See? It didn't seem like permission was needed as the blond knew they'd have done the same for any of their other friends and dorm mates, and Vivian would have done so too if any from the two of them were in her position. So here they were, three friends walking along the streets of muggle Dufftown.

Sky's comment on snogs, however, led Vivian's cheeks to turn into a shade of pink. The prefect had to stop herself from further commenting that she didn't need to go on a school field trip to get any of them, but thanks anyway. Now that Sky had mentioned it, though, the idea didn't seem entirely bad so long as they didn't get caught. "Those can wait," was all she managed. But for now, she'd rather spend time with friends, and she'd let Chase spend his time admiring architecture too since that was something he'd probably be really interested in. Oh, and the skirt trend wasn't planned for.

Flirting their way to a free meal? Not a bad idea either. Would that work? She had never tried.

"I would never say no to ice cream," Vivian commented. Though the dessert would never amount to her love for marshmallows, it was still very high up her list of favourite--a second, she believed. Marshmallows on ice cream was a different story though. "Thank you, ma'am," she told the lady with a smile. Heavenly sweets, what a sight.

Turning to watch other shops they could visit, Vivian caught sight of Hattie, raised her hand to give the Puff a wave, and smiled at her. The prefect was well-aware that she and Sky weren't in the best of terms lately, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a friend to Hattie. She didn't need to choose sides and be in that level of immaturity. Vivian made a mental note to go see Hattie later on, just to check on her and be a nice friend.

Anyhow, they still hadn't decided where to head to. "Where to?" she asked her dormies.

It was turning into another day of limited reactions. Jessa barely spared a glance at the younger girl (Diandra) when Derf invited her to join the group. So far, she was under stimulated and that state never did very many wonderful things for her. Pretty soon, the rubix cube being spun and twisted over and over would be pocketed and the Ravenclaw would create her own stimulus.

Did she mind her joining them? Kinda. But Jessa had a feeling being Prefect meant you had to be welcoming to everyone even when you didn't necessarily want to be. It was probably a requirement of human beings in general.

The 16 year old offered up a small shrug of indifference, indicating she was neither here nor there with the idea but it seemed Diandra had already changed her mind so........no needing to save face. That worked brilliantly. Right now, Jessa didn't think she had the energy to put up with anyone who wasn't a proper friend...in the sense that she wasn't feeling up to forced conversations or trying to fill dead air, or considering all the things that didn't need consideration.

Blue eyes trailed back to the shopkeep who seemed to insist they were first. Well....if she was sure. Jessa looked to Derf and Zoryn again, silently questioning whether they'd be indeed sharing that sundae when her eyes caught sight of Abra. She raised a hand to wave him over, lowering it half way up when she realized he was busy making friends with...presumably a muggle. He certainly wasn't from their school, she knew that much.

"We might need another minute to order." Jessa told the woman. "Wanna be on the same page and all that."

"Where would you be playing?" Jessa asked, now looking to the boy who'd sought to engage her friend (Boyd). "The football, I mean." In case he wondered what she was on about. She herself wouldn't be playing--not in the mood for an asthma attack and all--but she didn't think she'd mind watching for a while and it sorta looked like Abra was already on board? Yes?

Most of the kiddos acknowledged her words and Kay took this as a good sign. She trusted them to use their best judgement when it came to interacting here. Quite a bit of them had already had the experience in any case but it did not stop Kay from keeping a sharp eye out for troublemakers. She would not hesitate to serve up any disciplinary action that she saw fit.

Since they were all already mingling with friends and muggles, Kay moved towards the best friend. "Anything in particular you want to do, Laurel? Kalen?'' She was very much grateful that the two of them had volunteered to help out with the trip, especially Laurel. That woman was always there for her.

Oh, MERLIN, ATTACK! ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK. It took more self control than Katy would normally have credited herself to keep her from throwing off her attacker and pummeling the person in all the softest and most sensitive spots, but she was glad she had managed it when the attacker ended up being... this little slip of a girl.

"No-not Sylvie, no." Katy pressed her hand against her chest and tried to calm her racing heart. What an unpleasant surprise. "Katy. Katherine Toussaint. You may want to reconsider your style of greeting. Even friends can be surprised by a jump attack. In other news, you have definite ninja skills."

Well...at least there was going to be no one secreting in the streets, right?

Between that and the other happenings around him, Derf hadn't even realized that he had been dragged inside or nearby or...well...somewhere in the general vicinity of the ice cream parlor. Inside AND being offered samples - which instantly sent off red flags instilled in him by Dora and his hand reflexively moved to swat them away because ONE DID NOT TAKE FOOD FROM STRANGERS. ESPECIALLY ADULT STRANGERS. But he relaxed once everything, you know, caught up with him. This was an ice cream shop and she (Moira Mckinley) was the owner - probably the owner - and it was only logical that she had samples of ice cream to hand out. Florean Fortescue's did this too, you know?

"What's the difference between chocolate covered strawberry ice cream and like...strawberry ice cream with chocolate flakes in it or something?" he asked nonchalantly as he took a small sample cup - though he didn't exactly eat it yet. Nerves were still there. Fidgeting a bit too. And, of course, hair ruffling was happening. Although he WAS watching Zoryn as she devoured her sample. Which was apparently good enough to want a cone of it. "Uuuuuuh...maybe," he shrugged at the captain's question, and Jessa's agreement to a cone. He ought to EAT his sample first before deciding.

Though in about five minutes he would find himself thinking about sharing a sundae with Jessa again. Just like when they were little and everything was so much simpler.

But first....

He was about to inquire about his own personal favorite flavor, Hokey pokey, and the prospect of sundaes when he heard Dorian's question and mentally forehead slapped himself because UUUUUUUUM. "CARAMEL cream is greaaat," he nodded in pseudo agreement as he ELBOWED the younger boy in the side. Even if Miss Ice Cream Lady hadn't really thought much of his question - which was a relief.

Though his conspiracy theories were now spiraling off into Azkaban escapee POSING as a muggle, infiltrating their life and stuff...maybe even with some polyjuice potion involved to keep the charade up, and just WAITING for the chance to strike. What BETTER way to strike than to CONVENIENTLY have free sample of ice cream to hand out to unsuspecting wizarding children?! EXPOSE THE STRUGGLE END THE INEQUALITY!

Wait...that was in the wrong order...wasn't it?

But his tailspin into theory was briefly interrupted by a certain fellow fourth year Hufflepuff.

"Oh...uh...okay," he nodded to Diandra when she decided to go off elsewhere. "I'll catch you later then, yeah? We're all gonna go check out the castle later. Maybe we'll see you there!" Which, well. left Derf wondering why they WEREN'T in groups seeing the town. Not that he was against freedom or anything. Just...with EVERYTHING going on it was...well...it was WEIRD with all the writings on the walls and then just letting them go free in a muggle area.

Hopefully nothing bad would happen. Just some slip ups like Dorian's canary cream question. Though now the fourth year was high key stressing out about keeping an eye out for things. So much for that relaxing weekend thought.

But then Jessa was waving at....."ABEY!"

And Abey's muggle friend (Boyd) with the football. Made him think of his Astronomy tutor who, well, she used her own ball and stuff to help explain orbits to him. It was very effective. Though she said football with an accent...but that was besides the point.

And his ice cream sample was basically ice cream soup in the little cup in his palm right now.

"Is there a park nearby?" Did Jessa still have the map with her? "Or like...castles have grounds. Reckon we could all kick the ball around there?" That was like...two fwoopers with one stone!

Laurel had seen and heard how the students left the bus behind her and then had spread out to check out the sights or whatever took their fancy. She had the night before had a little house meeting with her snakes to be on their best behaviours in Duftown and to not use any magic unless it was an emergency. Laurel would not like having to tell Regina why a snake of her house had broken a number of rules in a muggle populated area.

Anyways reading up on Balvenie as she walked Laurel heard someone say her name. Turning to see who it was she smiled as Kalen approached. "Hello Kalen, I am. Have you been to the castle before? Was it really the home of Mary Queen of the Scots?" He would know Laurel wagered since he read a lot more books than her.

As luck would have it Kay joined Laurel and Kalen just a few minutes later. When her best friend came close Laurel waved around with her guide pamphlet in front of Kay's face . "Me and Kalen were both thinking of going to check the Balvenie castle, home of Queen Mary out, want to come with us? We can try out some of the local cuisine after?"

Remembering that they were here to chaperone and not just have fun she asked her best friend "Did you see any sign of trouble brewing amongst the students?"

Natalie was very curious about a muggle town field trip, also mildly skeptical and also somewhat nervous that they would someone lose a student who wandered too far and got lost or something. She was hoping to not be that student.

Her cute somewhat springy street clothes were on and Natalie blended quite well into the muggle world. She had never been to Dufftown before and Natalie was mostly curious to do some sight seeing and being a casual tourist. She saw a bunch of students gather for some ice cream, but Natalie didn't join them. She also saw Derf, Jessa and some other friends talking with some muggles and it seemed like they were going to kick a ball around. Natalie wasn't athletic. So, for now she was going to wander by herself.

Looping her thumbs through the straps of her small backpack, Natalie began meandering down the street, her eyes scanning over the people, the buildings... and everything.

Kalen walked with Laurel as he looked around a bit, making sure that no kids so far were causing mischief. He wouldn’t put it past them to do something, but so far most everything seemed rather quiet. He nodded to Derfael as he saw the wave. Yes, he knew he was here and was rather surprised by the wave, he honestly thought the boy disliked him since the incident last year.

But then again, the librarian thought most of the kids disliked him, so there was that.

He smiled as Laurel spoke and he shook his head at her question. “I have not been to the castle before, and no actually, Mary Queen of Scots did not live there. She lived at Holyrood Palace, which is in Edinburgh. That palace has been the official residence of Scottish Royalty since the sixteenth century, I’m not sure why it says she resided in Balvenie, she spent two nights there, once. That does not a resident make.” He said as he looked down at his pamphlet. “Tourism perhaps?” He wondered softly.

He smiled at Kay as she joined them and he stuck his hands in his pockets.

“As Laurel said we were heading up to the castle, did you want to come along? ” He asked her with a kind smile.

Uhh. Uhhhhhhhhhh. UHHHHHHHHHHHH. MAYDAY MAYDAY.

(Abra wasn't entirely sure what 'mayday' meant but he thought that maybe it could mean 'DISASTER IMMINENT' and even if it didn't then it was still sort of appropriate considering it was currently a day... in May.)

(Ha.)

A disaster was imminent. The boy had noticed him and had kicked his ball over to Abra and Abra didn't really know what to do. Except that he did know, because he could work it all out easily enough, but it was what happened after that which had him all sorts of flustered. He stopped the ball with his own foot, but it was sort of a clumsy action, because he was much more used to Snitches and Quaffles and Bludgers and dealing with handling those while also up in the air. Kicking a ball on the ground felt weird and alien and, somehow, more difficult.

With the ball down at his own feet, Abra hesitated. Did he kick it back? Was that what he was supposed to do? Would that look like he didn't want to join in? Was he supposed to hold onto it instead? What if he held onto it and the boy thought he was stealing the ball? He supposed he could just ASK but that idea... was laughable. Ha. Hahaha...... ha...

Merlin.

Deciding it was probably best to not look like he was hogging or stealing the ball, Abra nudged it back to the other boy, then stepped half a pace closer as if to say 'If that was wrong I still want to play, okay? Okay.'

The YELL of his name - the wrong name, bY THE WAY - both startled Abra and also flooded him with relief. He looked up to see not just Derf but also Jessa nearby, and presumably they had been there all this time. All caught up in his anxieties, he'd sort of had blinders on to everything else.

Both Jessa and Derf got a smile, but Derf also got a very pointed LOOK. "Abra," he corrected, sort of insistent because it was Derf, but also sort of shy because someone who didn't know his name yet was right there and his babyish old nickname was being bandied about. But, ahem. Anyway. Yes. "Hey Derf, hey Jessa," he greeted his friends, definitely speaking English, even if with his usual strong accent. He had half a mind to introduce the muggle boy, and might have done were it not for the fact that he didn't actually know who he was either.

Well, thank Merlin his friends had jumped in too. Abra had been worried for a moment that he might have to try and make conversation on his own, and today wouldn't have been the best day for it. He supposed he could chime in and add something now, or.... hm... no. Nope. He had nothing to say. Maybe it was best to just, look as invested in the game of 'kickabout' as he felt, so that nobody went off to play without him.

Not that that was likely... BUT HEY. YOU NEVER KNOW.

The Ravenclaw was oblivious to his mistake until multiple things happened at the same time that it was hard to miss. First he felt an elbow push him and he turned his face to death stare! at Derf cause unlike his father he was actually good at this "But i don't like caramel ice cr---OOOH!" He got it now, what Derf was trying to do. It hadn't surprised him when the ice cream lady told him she did not have canary flavour "Sorry Miss, i meant Caramel flavour, do you have that?" he asked as if it was completely normal to confuse canary with caramel. Ugh now he had to get a flavour he did not even like.

His attention was drawn to a guy [Boyd] behind him in line he had never seen before and he looked down at the ball at his feet. Oh! he knew what kind of ball that was. During the summer his muggle neighbor friend and him would kick at the ball wherever they went. But he was not in the mood to kickabout and he was glad that Rylee chose to appear at that moment so that he did not have to make up an excuse.

"I don't know... i haven't even checked what there is to do" he said as he scratched the back of his neck and smiled awkwardly. "What about you?" he asked.

Boyd just gave a crooked smile as the boy fumbled the ball; he'd hardly done the best of passes, and it was rather busy in here. Just having someone to play with was cool. He stopped the return easily with his left foot, before tapping it gently onto his more dominant foot. He was about to nudge it back when some other kids joined them.

"Hi," he greeted, controlling the ball under his foot for the time being. "Jessa, D-Derf and Abra?" he checked their names in turn, a little unsure with Abra's heavy accent. "I'm Boyd," he introduced himself with a grin, before nodding at their questions. "Yeah, there's a field not too far away where we usually go play." It wasn't fancy, no permanent goals with nets or anything, but plenty of space for a relaxed kickabout. "Castle's a bit further, and they ain't keen on balls near the grounds." He didn't really understand why, it was just a load of ruins that had survived several hundred years so far. "You just here on a day visit?"

"Balvenie castle, right?" was Kye's response to the inquiry. She wasn't sure if that was Sky's actual goal or just the first place she had thought of, but she didn't mind either way. "I just want to go exploring.. and get some food of course." If they found boys, they found boys. She could live either way, but she wouldn't mind eating lunch with some of the local Muggle boys should the opportunity present itself! Kye tried her ice cream sample and let out a satisfied "Mmmm." Anyone who didn't like peanut butter fudge was CRAZY. She finished this sample and held onto the serving of birthday cake ice cream. Only a few minutes later, Kye let out a noise that was a mix of confusion, surprise, and near exasperation. HER ICE CREAM WAS MELTING! It sat there in the little cup, turning into a rainbow soup. Thank goodness it wasn't on a cone at least. Kye started eating it before it fully melted, and was confused by the taste. As she had expected, it wasn't quite like normal ice cream. Not that she could explain how, but either way it wasn't bad! She ate a few more bites before deciding she was done with ice cream for now. Now... which way did they need to go? Was there a map or directory or something? Or would they just go wherever they felt like it until they were properly lost?

Well this was fun, but Zita was kind of over the big crowd. She gave Max a grin as he said it was okay that she stuck with him, which was good because she enjoyed his company. Plus seeing Nat she was happy to be paired up with someone so it didn't look like she was there alone. No way was she could to look dateless in front of that one.

Looking at the woman with the ice cream she smiled, "Chocolate Strawberry works." Though before she could get a sample there were many getting one so she just gave them all judgy looks. Finally taking hers she took a bite, it was alright, but not her favorite.


When the boy (Boyd) came in and asked about a kick around she gave him a weird look. "Kick around?" What did that even mean and really with her heels, no thank you. He wasn't that cute anyway and she had a cute right beside her.


"So Max, want to go explore?"

The muggle ice cream lady DID have mint-chocolate chip! He wasn't enjoying the large group that had congregated for the ice cream, but he was willing to deal with it if it meant ice cream. Especially free ice cream.

With a quick thanks to the lady, Max took his cone and gave it a taste. It wasn't as good as the ice cream back home in Cornwall but it was pretty close.

He couldn't help the grin that tugged at the corners of his lips when Zita appeared confused. He backed away from the ice cream crowd and peered in the direction of the muggle boy who was having a 'kick around' with a couple of Hogwarts kids. "Football," he confirmed between ice cream licks. He would've explained further, but eh, he cared for football as much as he cared for Quidditch. Zero.

He was more of an explorer. And speaking of...

"Yeah! I was checking the guidebook on the way here. There's a castle where a Queen used to live. Or there's that big clocktower where they used to lock people up or something. Oh, and there's some ruins too, they seem pretty cool.." Was he nerding out too much?

Did she care that Mason had asked for a magical flavour in a muggle shop? Nope. Being one of her Ravenclaws or not, Jessa didn't feel something as serious as the statute of secrecy was her job to maintain throughout the trip. If the Professors were that worried, they'd have put the large group into smaller groups and chaperoned them all more systematically but if today went to hell, she didn't wanna hear about it. It would not be on her. It was good of Derf to go reminding him like that but Jessa didn't have enough left in her after the term she'd had to care.

Not having a decision from Derf on whether they'd indeed be sharing a sundae, Jessa continued to hold off on the subject, allowing the shopkeep to serve the others in the meantime.

In the next minute it sounded like they may have been leaving anyway...or rather would soon be leaving. Under those circumstances, she supposed a sundae wouldn't be very practical.

Putting the thought behind her for now, Jessa smiled over at Abra, letting him and Derf figure out that name thing she'd come to terms with almost the moment she'd been told. The Gryffindor could be called whatever he wanted to be called. There were too many other things in life to be hung up on names and if it made him more comfortable then it was no brainer for her. This wasn't to say she thought Derf was being defiant about the whole thing, rather just her take on the change of the boy's name in relation to herself and remembering it.

It was nice having another friend along. Of course there was still the presence of the boy, Boyd as it turned out to be, which felt a little like if Diandra had decided to tag along. The Ravenclaw simply wasn't feeling very accommodating of acquaintances......but she was equally against being rude too so rather than make a thing out of it, Jessa nodded at his question. "Yep." And she suspected it wouldn't have been such a great or responsible decision going off with some muggle--even if he was just a kid--without proper supervision or letting a Professor know....but that would require finding one which some to think about it was equally as unappealing as entertaining the company of someone she wasn't friends with.

Was there a point when she'd start winning today?

"I'm not much for sports, but I'd come watch if my friends are up for it." Derf and Abra were usually among the first to panic and utterly freak out and lose it (and depending on the circumstance so was she, albeit more quietly) so if they didn't have a problem with this then she supposed she didn't either.

Also, look, Nat! Might as well surround herself with people she liked. Jessa waved the Slytherin over, wondering if she'd be up for this kickabout business. Chances were she didn't think Nat would wanna play either which meant company for watching.

Moira smiled at the little red-haired girl (Rylee) as she asked for a sample of strawberry ice cream. Such a polite child! "Of course you can, love," she replied, handing the girl a cup of the desired flavor. "Enjoy!"

Then another girl (Kye) wanted samples of the peanut butter fudge and birthday cake flavors. Moira carefully filled two small cups and gave them to her. "Sure! There you go, dear."

She beamed at Boyd, mentally taking a note of his order. Moments later, she had a cone with a scoop each of chocolate and salted caramel ice cream topped with a chocolate flake ready for him. "There you are, dear. Tuck in!" she said.

Then her gaze landed on the other boy Boyd was talking to (Abra). "Hello there!" she greeted with a friendly smile. "Would you like some ice cream too?"

Moira's smile only grew upon being thanked first by a girl who took a sample (Vivian), then by the boy who'd wanted mint chocolate chip ice cream (Maxton). "You're both quite welcome, dears!" she said.

Another girl (Zita) asked for a sample of chocolate strawberry. Moira couldn't help but notice that this one, unlike many of the others, had neglected to say "please" and/or "thank you", but she wasn't going to say anything and make a fuss over it. Instead, she just said, "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

She nodded in reply to the girl who said she needed more time to order (Jessa). "Of course. Just let me know when you're ready."

Moira gave one boy (Derf) a small smile as he took a sample, but in the back of her mind, she wondered why he seemed so hesitant to eat it. Perhaps he was lactose intolerant? Before she sad much time to think about it, he was asking her a question. "Chocolate-covered strawberry ice cream is chocolate ice cream with bits of strawberries mixed in, while strawberry ice cream with a chocolate flake on top is just that," she replied.

Then that other boy who was asking about canary cream (Dorian) mentioned caramel. Okay then... She was a little puzzled how anyone could confuse a canary cream - whatever that was- with caramel, but she tried not to thunk too much of it. Maybe the kid was just so excited to order he got tongue-tied? "Yes, we have caramel ice cream," she replied. "Is that what you'd like?"

If he was in his usual mood, the man would've been disgruntled, bored and generally unhappy about the prospect of being back in his country again. The weather was poor, the people were even worse and to top things off, there wasn't a single Dunkin Donuts branch in sight.

But today? Today, Duncan Williams was in an exceptional mood and you didn't have to be particularly observant to see it either. His usually neutral expression was replaced with a half-smile, half-smirk that had nothing to do with the historical landmarks nearby or the fact one of the women nearby was giving away free ice cream samples.

Though, he had a feeling that Mel would appreciate the rich history, especially Muggle history, in this village. It was her area of expertise.

His area of expertise was sitting in a box in his pocket. He might've otherwise looked calm and casual as he stood there in his Muggle attire, but his fingers were gently stroking a familiar looking box that contained a familiar looking ingredient inside. "I think it's time to pass the pixie dust along," he whispered to Mel, the French slipping through as a sign of precaution.

.............that was a first, and Derf momentarily had the appearance of a kicked cruppy when his Gryffindor went and corrected him like that. In that tone. It also took an embarrassingly extra second and a half to process that it wasn't so much Derf couldn't call his best mate that - since he, well, hadn't EVER - but it was the setting. Right? Right.

So the Hufflepuff was quick to muffle the whimper that wanted to come out in lieu of listening to what Boyd was saying about not kicking the ball near the castle. Which, well, it was a liiiiiiiiittle hard to compute when your own school was an OLD castle too and people were zooming around on brooms with bludgers hurtling this way and that around it. Not to mention all the magical explosions and such. "Oh...." he nodded with just the slightest bit of disappointment.

Ruffling his hair, and nodding about the day trip - though Jessa answered that just fine - his attention was of course drawn to the appearance of Natalie and joined his Ravenclaw friend in trying to wave her down.

.........which was when he noticed the appearance of someone ELSE in Hogsmeade. SomeoneS rather. Which caused him to completely miss the Ice Cream Lady explaining the difference in flavors to him....and the librarian's odd glance in his direction (which Derf wouldn't have known what to make of anyway).

"What are they doing here?" he hissed under his breath to his friends, because OF COURSE he recognized the Ilvermorny professors. His first love and heartbreak, Valerie Gray, seemed to adore the Potions Master in particular. Though perhaps adore was the wrong term....considering her cool disposition. "Do you reckon this means the Americans are visiting too!?" Because that would be NEAT because he had a pen pal among those students that he wouldn't mind seeing again. In person. "Or...did they stop teaching?" Since they were on a weekend trip across the pond, seemingly just the two of them, so close to the end of term. "Though...suppose if the WHOLE school were visiting we would HEAR them." Since nothing about their stay at Hogwarts had been quite. Down to the blasting of Born in the USA and stuff.

Maybe he should have brought his sunglasses to look COOL.

To say this was up Melanie's alley was putting it lightly; however, since Hogwartians had last seen the American professor, she had lost a significant amount of weight, and her skin had lost a certain glow about it. Her unusually dark eyes stare blankly at their surroundings, looking for the buffoon professor from Hogwarts with an intensity. She had hardly said a thing to Duncan today. Melanie was quiet.

"Of course." She gave her surroundings one more passive glance. They had a plan, of course. "Our little friend will be in motion shortly." The French slipped off her tongue. Melanie hardly cared if no-majs saw her do magic recently. It would be of little relevance soon enough if all things went according to plan. And through her own dodgy and illegal research, some no-majs were very receptive to the idea of magic. Since there were Hogwarts students around, though, Melanie was sly about it. Gripping her wand in her pocket, she glanced over her shoulder at a specific street behind her, her eyes unblinking. She knew Duncan knew the plan because they had gone over it for weeks now.

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH*

The sound of tires coming to a sudden halt as an enormous red bus slammed to a stop could be heard by everyone in the crowd in this area. An advertisement on the side of the bus for some museum a block over stood out against the red background of the bus; there were muggle tourists loaded onto the bus, and all had slammed forward when the bus stopped. There were too many people in this street! No, buses were not supposed to go down this street, but the bus driver had seemed to have lost his mind! He smashed his fist into horn multiple times, the noise enough to irritate anyone near the scene.

Quite the distracting scene, wasn't it?

The drive argued briefly with a muggle from his window as he continued to bump the horn. Before anyone could tell him off even more, the bus driver suddenly stepped on the gas and took off. It sped away as quickly as it had come.

Oh Max already had a plan? She couldn't help but grin, [b] "A castle fit for a new princess."[b] Maybe she was joking, maybe she wasn't but she did laugh, "Or maybe it's just waiting for its new cute prince." Yes she was talking about you Max, he did have the best smile.

The woman from the ice cream place got her attention again and she took the sample, "Thank you" Though she shook her head to wanting anything else. No this would be enough.

Oh, football, alright she kind of knew what that was, but that wasn't even in her mind anymore, "Hey isn't that the professors from Ilvermonry? Weird that they are here." Glancing at Max she just happened to look up to see a bus getting way too close.

She gripped Max's arm tighter as it seemed like it might run everyone over, but then it was moving and gone again. "Are all muggles this crazy?"

Scarlett had been standing outside one of the storefronts, debating if she wanted to go in and spend ALL her money on new clothes (she shouldn't, buttttt she realllllly wanted to) when she noticed something familiar out of the corner of her eye. SomeONE actually - two someones, for that matter. Weren't those the Ilvermorny professors? The brother and sister pair? What on Earth were they doing HERE?

She blinked, looking back to the window to try and ignore them. It was weird, but...they likely were just here on holiday or something. Taking a break from their professor duties. Maybe they had been invited along by the headmistress. Nothing to fuss over, really.

Suddenly a very LOUD screeching noise broke her out of her thoughts, and she turned just in time to see a HUGE muggle bus in the middle of the street. The driving was yelling, honking his horn, an overall just making a scene. Scarlett wrinkled her eyebrows and watched the bus as it eventually drove away. She wasn't sure what the problem was, other than it seemed kind of dangerous for the bus to be driving down here with so many people, but...whatever.

She should just go into the store and spend a ton of money and enjoy herself...

Not expecting too much of anything unusual, Jessa allowed her gaze to travel when Derf asked about the presence of certain people. In her mind, this was a crowded muggle town, filled presumably with tourists. Derf recognizing someone, while strange, didn't seem too much of a red flag to her....until she saw who he meant.

Huh.

"You've got that right. We'd hear them coming a mile away." The Ravenclaw agreed, sweeping the surroundings all the same in case their Ilvermorny counterparts really were somewhere around here. Coincidence or a poorly formulated plan to build relations again? Surely she wasn't the only one to notice how dismal the last attempt had been. Those students had been brash...loud....and quite frankly undisciplined, even by the standards of their own Gryffindors.

"I don't see 'em." The American students she meant. "Maybe they've already gone off on sum--"

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH*

"Merlin's beard....." Jessa watched the scene with the bus unfold before her, not bothering to mask the wrinkling of her nose or the look of disdain that helped itself across her once passive features. "It's no wonder some prefer flying." Though whether she meant by magical or mundane means, she didn't explain. "Wonder what his problem was." He could've killed someone in his hurry.

Honestly, Ronan was seriously questioning his decision to tag along on this little field trip. He'd been in plenty of muggle stores in his life, so those weren't really as much a novelty to him as they would be to some of his schoolmates. As already mentioned, he wasn't really into football. And a castle wasn't really a novelty when you went to school in one. Unless, of course, you were into British history, which he wasn't.

He was about to just see if he could find the library (if this small 'town' even had one) when he heard some French being spoken and glanced over to see who was doing the speaking. Though, he didn't really give it any thought when he saw the Ilvermorny professors. But what happened next certainly had his attention. The screaming-and-running-away type of the attention, that is. "EVERYONE RUN!" he screamed, jumping out of the way himself. Holy crap, where had that bus come from?! There weren't any other vehicles on this street, or he hadn't seen any anyway.

And no sooner than it had arrived, the bus was gone, speeding off to no doubt cause chaos elsewhere.

Derf's eyes were still FIXATED on the visiting professors for the moment - too far away to recognize that they were speaking in French and even if he were close enough he still wouldn't know what they were saying anyway. Though he WOULD be able to tell you that they were certainly not speaking in Parsletongue or Gobbledegook. Which would likely be helpful to precisely no one but there it was!

He was also a tad too far away to notice the History of Magic professor looking sullen and like she could really use a good long nap. Or a hug. A really firm hug. And maybe more than a few chocolate frogs. Chocolate was magical, after all.

But even his keen bright blue stare had no other choice BUT to be pulled temporarily away and towards the sound of the HORN and then Ronan screaming to RUN. Though his on impulses kicked in, and rather than run he had jumped in front of Abey and Boyd - this didn't count as treating Abey like a baby creature, did it? If he did...he could apologize for that later, he supposed.

And that sample ice cream that had been in his hand? Yeah...that had flown up into the air and was on the ground somewhere so his hand could more easily slide into his pocket and retrieve his wand. Which was now half pulled out of his trouser pocket as he had pivoted somewhat into a dueler's stance in front of his Gryffindor and their new muggle friend.

The horn was loud, yes, and while his heart DRUMMED in his ears - adhreline pulsing in his veins while his breath caught in his chest unknowingly - something just felt OFF to the fourth year. Then again, he was always on about some conspiracy theory or another so this should surprise no one. He had been THAT first year putting up posters around school about hags being on staff and THAT was the reason for all the food and drink in lessons, clearly meant to fatten everyone up to EAT them. Which was why his bright blues began shifting around the scene once the bus came to a stop....and quickly noted how seemingly EVERYONE'S attention had been drawn to the convenient appearance of the bus.

"I know I do," he nodded distractedly to Jessa's words, himself referring solely to flying on a broom and his eyes falling back on the foreign professors once again. And then the horn continued to blast and blare for a time until the bus drove off and all the Hufflepuff could tell you about the bus was that it had been red and LOUD.

Okay. Now were was the SEEMINGLY stray black dog strutting around the area?