Mariel casually walked down the second floor corridor in vague search of the Headmaster's office when she stopped in front of a small group of students congregated near a gargoyle. Glancing curiously between the students and gargoyle, she figured that this must be the entrance, vaguely recalling having read about some sort of gargoyle guarding the office in Hogwarts, A History. "This is the Headmaster's Office, then?" she mused aloud more to herself than to the others, who all seemed a bit too distraught for her to want to bother them.

She stared at the gargoyle for a moment, waiting for something to happen. Were they to answer a riddle like the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room? She had never found cause to visit Headmistress Rae last term, so she was unsure of how to proceed. After a moment's thought, the young Ravenclaw decided to pull out her wand and gently tapped it twice on the gargoyle's head, waiting for a response.