Having no personal affects of his own to concern himself with (everything he cared about being unreachable presently), the centaur had clip clopped his way to the corridor while inspecting his route along the way for any stranglers. His limp had mostly healed now, but it would take a centaur's touch to finish the job properly.

Thereos had never been beyond the lines of the Hogwarts grounds and the thought of stepping outside of those for the first time in his long centaur life was almost as unsettling as what he had encountered in the mist. He wondered, longingly, where the rest of his colony had found sanctuary. Surely not among these shops of this Hogsmeade Village. He would ask the stars their whereabouts, assuming it true that he would be seeing them this evening.

Opting to take up the rear (he had no stick to flourish about that would be of much aid in the group ahead), Thereos remained by the entrance to the passageway and beckoned the Hogwarts younglings along with his trunk-like arms.

"...an old rat is a brave rat," he nodded encouragingly as another group walked passed him.

Daisy was absolutely determined to be a model student, especially during this crisis. She carefully listened to Headmaster Trent's instructions, making sure that she had taken in every single word. Daisy didn't want to make any costly errors.

Once the entrance to Hogsmeade had revealed itself, Daisy lit up the tip of her wand by casting a non-verbal, "Lumos," and following the Headmaster, making sure to not trip as she exited the castle.

Missa was so done with this term, she honestly wasn't sure why the headmaster even wanted to continue it and not just send them all home - wasn't that just safer than being stuck in hogsmeade and hate it too, much like she was hating Hogwarts at the moment?

But what did fourteen year olds know?

Hand still clutching Trinity's, and very much keeping an eye on Rebecca - she followed the headmaster's instructions and followed him. Falling in step with Drew, finds herself giving him a small smile, "can you believe this? I just want to go home"

As Simran brought the first group of students with her, her lit wand lighting the way as she made her way to her post closer to the end of the tunnel, she passed by Thereos, who seemed to be flanking up the rear.

And just as she did, heard his comment - an old rat is a brave rat - and her eyes widened.

"Who are you calling old, Thereos?" Because she wasn't old, okay? She was eighty-five. She wasn't old. She was wizarding middle-aged.

Though, she'd take the bravery compliment, thank you. You had to be brave to teach in this hellschool.

Of course they were evacuating. OF COURSE.

Now, Alice wasn't going to say "I told you so." That would have been immature and unbecoming of a professor in a situation like this. But you bet to Merlin that she was thinking it! Evacuating was what they should have done when she had suggested it. Nay, scratch that! They should have evacuated after the incident on the grounds.

She glanced at Anna just to be certain she was here. Good, she was.

Now where was Cornish? She hadn't talked to him once since their last argument (save for the occasional 'excuse me' and other small talk) and she wanted to tell him something. Discreetly, of course. In the meantime...

"Lumos!"

Ammonite stood out with his colour; as a result, Kay kept finding her attention moving to the toad perched on Dorian’s head. At least it served as a reminder that the sixth year was present. “Thank you, Ms. Newton,’’ Kay replied gratefully. “At this point, no. Let’s wait for instructions from the Headmaster first. But I’m sure I’ll be needing your help once more.’’ As more students gathered and conversations grew, she caught snatches of them. She detected worry and anger which in turn caused tension to rise within her. She suddenly found herself thinking of Foster, whom she was missing very much. If she got out of this safely, she was definitely going back to her old job back as an ordinary Secondary school teacher. She would have a less stressful life and she’d have more time with Foster and Emmalyn.

The woman’s thoughts were interrupted when Trent’s voice flittered along the corridor. Ah. This was certainly took an interesting turn. But whatever it took for the Staff to keep the students safe. It was a relief to know that there were others out of Hogwarts who were more than willing to help. As Trent began to lead the way, Kaysha ushered the closest students to follow. “Go ahead. Follow the Headmaster.’’ She herself would follow along soon. "Ms. Newton, you and Mr. Thomas please keep an eye on the Ravenclaws, especially the younger ones."

As more and more students started to come she still hadn't seen the ones she was looking for. Where was Fin and where was Gunnar? She didn't even know if Fin wanted to see her at this point, but she had to make sure he was safe. She hated the thought of anyone in danger like Tad was. She knew others were losing hope that the missing was still alive, but she couldn't, she just couldn't think they weren't, so she continued to hold onto hope.

Hearing Hanna she looked over at the prefect, "I..." honestly could any of them really be okay? She wasn't even sure how to answer that so her eyes just wandered back towards the place that more students were gathering. "I can't find Gunnar, I don't want to leave without him." Her brother would do the same and she knew he would, so she wasn't going to be leaving without him.

Hearing one of the professors say a name that made her head turn she looked again at Hanna, "I'll be okay though, promise" and with that she headed towards Thereos, she wasn't sure why, but he made her feel safer when he was around. Moving beside him she lifted her hand and touched his arm, "You are coming with us Sir? I don't want you to stay here where it isn't safe." She knew he wanted to be outside and this could be his chance to get near real grass and flowers, this could be a place he could be outside without being in danger.

Nina Castillo arrived quietly alongside Eiji Rasting. Her heart was racing and her mind was entirely preoccupied with anxious thoughts. While she felt relieved that they weren't going to continue bumbling around like a hoard of sitting ducks, she was so very skeptical about the evacuation plan. What if it didn't work? Her thoughts were overwhelmingly LOUD and she felt as though she was drowning within the sea of voices surrounding her. There were many people she wanted to check on. Indigo, Calyx, Navid, Calloway, Ethan, Jozef, the list went on and on. But she couldn't think straight.

Could everyone SHUT UP, PLEASE????

It was difficult to concentrate. Everyone kept making noise. Perhaps the voices weren't as loud as she felt they were. Maybe it was her anxious state that heightened her senses. But either way, Nina Castillo was not doing too great. She took a step closer towards Eiji, looking up at her friend with concern. Did he think this was a good idea?

Indigo was definitely all for getting out of there. This mist was dangerous, and scary, and he hated that he saw it every time he looked out a window. He'd felt like he was suffocating for weeks now. He didn't feel safe anywhere, not even in his own bed. He wasn't sure being in Hogsmeade would make him feel much safer - what if the mist followed them there? But doing doing and getting out of here still made him feel better.

Indigo stuck to the edges of the crowd forming by the exit. He was fully planning on leaving, of course, but he was going to make sure his people were safe before he worried about himself. He was going to make sure they were in front of them. There was Vita, he saw her right away. She was doing prefect things, keeping the younger ones safe, and he wasn't as worried about her. She was strong and capable and he knew that she'd be able to take care of herself. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't watching out for her. But at the moment he turned his attention to his other concerns. Where were Juliette or Nina? Violet he also trusted to keep herself safe, and as for Presley, he was planning on holding onto his hand and not letting go until they had both safely graduated.

He kept scanning the group and then, there, he spotted Nina. His eyes had only just landed on her but his feet were already carrying him in her direction. He reached her and bumped his shoulder against hers softly. It was his substitute for hugging. "You good?" He wanted to say more, but he was having a hard time getting words out at the moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Nina Castillo arrived quietly alongside Eiji Rasting. Her heart was racing and her mind was entirely preoccupied with anxious thoughts. While she felt relieved that they weren't going to continue bumbling around like a hoard of sitting ducks, she was so very skeptical about the evacuation plan. What if it didn't work? Her thoughts were overwhelmingly LOUD and she felt as though she was drowning within the sea of voices surrounding her. There were many people she wanted to check on. Indigo, Calyx, Navid, Calloway, Ethan, Jozef, the list went on and on. But she couldn't think straight.

Could everyone SHUT UP, PLEASE????

It was difficult to concentrate. Everyone kept making noise. Perhaps the voices weren't as loud as she felt they were. Maybe it was her anxious state that heightened her senses. But either way, Nina Castillo was not doing too great. She took a step closer towards Eiji, looking up at her friend with concern. Did he think this was a good idea?

His mind had been an absolute mess ever since the boathouse incident and he was pretty sure he was developing a dependency on calming draught by this point. But nothing, nothing ever seemed to calm his thoughts or the unsteady beats of his heart these days. It was as though his own mist were clouding everything around him, making him more and more reclusive than before and all the more irritable.

Still barely uttering a word to his little sister, he nonetheless made sure that she was present for the evacuation and watched over by...one of his the two Ravenclaw girls. But he had someone else in his care at the moment, that someone being Nina whom he had knotted his fingers around the hem of her robes in lieu of any other sort of physical contact - hand holding or something equal to it.

"Just fine, thanks for asking," he muttered dryly to the Ravenclaw who had approached them. Approached, but paid Eiji absolutely no mind. Seem to be a trend whenever he was alongside Nina. It was.....interesting. "Come on, we're moving," he nodded in the direction of the entrance to the passageway while giving Nina's sleeve a tug.

Valencia held her lit wand in front of her as she walked. She looked around, ticking off friends against a checklist in her head. She wasn't particularly worried, she knew from her parents that Hogwarts often had events, but she was convinced if she listened and did what she was told everything would be fine. Therefore, all the young Ravenclaw was worried about was her brother and her friends doing the same.

On the one hand, evacuation was a good thing. It meant action, and she was going to assume it meant getting away from the depressing mist, but then Stasya also felt like maybe it meant the headmaster and the rest of the school staff were just giving up on Hogwarts in general. Leaving it to be overrun by the mist permanently, and that didn’t sit well with her. She might be graduating, but that didn’t mean she wanted Hogwarts to be gone forever. All the memories just gone, lost in the mist like, well, Tad and Kamryn and, she was hoping, not the barn creatures. Basically, part of her wanted to escape, but another part of her wanted to stay and fight.

Not to mention, she was infinitely curious about the meaning behind what Thereos had said as she had passed him, keeping her own eye out for stragglers in the meantime. She was resigned to the fact she’d never really understand half the things the Divination professor said, just as she felt like maybe she’d never be fluent in Mermish or Gobbledegook or the various other languages she’d been studying. At least she wouldn’t necessarily need to know those for NEWTs…The headmaster had said they were still going to have classes outside of the castle. In Hogsmeade. That probably meant exams were still going to happen too, and that only made her want to drag her mirror out to contact Koen. Or her mama.

Well, her attempt at injecting this procedure with a little light-heartedness was a disaster. Honestly, the occupants of Hogwarts Castle often disappointed her, but at no point had she felt the disappointment more than right now. I mean, she wasn't unaware that two of their number were still missing, but they were getting out before they could meet the same fate. Didn't that deserve at least a little celebration? A smile, at least?

She stopped singing when she noticed that no one was joining in, her face settling into one that actually showed her disappointment in her fellow Hogwartians.

Wait....Headmaster say what?! They were staying in Hogsmeade? The excitement grew in Archer again, not even to be dashed by the whole 'no shop visiting' lecture. In fact, it would be safe to say that she might not have even heard that bit. Or she had and had chosen to ignore it, either/or. Either way, she lit up her wand and followed the group down into the tunnel.

Drewett half just wanted to keep quiet, to keep his thoughts to himself. He knew better than to ramble on and on about what went on in his mind. At this moment, his mind was already creating all the horrible things that could possibly happen during this evacuation plan. There they were again. The what if's.

He didn't want to be rude and ignore Hanna though, so the boy turned to her with a little smile. The smile gradually turned into a confused face the moment she asked about llamas and alpacas. While Drewett did somehow know the difference, the question had just really caught him off guard. "Uhm....aside from th-the spelling, I assume?" Still very much caught off guard. "Why'd you ask?" Hanna didn't really have to explain herself, but thinking and talking about other things, those unrelated to the mist, actually helped ease his anxiety. He was grateful for that.

His attention was quickly drawn to the Headmaster, and any attempt to lessen Drewett's nerves was thrown out of the window. Metaphorical window. Because opening any window in here at the moment would just let the mist in and that would be a nightmare. But he obediently took his wand out of its holster and whispered a "Lumos." And into the passage he went with everyone else. Drewett hated enclosed spaces, but he was more than willing to swallow down his uneasiness to get them out of here.

...And that was when he heard the exchange between Professor Sandhu and Thereos. Drewett was the epitome of #shookt and he looked at both of the faculty members, whatever he could see from only the lights on their wands illuminating the dark pathway, with his signature eyes emoji-esque expression.

Had Drewett not recognized the voice of the person beside him, he would have jumped in place. Thankfully he didn't because he would have bumped into everyone around him and that was not ideal. It was also good to know Missa was safe. He was worrying about...well, everyone. The fifth year smiled back in greeting. "I-I'm just glad we can be away from the mist," he replied. It was nothing compared to getting home, which he would have wanted too, but he'd take it over being trapped inside. That tiny thought merited another question from the back of his mind though. "Do you think th-they can still save the castle?" They were leaving it behind. Along with the two other students who have gone missing.

The spiral was about to start....again.

Her eyes searched the crowd on instinct, and a need - even though she wouldn't admit it to herself. She just needed to be sure of his presence, she further told herself. And since Missa was less and less trusting of any sorts of draughts, or offered cookies, these days - she wanted to at least allow herself the calm of his presence.

Just looking wasn't all that effective this time however, since Nina Castillo was around - tearing her gaze away quickly, she tried to focus ahead of her and tried not to bumping into someone. And Drew, she focused on Drew.

Her expression fell a bit more at his question, and she found herself shrugging with a soft sigh, "I hope so. But ... if they can't get a handle on things - I don't know if it'd be wise to ever return here"

Nina, on the other hand, was not scanning the crowd. She was doing quite the opposite, keeping her gaze fixated on Eiji as his presence was just about the only thing keeping her grounded at the moment. That and the surprising comfort of the tiny hold around her robes. She hadn't noticed that Indigo had made his way over until he had bumped right into her, and she wore the shock all over her face when she looked up at him, at first in annoyance but then in relief after seeing who he was. She nodded her head, also having trouble finding the desire to speak, but stopped when Eiji replied irritably.

She gave Indigo an apologetic look on his behalf, knowing quite well that Eiji would not be apologizing himself. But before she could ask him the question in return, she felt her Housemate's tug on her sleeve. She nodded quietly, taking a few steps in the direction Eiji nodded in before turning back to look over her shoulder at Indigio. "Stay close?" She knew he had others he was likely worrying about. But selfishly she wanted to make sure he'd be close by too.

She was still quite skeptical about the evacuation plan, the durability of the tunnels, everything. But what choice did she have but to follow alongside Eiji and the others. Surely Headmaster Trent knew what he was doing... Right?

Dorian had been wondering what they were going to do once this moment had arrived and when he heard that they would continue education but in Hogsmeade he perked up. The thought of just being send home felt empty to him so this was a nice change of thought. He nodded his head unconciously as the Headmaster spoke, taking in the information on how they were to behave in the village. He was also cool with the curfew being set.

While he had done some exploring himself over the years, a lot of secret places and passageways he had found was because he had been lost or taken a wrong turn. So he couldn't remember if he had ever found the one they were going through before. Not that it mattered of course. What did was that they got out of here before the mist spreaded. A thought that came to his mind suddenly. What if it started to spread while they were in the tunnels? This thought made him take out his wand but when the Headmaster told them that the tunnel had been checked before he visibly relaxed and followed. He didn't light his wand for now because the light of a few other wands was enough for him to see.

Holding tight to Niko's hand, Maxie spoke not a word as he slipped into the crowd. Weary, fearful, the Hufflepuff's emotions were like words etched all over his pale face. The truth was- he wasn't ready to leave. He knew this was stupid, but- he couldn't help feeling as if by leaving the castle behind, that he was leaving something of himself behind.

His heart was heavy in his chest, his shoulder slunk.

Never would anyone expect Maxie, of all people, to want to stay behind but here he was- desperately wishing that things were different, that the mist had vanished rather than spread and he and all his friend(s) would be free to remain.

Maxie closed his eyes, his face screwed up tight as he tried not to cry.

Despite all that had happened so far this year - the mist, the disappearing students, and now an evacuation - Kaiser was remarkably calm. It wasn't that he was entirely unconcerned about the missing kids or anything, it was more that his mortal peril threshold was really quite high. He was someone who had known a lot of danger, who had experience with people close to him disappearing, and these days he found himself adjusting to situations like these as though they were simply par for the course, or else detaching himself from the reality entirely and with relative ease. Or both.

He was intrigued to hear exactly where it was that they were being evacuated to, and immediately focused on the fact that it was about to get much, much easier to slip away whenever he wanted, regardless of what Trent had warned them. The fact that classes were going to continue on until term's end did not bother him; Kaiser had already more or less written off the academic year, and was now concerned only with having a place to sleep, food to eat, and a roof over his head. Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Stemp House, the specifics didn't matter, as long as he could slip away from time to time.

And so Kaiser was totally composed as he lit his wand and, keeping his free hand stuck casually in his pocket, followed the group into the secret passage that he already knew exceptionally well.

Cornish had been scoping the lower floors, making sure no one was trapped on the wrong side of the mist. Or left behind, whichever the case may be. He was strolling, almost casual in his approach of the departing students, but anyone who knew him well would be able to tell how on edge he was.

O'Hara was there, and Cornish gave her a broad wink before taking up a spot at the far end of the hallway. He would be last to leave, or at least he wouldn't leave until the students were all gone.

Gunnar knew he was cutting it close, but he needed to make sure a certain person or two was okay, grab his kneazle before he left, and also find his sister. He wasn't about to leave the castle without knowing she was safe and on her way as well. And with the first couple of things taken care of, he showed up near the back of the line just in time to hear his name spoken by the very person he was looking for.

"I'm here," he said, once he found the familiar head of blonde curls, slipping his free hand into hers as he carried Wolfgang in his other arm. "Don't worry, I wouldn't leave without you." And she was okay right? He looked her over and could see she wasn't at her best, but they would be okay. And his eyes soon fell on Thereos standing nearby. Would he be able to make the journey with them? It would likely be difficult for the centaur, but he couldn't exactly stay here.

Nettie was feeling...a lot of things right now but mostly relief. The more distance she could put between this mist and herself, the happier she would be. The looming threat of impending doom had made her lose all interest in her hobbies - she hadn’t touched her cello in over a month, which was highly unlike her. It was just difficult to get excited about things when every time she closed her eyes, she replied moments from the boathouse over and over in her brain...

A decent crowd had formed already, and her eyes quickly picked out some of her housemates and friends. She spotted Eiji and Nina and gave them a little nod of acknowledgment before pushing forward to Missa and Drew, preferring to stay by her housemates for the moment. She assumed they’d be grouped in rooms by house, yes? So best to stay close to them. She tugged on Missa and Drew’s robes to let them know she was there before falling in line behind them.

There was something about wanting to hear false hope sometimes. Drewett had kind of wished Missa would give him hope, that they didn't have to officially abandon the castle for the remainder of their years in school. That they'd still be able to come back next term on their thestral-drawn carriages. But he knew better. Nothing ever ended well with false hope, not in Drewett's experience. "Almost seems like this mist is invincible...." The fifth year trailed off. Did that mean...the ministry people couldn't do anything about it?

His stomach lurched just thinking about the entire thing.

And then it lurched again when he felt a tug on his robes from behind.

At the back of his mind, he knew it wasn't anything threatening but like any Drewett Gunter, the fifth year's eyes widened a little as he looked to his back. He let out a relieved sigh afterwards. It was good to see Nettie here and safe too. "Hi," he sheepishly said. Sorry. Didn't mean to react that way.

Maybe at some point, he'd excuse himself to lag behind and walk with Evan. Maybe hold her hand in the dark. Actually, that wasn't a maybe. He wasn't the needy type (narrator: he was the needy type) but he could really use some hand holding given the circumstances.

Eloise just wanted this to all be over and was actually happy they were evacuating and not trapped in the castle like she originally thought. More a relief than anything. Castle really gets boring after a while. Everyone was using the room of requirements and yikes you can only skateboard so many places in the castle without getting into trouble. While it was more a drag than anything else to be stuck with everyone during to at least no classes or anything else right now. Which was nice.

They were just going to leave. Now where was Dezi and Celine. Did she find her football? Elosie started looking around for both of them but welp it was time to start going judging from everyone else and guess she could start walking and still look around.

Piers was a pretty chill guy, but it was hard not to feel anxious about the huge evacuation to Hogsmeade. The mist was more than a mist. It almost felt like it was its own entity that was somehow able to know the deepest, darkest fears of whoever stepped inside of it. Not only that, but it was also incredibly dangerous. He just hoped that the tunnels would provide safety for all of the students and that the mist wouldn't spread to Hogsmeade when they got there.

He also hoped he could go to the Three Broomsticks for a pint. He needed one, okay?

Piers stayed near the back for a moment while the students began heading down the tunnel. It looked like Cornish was volunteering to stay back to catch any stragglers and keep up the end of the line. He gave the man a nod and stayed where he was as the students passed by him. He would stay, too, to walk with Cornish and be the last to leave. You were never too old for the buddy system.