair?"

Thinking a little bit "There are a few ways of ridding it or at least diminishing it I guess..."

"We had some bad luck with a professor," Copernicus admitted, watching Plymouth dig at his sprouty gross ears. "And he cursed Plymouth with ear hair. I... maybe we ought to try the infirmary instead of the common room. Unless someone knows how to stop it." He gave Liz a sideways glance. Did she know?

"No point going to the infirmary, you'd have to wait. The nurse tripped over me on the seventh floor on her way to the Astronomy tower. But, I know how to get rid of the ear hair! If only you had mentioned earlier," he smiled reaching into his pockets and pulling out a half eaten carrot.

"Now this, I read in a book somewhere," he said as he began breaking the carrot into much smaller chunks, "May I?" He continued without waiting for consent from Plymouth and placed a bit of carrot in each earhole. "Let it set for five minutes and the hair should just fall out."

Thinking some more, "Umm, I'm not sure of the stopping curse, but you could Finite or even Evanesco, or both even to stop it and vanish what is there."

"A professor! Oh, no, I can't imagine what that class is going to be like..."

"Uh, Varius, I don't think you should do that...!"

"Um... right. I'm a stew. Just stick a fork in me," Plymouth shook his head. Unfortunately, the carrots fell out with that motion. There was something seriously wrong with this school. Plymouth had traveled the world and not encountered weirder people. Seriously.

"I don't think I want to turn my own wand against my own hand. I'm going to have to find someone I trust to do it," Plymouth looked between Liz and Copernicus. Did he trust either of them...?

"I think you should find a healer," Copernicus crossed his arms across his chest. "None of us are trained enough to do that for you. What if I Evanesco your whole ear and it's gone and you can only hear on one side?"

"Well, if you evanesco the whole ear, it would still mean you got rid of the ear hair and I, personally, Pernipants would give you an O for effort. Can't hurt until you try, maybe I could give it a go Plymouth - i'm a whizz with a wand!" He offered, reaching into his other pocket and pulled out his wand... which he had never used in his life being in his first year and all...

"I agree, with Copernicus." Liz replies. "Those spells would work, yes, but I wouldn't want to do it myself, I would be afraid of injuring you."

Putting her hand on Varius's wand, and lowering it, "No, I don't think you should try that quite yet."

"It's just ear hair...," Plymouth sighed. He'd do it for any of them. "Well. Fine. Alright. Let's just get to this Common Room. Maybe there's an adult there or something."

Plymouth crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, really hating his few experiences at Hogwarts. "Let's be careful where we point that wand, little Varius man. Wouldn't want to lose an eye and grow some stylish ear hair all in the same day."