It was the very next day, the day subsequent to the Start of Term Feast. Kay was visiting the Common Room for two reasons: One- to ensure that the Room was still at its mot comfortable (which it was thanks to the hard working elves) and to have a talk with her Ravenclaws.

The kiddos should be rising now because it would be time for breakfast soon. No one wanted to miss that on their first day, correct? Kay herself was prepped and ready to go but there was still time. Selecting an armchair, she sat before balancing the file folder she was carrying that contained plans for her lessons to be taught that morning.

Blue eyes moved from dorm entrance to dorm entrance as she waited. Not a single hint was given for Kaysha's presence.

OOC: HIIII, guys! You're ALL welcome to participate. This is not a Student Leader activity, that's to come later Can't wait to RP with y'all

Groggy eyed and tousle haired, Ewan entered the common room, a yawn passing across his face like the passing of a train, quick and rather loud. Waking up early no longer felt like a chore to Ewan anymore, not after last year anyway. Most of the students right now would be entering the common room from their dormitory but not Ewan. Nope. He had woken up at first light and completed his morning exercise. One way or another, he was going to make it onto the Quidditch team this year!

With a slight flump, Ewan sloughed down into one of the arms chairs by the window, his eyes closed in the direction of the light and moved his feet onto one of the tables in front of him. He wouldn’t fall asleep again, he’d just rest his eyes for a few moments. After all, he still needed a shower because, quite frankly, he was covered in sweat and that wasn’t exactly the impression he wanted to give off. *Starts breathing deeply, completely unaware of anyone else in the room*

Did Dorian walk down the fifth year dormitory? No. Did he enter from the entrance door? Yes.

Dressed in his exercise clothes, the fifteen year old was catching his breath while entering the common room and he was surprised that not many were present yet. Wasn't it almost time for breakfast? Did his new dormmate Caolan know what time he had to get up? Could he drag him out of bed if not? Would be fun, he knew a spell for that.

"A good morning everyone" he greeted whoever was present in the common room at the moment and he was about to walk to the dormitory when he noticed the Professor seated in an armchair and stopped. "Are you going to announce something, Professor?" he asked or could he go and shower?

The first full day back and the fourth year was ready to go. Washing up and dressing, Septimus slipped down the stairs, somewhat gracious as to not have to rush off and do the morning exercises like so much of last term. Thank Merlin! He was active, especially playing quidditch, but it could be torture when you already had to do all that stair climbing and descending just to get down to breakfast. But no more. A far more pleasant attitude already seemed to be present at the school, though the extent of it would become evident when classes began in earnest and they met the new staff.

Happy to have their head of house back amongst the returning ones, he still wasn’t quite expecting a the woman in question to be there in the common room early in the morning. “Good morning, Professor Stewart,” he greeted the woman with a small smile, holding back the yawn that threatened as he was still adjusting to the morning. "Morning..." he echoed for the fellow eagles already there.

“Wwww…what? I wasn’t sleeping…” Okay so maybe he’d dropped off slightly in the chair but hey, it had been a long day yesterday, especially after the feast. Looking around carefully now, he noticed that it had common room had filled. Honestly, it didn’t matter too much to him because, well, he didn’t really know the other people in the common room all that well. Not wanting to be rude, he gave them both a smile and nod (Dorian and Septimus) before getting up to go have a shower. That was until he noticed one of the other boys (Dorian) was slightly out of breath. “You go jogging in the morning too?” he didn’t really pose it as a question, more of a statement from the deductions that he’d made from the boys clothes.



Paying a little more attention to the other boy now, he couldn’t help but notice that he (Septimus) was talking to someone. When did the Professor Stewart get here? A slight look of confusion on his face. “Good morning Professor. How long have you been there for?”
Not wanting to leave out the other Ravenclaw boy (Septimus), he added "Hey man, good morning. Excited for first day back?" Let it not be said that he didn't make an effort to meet new people.

Despite not being the earliest of risers ordinarily, Caolan had managed to wake himself up at a reasonable time in the hopes that he could get down to the Great Hall in time for his breakfast. To answer his dormmates question, he didn’t know exactly what time he had to wake up but he did hear the other guy leave the dorm and to him that was indication that he should probably get up himself. It took him a good 30 minutes to drag himself out of bed and throw on some slightly more presentable clothes.

He wandered through from the fifth-year dormitory rubbing at his eyes and arriving at his favourite part of the common room where all the comfy seats were. He noticed a group was already starting to assemble, one of them being his dorm mate Dorian. He didn’t recognise some of the others. “G’morning” he spoke groggily trying to stifle a yawn. He ran his fingers through his messy hair and flopped on one of the sofas only to realise that there was an adult in their presence. Not just any old adult but their Head Of House who Caolan hadn’t actually introduced himself to yet.

He cleared his throat and sat upright, trying to disguise his tiredness but probably failing to do so.

Jackson hadn't honestly minded the SORE activities last year... He had decided to continue at his leisure, and when better than their first day back?! He had managed to go work out and shower. He was coming back for his bag when he saw Professor Stewart in the common room with some of the earlier risers. "Goooood morning!" he said happily to everyone present. Adding to their Head of House, "It's so good to have you back!"

There was the first Ravenclaw descending into the Common Room. Kay had her eyes on Ewan all through his actions; obviously the boy was still sleepy. What’s more, he didn’t seem to realise that she was there. It would be wise to prod him awake but why not let him catch a few more minutes of snooze? Until, at least, there were more kiddos there. The sound of the Entrance Door to the Common Room opening grabbed her attention instead and a turn of her head revelaed it was Dorian. “Good morning, Mr. Katharos. As a matter of fact, I was. How was your run?’’ Kay was quite used to seeing Dorian doing just that since she did the same every morning.

“Ah, good morning, Mr. Hadley Nairne. I see you’re all set to get your day started.’’ Ewan’s reaction as he came around made Kay grin. “I’m sure you weren’t, Mr. Jones. I have been here for a few minutes, enough to know that you need to take your feet off of that table.’’ Twinkling eyes would tell Ewan that she was not angry. “Good morning to you,’’ Kaysha said with a smile to the new Ravenclaw Caolan. This one... she’d have to get to know him. The male prefect seemed to be quite chipper that morning though now that she thought back, Jackson usually was. “Good morning, Mr. Thomas. Thank you! I really am pleased to be back.’’ Not only to teaching but also to being Ravenclaw’s Head of House.

Knowing that the kiddos would need to get ready soon for breakfast and lessons, Kay gestured to the sofas and armchairs. “Make yourself comfortable, everyone. I’ll keep this short as I know you’ll need to be on your way soon. First of all, I’d like to welcome everyone back and welcome our new students. To formally introduce myself, my name is Kaysha Stewart and in addition to being your Head of House, I am the Muggle Studies Professor. I am also responsible for the Gobstones and Magical Debate clubs.

“I would like to apologise for not being around last term. It was my first year as your Head and under the circumstances, I should have been here looking out for every one of you.’’ Kay never told anyone but this was one of her biggest regrets. “Despite the odds, you managed to do excellently by working hard and securing the House Cup. Professor Hirsch would have been as proud as I am.’’ There was a pause as she looked around at them all, pride on her face. “The new term is upon us and I would just like to assure you that my office door is always open to you if you wish to discuss anything. Anything at all.’’ The lady grinned. “You’re free to stop me anywhere you may see me as well. In the Hall, in the corridors, on my morning runs...’’ The point was, she was there for her Claws.

“For the benefit for our new Ravenclaws, would everyone introduce yourselves? When you’ve done that, I would for you to share any concerns or misgivings you may have going into a new academic year.’’

Okay, Caolan liked sport and the outdoors as much as any other boy but what was with the obsession with early morning runs in this school? He was much more of a kick about in the park with his mates after school guy rather than get up stupidly early to get all hot and sweaty and go to classes already shattered. An extra half an hour in bed sounded so much more tempting.

So wait.. Was this some sort of official Ravenclaw student meeting and he had turned up completely disheveled looking like he had just rolled out of bed (which he had). Somebody could have warned him! And now they had to introduce themselves? This was like the first day of school all over again where you had to sit in a circle and tell everyone an interesting fact about themselves. Some students loved talking about themselves, Caolan thought it was awkward and unnecessary. Nobody needed to know much about him other than that he was half-muggle and this was his first term there. He waited for someone else to start not wanting to be first but when no one else responded he cleared his throat and spoke up. “Umm.. Hey. I’m Caolan.” Wow. Cool story, Bro. He didn’t think it was necessary to actually tell the other students he was new, he thought it pretty obvious. As for questions, thus far he had none.

Yep, he was all set. “Uh huh…” DADA bright and early with the headmaster so he had felt he had to be ready. Which was more than he could say for the other boy who had apparently completely missed the professor. “Good morning…You could say that.” That he was excited though perhaps not the choice of word that he would use for the feeling. Exciting was sometimes the word that challenged the world to take it up a notch which Septimus preferred to not have it do.

The fourth year moved to take a seat on one of the chairs to get comfortable as directed. Professor Stewart’s apology was easily accepted though not needed in Septimus’ opinion. It wasn’t her fault…not by a very loooong shot. And as she said, they had made it up to her by winning the house cup…in her honor. Though the mention of Hirsch wasn’t lost on him, the boy missing the man who’d been his head of house and guide in the beginning just a little bit.

Oh man…they were doing introductions.

An older transfer student was the first to speak up, clear to Septimus that he was awkward about the whole thing. He wasn’t the only one. “Hi, I’m Septimus,” he said, deciding to take the plunge and the next one to speak up. “Just trying to find a path,” he added as his concern for the upcoming term. Next year would be his first big round of exams and it would be nice to have some idea what he enjoyed most out of life to head towards.

Ewan couldn’t help but smile at his head of house at this moment, knowing that she was just poking fun at the fact he’d fallen asleep with his feet on the table. Hey, waking up early to go jogging was tiring! Despite the twinkling in her eyes, he could see the sadness on her face when she apologised for last year. “Professor, you really don’t need to worry about last year. I mean, it was a tough year for all of us” looking around now at his fellow students, hoping one of them would back him up. “Besides, us Ravenclaw’s need to stick together” Briefly, he paused before continuing “All of the houses need to stick together really”. Last year seemed so long ago that it almost seemed like a dream…nightmare, he corrected himself mentally. Either way, he appreciated his head of house stepping up and taking some blame, even if it wasn't something she could have helped. Respect was earned here today.

Well since their Head of House said that she had an announcement, Dorian nodded his head and stood near the wall. He was sweating and probably smelled bad as well so he wasn't going to sit down on one of the clean chairs. "Exhilarating, Professor" he answered with a small grin. Who knew that he would have liked morning runs? He certainly didn't.

Turning his head away from the woman, Dorian looked at Ewan as he asked if he jogged as well. "I do, i didn't see you though. But then again the area is very large" he shrugged his shoulders before leaning back against the wall.

Anyways, introductions for the new students seemed to be in order and Dorian pushed himself off of the wall when the others had done their piece and it was his turn.

"I agree with Ewan" he said before he had even said his own name. "What happened last year had not been your fault, Professor and i will fight anyone who says otherwise" ehm....." metaphorically, of course"

"Anyways, as for introductions" He turned to face the other Ravenclaw students in the room . "Sup, i'm Dorian Katharos. This year i will be doing my O.W.L's so if you see me studying somewhere ..." his friendly look vanished and he literally glared at everyone. "Do not disturb me" and his smile was back. "Thanks"

Where was Taddy during this little meeting? Oh he was here, he was just hanging around. His legs were dangling over the couch while he stretched. "Morning..." He managed out sleepily. Mornings weren't his thing still, but he was present, which was all that mattered.

That was nice though that Professor Stewart wanted to make up for last term. It was the pits for him, but he had a grudge over the mean teachers and not the ones who were forced to go. Dorian and Ewan said it best after all as he nodded with them. He listened curiously though before he flipped himself up in a proper position on the couch. Introductions? He waited until it was his turn before going, "Hi... I'm Thadius Potter. You can call me Tad or Taddy, either's okay." What else? "Er, I'm a second year and.. I'm just gonna try to have some more fun outside classes."

That was it really.

"Hello, Caolan.’’ Kay grinned, the boy’s appearance well noted. Was she going to judge? Of course not. “I trust that when you do have questions, you’ll seek the help. Hogwarts is going to take some time to get used to but once you do, you’ll enjoy every aspect of it.’’ When Septimus spoke up, she nodded. “You will. This also reminds me, you have begun thinking more seriously about your career?’’ Wasn’t Ewan sweet? “Thank you very much for that.” It really did make her feel better. “Oh, yes. I quite agree. It’s always key to stick together especially under threat.”

“You and I should definitely run a course sometime, Mr. Katharos.’’ Unless he minded running in the company of a boring, old adult. “Thank you as well. Yes, because I frown upon unnecessary violence.’’ Kay smiled. She knew Dorian did not actually mean to get violent even before he confirmed. She laughed softly at his introduction. “Fair warning, I’ll be disturbing to quiz you at random times.’’ Maybe an ambush here and there with all the kiddos to gauge just how much they were focusing. Second year Thadius had been noticed by her the entire time and Kay was waiting for him to speak up. She couldn’t help but think of him as ‘Little Thadius’ for some reason. “Oh, we’re definitely going to have more fun outside of classes. This should be everyone’s aim because there’s a Muggle saying All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Basically, it means that you must take some time to enjoy yourselves while you work.’’

The professor looked at her watch. “I will not be taking up more time,’’ she continued, swinging her blue gaze back at them. “My expectations from each of you are basically these: look out for each other and your other School mates as well. Show respect to your professors; none of them has the personality of the replacements from last term. Continue to work hard but like I said earlier, remember to have fun along the way. These are some of the years you will remember in the future so make the most of them. I hope, and I know, that I will continue to hear wonderful things about you individually or collectively as Ravenclaws.

“Should you need advice about career options, elective subjects that you might be interested in, situations you find yourselves... anything at all, don’t be afraid to approach me. The same goes for anyone who wants to have morning runs with me. Who knows? We can even make it a Ravenclaw activity sometimes.’’ Kay climbed to her feet. “Now, off each and every one of you go. Please be on time for your lessons and see to it that those Ravenclaws who have not risen as yet, do. Remember, you are all a team.’’

Go, Team Claw!

The once relative calm and quiet of the late afternoon is suddenly interrupted by the booming voice of the Headmaster.

"Everyone report to the courtyard, immediately. This is not a request nor is this a suggestion. There's been an...er....situation that has compromised the safety of everyone within the school. Should you not wish to find yourself on the inside of something pink and furry, I suggest you make your way out NOW." There is the smallest paused, before a belated "Oh. Ahem. Thank you."

The message rings throughout every corridor and every room in the entire castle as well as the grounds. Best get to that meeting place.

Kaysha saw to it that every Ravenclaw who was fur-less had clambered back into the Common Room. She herself was last to enter but when she did, she got straight down to business. "We will split into groups. Mr. Jackson, please take a group and search or Library and the Boys' Dorms. Ms. Primeaux, your group will search the Avant-Garde Corner and the Girls' Dorms. My group will search the Common Room itself.'' She looked to the other professors that had followed her. "Feel free to accompany the student groups.'' After all, if they needed an adult to step in, there would be at least one readily available.

"Remember, under no circumstance are you to feed these creatures. Under no circumstance are you to pet, speak to or engage them. Seek a professor's help. You may commence the search.''

OOC: Yes, you and your charries are free to choose which group they want to work with

Hanna had followed closely behind Professor Stewart and the other Ravenclaws. No way was she going to be staying behind. And with Chloe not there, for some reason, Hanna chose Juni's group. She wanted to make one hundred percent sure the Girl's dormitories were pink fluffy creature free, for herself, before she went to bed. Otherwise she was one hundred percent sure she would be having nightmares of waking up to see herself on a silver platter, served for the little creatures dinner. No doubt Toddles telling his little fluffsies that dinner was served.

With an involuntary shudder, Hanna went to Juni. "Where shall we start first?" The corner?

Caolan obviously did exactly what he was told to do and followed his Head Of House up to the Common Room when they were instructed to. He avoided Professor O’Hara because quite frankly he didn’t like her and her attitude and he didn’t want to get involved with all that. He did however try to offer reassuring smiles to the worried younger Ravenclaw’s who looked like they were about to cry. Caolan was quite good with younger kids thanks to having a close relationship with his younger sisters and felt quite protective when he wanted to be.

Yes it was kinda worrying and there was obviously a serious threat to them all but the younger ones didn’t have to know just how serious it was, did they? He’d be there if any of them wanted to talk or be reassured.

The adrenaline was still rushing through his body as they arrived in the Common Room and he chose to search the main area with Professor Stewart rather than go to the dorms with the Prefects (mostly to avoid certain people). “I’ll help you in here Prof!” As for touching the creatures, Caolan had thankfully not got involved with that anyway and had remained dubious of their existence ever since first spotting one at the welcoming feast. This apparently had been a good decision on his part. He headed towards the sofas and started pulling out the cushions in his search. He’d tidy them again later.. if he remembered.

The situation down at the courtyard would have hit him harder if he hadn't been sleep deprived and had not been worrying about his exams. In the back of his mind he knew he should be worried but ...ugh he was just tired...

Professor Stewarts words did reach him though and he made a mindset that the faster they had found those creatures who were destroying the school and had killed Dopple....killed...they had killed Dopple...

Realisation dawned on him and he gasped out of nowhere. Oh no he had been so rude to her earlier! "I'll stay here as well" he said as he walked to his dorm mate (Caolan) and watched him as he began to search the sofas. He first needed to find out if his toad, Ammonite, was still in the dormitory and he couldn't do that by leaving. "I'll search the boys dormitory if thats alright?"

Indigo decided to go with Jackson's group. He knew the boy at least a bit, since they were dormmates and whatnot, so he felt a little more comfortable being part of that group. Plus they were going to search the library and the boy's dorms. He could do that. He glanced around for Presley, hoping that he was in that group too.

He made his way over to Jackson. "Where are we starting?" Library first or dorms first? Or were they going to split up into even smaller sub groups to cover more ground quickly? As prefect, Jackson had been placed in charge so Indigo was just here to do whatever he was told.

Later than he had anticipated Joshua entered the Ravenclaw Common Room with some eagle stragglers in tow to assist with the search. He noted with relief that none of the student's in his immediate line of sight at least looked like they had any fur on their skins.

Moving over to Kay since she looked like she already had started to divide her eagles into search groups he asked. "Which group Professor Stewart do you need me to help search the common room with? I think I managed to round up all your eagle stragglers on the way and brought them up with me."

Despite having missed the courtyard announcement, Nettie was back in action, and ready to join the hunt for the mutants. It BROKE her HEART to know that her fuzzy little friends had apparently been murderous little monsters the entire time. In fact, she was SO upset that she had tears welling in her eyes as she walked up to Stewart. She bit her lip and looked at her Head of House with a guilty look.

"Professor, I - I saw these things and even wanted to keep one as a pet. I can't believe they actually ATE someone. They seemed so cute and harmless!" she sniffled. It was like finding out that a Pygmy Puff was actually a murderous cannibal. Her heart had already suffered enough this term as it was - she was quite certain after all this, she was NEVER going to love anything or anyone EVER AGAIN.

From the courtyard to the Ravenclaw common room, Juni helped to make sure that all of Ravenclaws made it back to the tower. Still processing everything that had just happened in Dopple was dead and now a ghost, Chloe and some other students were furry, O’Hara had completely lost it. And she was now in the common room with her. Great. As if this day could get any worse. There had been so much chaos in the courtyard honestly.

WAS IT JUNE YET? She was currently in the mood where she wished it was June and she was out of there.

Once in common room the seventh year looked around checking to see that everyone was counted for. Though she wasn’t sure who all was furry and not here for that reason. She waited for Professor Steward to give instructions which was checking out the Avant-Garde Corner and the Girls' Dorms for the pink fluffies.

Moving to the dorm rooms, she gave everyone a few moments to decide where they were going. Hanna came first. ”We’ll head off to the dorms first since we’ll have to check each year one at a time.”

Hearing Nettie talk to Professor Steward, Juni took just a second to put her hand on the younger Ravenclaw who had been crying. She really didn’t blame her. Her third year self would probably have been the way. ”None of us knew. But sometimes things happen.” Patting her on the shoulder. Though she was still processing it all herself.

Now who was coming to search the girls dorm with her?

Kaysha watched as everyone split up. It might not seem as an appropriate time but it was a proud moment to see that the entire Ravenclaw House was working as a team. For a long time, her gaze remained fixed on Alice. “Under no circumstances are those creatures to be hurt, Alice. You’re a professor, set the proper example.’’ Her tone was frosty because she did not approve of Alice’s behaviour earlier. She turned to Joshua. How did she manage to get stuck with him again? “Thank you. You can take the Library and the Boys’ dorms.’’

Now Kay looked to the Room at large. “For those of you who will be searching anywhere other than the Common Room itself, if you need my help for any reason at all, do not hesitate to shout.’’ 'Any reason at all’ included Alice O’Hara going bat crazy again. “Off you go.’’ Including you, Joshua. “Thank you, Mr. Wilson.’’ She welcomed all the help since she wanted to make sure a thorough search was done. “The choice is yours Mr. Katharos.’’

A hunt on her part was about to commence but how could Nettie be ignored? The poor girl was in tears. “Here, Ms. Gladin. Have a seat.’’ The woman led her over to one of the extra comfortable armchairs and waited for her to sit. “Listen to me,’’ she began gently. “Ms. Primeaux is right. That is not your fault for wanting to keep one. Judging from what we’ve heard, everyone was deceived by those creatures. The situation could have been much worse but now that we know the truth, we are on alert. We can all be safe now if we are cautious.’’ She offered a small but reassuring smile. “If you’re up to it, you can join the search. If not, take some time to catch yourself.’’

Kay herself would get started now with the fireplace.

OOC: I'm stalking the other threads too