Thomas had taken to wandering around the castle. He knew hardly anyone and everything was all new and overwhelming to him. He just needed a little alone time to think.

He had no idea he was in the vicinity of the Astronomy classrooms. If any of the doors were marked, his problems with reading just made him look at them blankly before moving on. He finally came to a door which was open a crack. He moved closer, pressing his eye to the door and peering inside. He didn't see the professor if he was there. All he saw was how inviting the room looked with it's big squishy chairs and cosy open fireplace.

He raised a hand, pushed open the door, and wandered inside, hoping for some privacy.

Edvard had settled in somewhat to the castle life, but not without help from his colleagues. Hogwarts was still a very new workplace for him and without his kneazle Tarzan he would have felt overwhelmed, nervous and panicky, and that was unusual for a man in his 30's.

Heading back to the Astronomy Tower after taking a stroll around the grounds Edvard was surprised to see the door to his office wide open. Had Tarzan grown so strong and brave that he could ease open the door to go off in search of rats or other foods? Scratching his head with one hand Edvard stepped into his office to see a young boy standing there, alone.

"Hello, is everything all right?" he asked in a friendly yet calm voice. It would be no use to frighten the first student who wandered into his area of the school. It could lead to the start of unfavourable rumours.

Oooh.. it was dead nice in here weren't it? Welcoming an' tha'.

Tom picked up an old book off the shelf, flicked through it and put it back. He studied the pictures on the wall: a happy looking family. It didn't at any point it dawn on him that he may be in an office. He was about to sit in one of the comfy looking chairs and help himself to a piece of parchment to draw on when he heard a voice behind him.

O_______O!!!

He jumped, whirling around to face the man.

A professor?

*gulp*

He nodded. “I fink I'm lost.” he mumbled quietly in this thick accent. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. I'll... I'll get outtah y'way.”

If the man would just move away from the door so he could get past that is.

D:

The boy jumped around to face him. The startled look which flashed over his face made Edvard think twice about how he approached the young student. Smiling warmly he offered his assistance. "I can help you find your way back. Where were you heading? To your common room?" The boy wore school robes in one of the 4 house colors. Being new though Edvard had no idea which house the boy belonged to. Red and gold robes didn't ring any bells.

Moving to go over to stand by the fire place to warm his hands Edvard pointed out. "You've got a thick accent there..Where do you come from Mr?" It was his office so it was his right to ask the boy's name before suppying his own.

Tom noticed the man's smile and he let down his guard a bit. He was no threat. In fact, he looked pretty friendly. “I woz jus' explorin'” He replied apologetically with a shrug of his hunched shoulders. “I fink I know 'ow to get back to me common room.” He was on the right floor, he knew that at least.

“Bu' me bruvvah told me about this secret room wot turns into wot you want it to.” He explained. "I woz tryin' to find it." Freddie though, had failed to mention which floor it was on.

He watched the professor warm his hands. It was indeed rather chilly in this old stone building. His accent? He cleared his throat and blinked. His ma TOLD him to try and speak clearly while he was here because there would be people from lots of different places who wouldn't understand him. “I'm from Laandan.” He replied, then realised he was still speaking in the same way. “I mean.. London.” He corrected himself. “Brixton.” He added with a single nod of the head.

Blink!

The boy's english accent was so thich that Eddie had trouble understanding what exactly the boy was saying. Concentrating he responded with a smile pursing his lips. "Exploring is great fun! Any good places you've found so far?" Maybe the boy would let his guard down some more if he understood that Professor Roslund was not out to deduct points or something similar for ending up in his office.

"In which house are you in? Judging by your robes i'd guess Gryffindor but i could be off base I didn't go to school here." If the boy was from Gryffindor then at least he was on the right level and the portrait hole couldn't be so far away. But Eddie honestly had no idea.

Secret room?

It took a few seconds to connect the dots.. "You're looking for the room of requirement?" Scratching his hair with his free hand Eddie added "I've just moved to london. I used to live in Gothenburg, Sweden."

Remembering his manner's and not to mention the right way of doing things he flashed the boy a smile and said as introduction. "I'm Professor Edvard Roslund. I teach astronomy. And you are?"

Thomas nodded and grinned at the man, it dawning on him that he wasn't in any trouble for being here. He loved exploring and was incredibly curious. He knew every nook and cranny and hiding place on the estate the family's council flat was on; every empty home and abandoned car. It came from spending so much time alone. Tom had never had any real friends to speak of, and he'd had to fill the hours during the day while he was supposed to be at school somehow.

He shook his head. “Not yet.” He replied. “Bu' I will. Me bruvvah told me there's loads of hidden corridors and rooms an' tha' in this castle.”

He looked down at his robes and back up at the professor. “Yeah. Gwyffindor.” He replied in the affirmative, then blinked. He didn't know there was other magic schools.. but, when he thought about it, that was stupid. Where would all the foreign magic kids go otherwise? “Are you new 'ere too then?” He questioned. “I'm a fird year but I only started 'ere this year.”

Room of Requirement? THAT woz it! Tom knew it was a big blaady word. “Do you know where it is, sir?” He asked politely. Sweden? Where in the world was that? “I ain' nevah been anywhere bu' England.” He replied not admitting his ignorance. “In fact, I'd nevah been outside of Laandan b'fore I came 'ere.” Anyway, he was waffling. He shut up and let the professor introduce himself.

“I'm Tom Broadmoor.” he replied with a nod of the head. He wasn't sure whether he'd attend this man's classes. Astronomy seemed hard.

Eddie sensed that the boy was getting more relaxed in his presence which was good. The last thing he wanted to do was paint himself out as being as being inapproachable and evil. The boy had after all only stumbled into his office by accident. Taking a seat in one of the comfy chairs Eddie gestured for the boy to do the same. "I wish I had the same fire for exploration that you seem to have. If you find any interesting places do come share them with me. I sadly don’t have very much time to walk around aimlessly." Eddie had papers to grade, points to award and more lessons to plan.

The boy was indeed a Gryffindor. One point for him, at least Eddie had remembered something of everything that Althea had told him about Hogwarts and its student inhabitants. Nodding he said affirmatively "Yes I’m new here too. I just accepted the vacant astronomy professor position this summer." The boy only started here in his third year? What had he been doing in the first two school years? "How come you only started school now?" Maybe the question was too personal. If so then Eddie didn’t mind if the boy didn’t answer.

Nodding he gestured towards the office door. "The room of requirement is on this floor. I can show you where it is if you want?"It would give him an excuse to stretch his legs and see if anything fishy was going on amongst the students.

Then the boy finally introduced himself "Pleasure to meet you Tom! Are you a fan of star gazing?"If so then maybe Eddie would know at least one student in lessons. He had heard through the grapevine that this year unlike the year before the student’s were attending classes in great numbers.

He was HERE!

The boy would have smiled, but he was still in slight panic mode. "S-Sorry for bothering... you," he wheezed. Gosh, he should get used to running it came in handy in emergencies. "T-The Observatory i-it's a mess...someone trashed it...bent a telescope... Looks like...we've been robbed," he said, fidgeting with his hands. "I-It w-wasn't me though." He shook his head, causing his glasses to slant sideways, making the ink O around his eye more prominent.

What panicked him the most was the idea of a dangerous criminal running around the halls of Hogwarts. What if it was serious mass murderer that stole telescopes. Now that was just stupid...but possible.

Merlin's teeth what was going on? Kennedy looked totally panick stricken and talked like in slow motion mode. Professor Roslund's eyes widened and widened as the snake boy told him what had happened to his beloved astronomy tower. This wasn't good at all.

"No, you did the right thing Kennedy by coming straight to me." Eddie said absently as he petted the boy on the shoulder for comfort. Swallowing hard he continued "It's too early to jump to conclusions. I have to go look at the state of things before I erm alert the headmaster, but I believe you when you say you didn't do it."

Why would a boy who frequented the observatory regulary just decide to wreck the whole place? No it was just not logical. Going back to his desk he grabbed his wand and then walked back to Kennedy just then seeing the big black O around the boy's left eye.

Blinking he asked "Kennedy who gave you that black eye? You haven't been a fist fight I hope?"

He did the right thing...and wasn't guilty?

Phew, Kennedy felt a slight relief wash over him. He was glad Professor Roslund believed him, because really, he wouldn't do something like that. Especially to a nice teacher like Roslund. His eyes followed the professor as he went to get his wand. Yes, they had to go check the Observatory again. What if the culprit forgot something and was back there?

"Let's go..." he said, but paused. A black eye? Him fist fight? What was the professor going on about? "B-Black eye?" he asked, rubbing his eye, then caught something on his fingers.

Black ink.

"I...I don't know how that got there," he said, staring at the professor with wide eyes. How did he get black ink around his eye. He thought about it and then it clicked. Maybe it was when he had looked though the telescope? Had the thief played a prank on him?

Oh, it was on, man!

Professor Roslund doubted that the culprit was still in the observatory but it would be foolish to go there empty handed, wandless. For all he knew whomever had trashed the place up could have come back to admire the destruction.

Thoughtfull he only vaguely heard Kennedy's voice when asked if they should go. He did however hear and see the confused expression on the boy's face when Edvard asked him about the black eye.

Good! Edvard didn't want to have to start a hunt for a fist fighter. Pulling out a clean napkin from his robes he offered it to Kennedy "Here, use this to rub away the ink from your face. I'm pretty certain the ink was a present from the culprit."

Sticking his wand in his holster he said "Let's go Kennedy and have ourselves a look at the state of the observatory."

[Occ: Now post in the observatory]