Herbology II

[BanaBatGirl]

It was a beautiful spring afternoon and the greenhouses were open and ready for business. The mandrakes the class had repotted last time looked ready too; a few were quivering and pots were hopping as they tried to be closer to other mandrakes. Everything the class would need today was already arranged on the long work tables for the lesson, with a stool set up behind each pot.

To sum, the sun was shining, the clouds were away, and the Headmistress was also ready for class today. She was perched on a stool at the head of the room, beside her rolling chalkboard, and was just finishing marking a few student journals. "Come in and take a seat behind the mandrake you potted last time. We'll start shortly," she says without looking up as you enter the greenhouse.

Come in, have a seat, and class will get started shortly.

OOC: If you didn't attend the last lesson/didn't pot a mandrake, just pretend like you did! And sit by it. =)

Lesson Progression:
1. Signs that a mandrake is mature? (http://www.snitchseeker.com/11775509-post17.html)
2. How to safely remove an adult mandrake. (http://www.snitchseeker.com/11775914-post24.html)

[Jessiqua]

Zhenya skipped to Herbology.

She skipped, is how excited she was.

Mandrakes. They had potted them and cared for them for a few weeks, and now it was time to see what the next step was. What would they be doing? Zhenya was excited to find out.

Into the greenhouse she went, smiling as she looked around. There were the mandrakes, and she spotted hers. And there was Headmistress Truebridge.

"Hello Professor," Zhenya said in greeting, before taking a spot by her Mandrake. Well, perhaps not her Mandrake, but the Mandrake she had re-potted three times and cared for.

[FearlessLeader19]

Gosh, it was unbelievably bright today, wasn't it? This meant specs for the Hufflepuff that was now standing outside of the Greenhouse. He stepped him eagerly. Why? Because he had absoloutely enjoyed the lessons by the Headmistress. And there she was! Sitting a the stool with the mandrakes there. Some were even hopping. WHAT A SIGHT! HEHE. Adi was enjoying looking at them.

"Hello, Professor Headmistress,'' Adi said, smiling at the woman. Nowww, where was his own Mandrake? Adi scanned the names on the pots. Aha! There was his! His pot was shaking rather violently at times. Whaaaa! He hurried to get closer to it to ensure it wouldn't topple over or anything. "Calm down there,'' Adi said, eyeing the Mandrake as he flopped down on the seat behind it and next to Zhenya who's pot was not far from his. Yep, he had often talked to the thing during his trips to the Greenhouse so this was nothing new. ''Hiiiii, Zhenya!

[Weasley174]

Herbology was seriously Angel's favourite subject and so she basically ran all the way to the greenhouse she slowed down when she got closer, she didn't want to get into trouble for running in the classroom.

Angel smiled as she looked at the headmistress. "Good day Madame." Angel would have curtsies but she thought she would get into trouble if she did. "I hope your well today?"

Angel then went and sat down next to the mandrake she planted last lesson she thought this was going to be very interesting.

[DuckyLinJi]

Yoongi had left his Gryffindor robe at his dormitory because he knew the Greenhouses were usually warmer than outside. And since it was a spring afternoon he had no use of it. So dressed in his uniform, the fifth year entered the greenhouse and immediately looked around for the mandrake he potted last time. He found it after a walk around the table and stood behind it. “Good afternoon Headmistress” he flashed a smile.

[MudInMyBlood]

After all of the shenanigans with her RUDE mandrake, AJ was not in the mood to see him again. Peter needed an attitude adjustment and this lion was just the one to do it. The professor seemed in good spirits. Or was it headmistress? She could always keep up with the professor headmistress ma'am... that pretty much covered it all.

Anyways. A smile for her even though she wasn't looking up. "Hello." No need to harp on the titles. Looook, she was early again. This made for like the second time all year. "Hey, Adi." Now she had to find Peter.

There her was. He was the one with a smug look on his face. She didn't even need to bother checking out the name that was attached on the pot.

"Peter," she said with disgust, not quite meeting his eye.

[Samia]

Herbology was going to be good. Noel just had that sort of feeling, you know? Despite the cobwebs everywhere, it was indeed a beautiful afternoon and Noel was feeling good.

Giving the headmistress a cheery, "Hello, professor," the fifth year tried to remember where he sat the last time. Ah, there, yes.

Dropping his bag on the floor, he eyed the pod. Hello to you too.

[Holmesian Feline]

Another herbology lesson. Another class with the headmistress. And as he walked into the greenhouse with his belongings for the lesson, it was clear it was to be another class with the mandrakes. Good thing he had the earmuffs he had been using previously for both lesson and assignment still in his possession, having planned to return them now anyways. Benny could only wonder what they were going to learn or do with them this time around.

"Hello Headmistess," he greeted the woman with a polite nod as he entered further into the greenhouse. Now to find where his mandrake had wound up since it didn't seem to be in the same place. Oh...there it is. The sixth year moving to sit at the stool supplied before the appropriate pot. "Hey," he greeted Angel, Adi and AJ as he took note of them around him at the table.

[kayquilz]

HERBOLOGYYYYYY! Eden was ready to see Hippolanta! She scooted into the Greenhouse, nodded at Truebridge, and had a seat next to her pot where she KNEW her precious little Hippolanta was.

"Hi, baby...how's it going today?" she asked softly, patting the side of the pot gently. "I think...we get to repot you today? Maybe?" she shrugged and glanced around for any friends...She saw Adi but that was about it. He got a wave from her.

Where was everyone?

[Felixir]

Yo yo yiggedy YO, Tobias was HERE.

He bounced quite energetically into the greenhouse, all HYPED UP and ENERGETIC and READY TO GO. "Hi Professor... uh... Headmistresssssss Truebridge!" Toby called across to her, belatedly seeing she was all busy and that. Oops.

Right, mandrake then. It didn't take Toby toooooooo long to find Mandy (his mandrake), at which pointed he went ahead and took a seat right there and waited.

... And... fidgeting. Knees bounced, fingers tapped, heads (well... just one... he only had one head) nodded. Herbology was EXCITING STUFF, okay? It made Toby happy even though the impending NEWT exams were looming like a horrifying tidal wave, threatening to crush Toby under the sheer weight of stress and make him all sorts of crazy. Y'know. As long as he didn't think about that, it was alllll good. HERBOLOGY. LET'S GO.

[Kolyander]

"Hello Headmistress," Hady greeted warmly as she entered the greenhouse taking in a deep breath of fresh air and the scent of the plants. This was so much better then all the cobwebs and spiders. Glancing around anyhow for those dreaded creatures anyhow she moved forward into the greenhouse.

Still looking around she quickly spotted her mandrake from the earlier lessons and made her way to where it was. Dropping her bag down at her feet Hady sat down on the stool behind at the table where it was. Clearly they were going to be working with the mandrakes again?

[lazykitty]

No webs. This was enough to make Heather smile as she entered the greenhouse, since the stupid things seemed to be everywhere. So a break from them was appreciated, even if that meant dealing with her troublesome mandrake.

She took her seat behind her mandrake with a "Hello, Headmistress." Wand at the ready to stop any antics from the plant.

[Deezerz]

What a nice day. Would be even better if she didn't have to do all the studying. Granted she could do it outside, but she concentrated better in quiet and less distracting places.

Robe hung over her arm and wand in hand, Beverly entered the greenhouse, setting her belongings down--all but her wand--and smiled softly at her mandrake. "Hope you're doing well," she murmured, glancing up in the direction of the Headmistress. Seeing as the woman seemed busy, Beverly took her seat rather than interrupt.

[Anna Banana]

Kate made her way to the greenhouses for Herbology class. If she remembered correctly, they were supposed to be harvesting their mandrakes today. Kate hadn't been looking forward to working with her moody little mandrake, but she was glad to be harvesting it. Herbology had always been one of her favorite classes, and she thought the Headmistress was really nice, too.

"Hello, Headmistress," Kate said, walking past the woman as she made her way to her mandrake. Spotting the plant, Kate made her way to it and ever so carefully observed it. It wasn't paying a bit of attention to her, but rather distracted by trying to get closer and closer to a fellow mandrake. Kate smiled, shook her head, and just continued to watch.

[ArianaBlack]

Zander was... Indifferent about class today.

He LOVED herbology, DIDN'T really LOVE the Headmistress, LOVED the beautiful spring weather, and definitely DIDN'T LOVE his mandrake. So basically, the score was tied and the result was indifference. So he wasn't exactly skipping over to class and definitely wasn't bouncing in like one of those eager Hufflepuffs... But he did walk in with a small smile in place because that's how you've got to greet the Queen Headmistress, unfortunately.

Which, by the way, he did have his wand out as he entered incase she wanted them to try one of those revealing spells again. Though, this time she was sat on a stool. Huh. "Good afternoon Professor Truebridge," oh man, should he have said Headmistress Truebridge? Eh. Too late now.

Better go find that stupid mandrake of his.

[Govoni]

Gabe. Was. Present.

...and he was hardcore hoping they were moving past this mandrake business. The recent homework/project situation had left him a bit burnt out where these plants were concerned. It was like caring for an infant. He wasn't equipped for this type of stress.

Of course, upon entering Greenhouse Three, it was immediately apparent they were to be picking up where said homework left off.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

Easily finding his station, Gabe took a seat and began regrettably removing his notes. Hopefully, Carbunculus would be....better mannered today. Though, by the movement of his pot, the Ravenclaw felt that was just wishful thinking.

[BanaBatGirl]

"Good afternoon, hi, hello, I'm well, thank you, hi," the Headmistress murmured to those few who had greeted her upon entering. She shuffled the papers she had been grading and stood up, vanishing them with a flick of her wand to her office.

Time to get started! "Today we're going to be harvesting the mandrakes we potted and nurtured to adulthood, as promised last lesson." The Headmistress walked down the line of plants, nodding at them here and there. "First though, you need to check that your mandrake is ready--- WITHOUT pulling it out of the pot. Remind me, what are some signs that a mandrake is mature enough to harvest?"

Just starting with a little review from last time, no harm in that.

[MudInMyBlood]

Time to harvest Peter. AJ hoped it meant exactly as it sounded. WOW. That was a little harsh. Sorry, Pete. A sympathetic smile was given to the mandrake even though he couldn't possibly be a mindreader.

There were several ways to know if your mandrake was ready, but one really stuck out in her mind. AJ raised her hand. "When they stop being big fat jerks." Or were they supposed to still be a jerk? Peter was a jerk. That was all she knew.

[FearlessLeader19]

Adi lit up when he saw AJ arrive. Well, as much more lit up as he could get. Hehe. "Heeeey, AJ!'' As she went to look for her mandrake, the other bestie had made his presence known. "Hello, Dragon!'' Eden came in directly afterwards, waving to him. He shot her a cheery grin as he returned the wave.
....................

Gosh! His pot was still being all wobbly! Eyes on you, potted mandrake! Thank Merlin Truebridge was getting ready to start the lesson. Maybe whatever she had in store today would stop all these seemingly restless mandrakes from their antics... which would be repotting. Of course.

"They'll try to move into each others pots, Professor.'' His hand was up, too. Yep.

[Felixir]

Hm, so... signs that the mandrake is ready and nurtured and adults and stuff? Toby knew these things, the main one being the one that Adi had said, about moving into each other's pots. But there WERE others, of course. One in particular sprang to mind, and Toby raised his hand.

"Their cries are fatal when they're all adulty. SOOOOO if you hear one scream and it makes you all dead and stuff then it's ready for you to harvest." Toby nodded. Nod nod nod. Real true fact right there.

[ArianaBlack]

"When they stop being big fat jerks."

HAAHAHAHA. Zander quite liked AJ's answer. He had to try very, VERY hard to stifle his laughter. Ahem. That was a good one, AJ. Much needed. Thank you for the laughter. Wheeeew. That was toooooo good.

Ahem.

But also, he was pretty sure his mandrake would never stop being a big fat jerk soooo. Highly unlikely.

"Well, when they're still teenagers--" Teendrakes? What were they even called? Adolescentdrakes? Moodydrakes? Anyways, irrelevant. "They get acne, so does that mean that by harvest time their acne will clear up?" It was a question. But it was also an answer. Uh, maybe? And if not, there were creams for this kind of stuff. Maybe it'd be a good investment.

[Weasley174]

Angel looked at the Professor as she raised her hand. "Professor don't they out grow their pots when they are old enough." Angel just decided that she would guess that.

[Govoni]

.

.

Gabe looked at Toby, tilting his head...because...what? If he were deceased, whether the mandrake was adult or not wouldn't matter. His Hufflepuff friend was an intriguing person...

.

"They aren't as fussy as they were in the teenage phase. They exhibit more maturity."

[BanaBatGirl]

It was always so nice to see that some students had learned from their homework assignment. Specifically, Annie could see the frustration on certain faces... the faces of those who had CLEARLY spent enough time around their mandrake.

"It's just like raising a child of your own, trust me," she murmured under her breath, flicking her wand to the board so their answers would pop up. Ahem. "Anyway, good! Good responses, you lot. And yes, Zander, the acne clears up by the time they're fully grown. Let's take a look at our master list of notes, shall we? I've added onto it and reiterated certain points in blue. Make sure you copy these down."


MANDRAKES

also called Autumn or Mediterranean Mandrake
perennials
branched roots, which appear humanoid in appearance
must mature before harvesting for use
mundane: used by Muggles to make patients unconscious (anesthetic)
mundane: highly poisonous when eaten (alkaloids)
mundane: tufty, with purpleish greenish leaves
mundane: related to the potato
mundane: five-petaled flowers
mundane: globe-shaped berries
mundane: berries turn yellow-orange when ripe (in autumn)
magical: cries of fully-grown mandrakes can kill an adult human
magical: roots of immature mandrakes look (and scream) like crazy, mad little babies
magical: cries of baby mandrakes can cause temporary unconsciousness
magical: behaviors match the growth and development of a human's; mandrakes experience childhood, puberty (acne), adolescence ("hormonal" without having hormones), and adulthood similarly to wizards
magical: mandrakes are known to be mature when they start trying to move into each other's pots
magical: plants will move/quiver and shake when the mandrakes are ready to be harvested
magical: adult mandrakes, when removed from a pot, will make eye contact and then start yelling (not crying like baby mandrakes)
magical: require repotting as they grow
magical: they WILL bite appendages off if you stick them in a mandrake's mouth
magical: favorite food of both dugbogs and flesh-eating slugs
magical: leaves can be used in antidotes
magical: used to make the Restorative Draught
magical: most famous use was during the Hogwarts basilisk attack of 1992


"Now, the most obvious way to see if your mandrake is ready is to pull it up by the leafy part and check for aging. If we had glass pots, you would see your mandrake root moving around inside there, and causing the pot to jolt and bounce a little bit --- which is, of course, a sign that they are ready to be harvested. Alas, we do not have glass pots in an introductory Herbology course, so we're going to have to rough it a little. As we're potting and re-potting mandrakes, what is the most important tool to use?"

Truebridge looked at them all expectantly, waited just a beat for anyone to answer, and then picked up her fluffy PINK earmuffs. "Your earmuffs (http://www.snitchseeker.com/11767718-post65.html), of course! Adult cries are fatal, so we need to make safety a priority here! WITH your earmuffs on, you will now pull your mandrake out from its pot, quickly STUN IT with your wand, and then set it off to the side to wait for more instructions. Do NOT remove your earmuffs until you see me remove mine, okay?"

OKAY? It was really important that they follow her directions here. Like, life and death important. "If you are not a very coordinated person, you may stun your mandrake once BEFORE you pull it from the pot, and then again when you have it hanging by its leaves, just to be certain it's not going to yell at you and kill you." She smiled, weirdly, at them all. "Alright then, earmuffs on.... and GO!"

OOC: Take 1-2 posts to a) put your earmuffs on; b) stun your mandrake; and c) pull it out from the pot and set it to the side of the pot. Remember, you can do b and c simultaneously. Have fun here but DON'T DIE! Next post in 7-8 hours. =D

[FearlessLeader19]

Adi still was recovering from AJ's answer. Bahaha! His girlfriend was hilarious. Anywhooo, he checked over his previous notes then added anything that was missing. He was taking the best notes that he could because exam time would be upon them again. Now, his attention was on Truebridge again. Yep, he KNEW his mandrake was all matured. Need he mention that he was still sulky at it for giving him attitude but not that sulky enough to not to hold the pot which was still shaking quite a bit.

Yes, yes, yes! Earmuffs! VERYYY important! Today, Adi opted for a pink, fluffy one. Hehehe. The guy didn't care. It was still an earmuff, right? He donned it, ensuring that it was very secure around his ears. With Truebridge's instructions still in his mind, he pulled his pot closer to him, grasped his mandrake firmly by the leaves at the base of its head and PULLLLLED!

Out popped the mandrake, it's mouth opened wide. It was very obvious it was having a wail of a time. Literally. "Stupefy!'' With a flash of red light, the mandrake shut its mouth and became still. Mission accomplished with one Stunning Spell. He was coordinated. Yep.

The Hufflepuff set the mandrake aside as instructed and waited patiently for the class to continue as he hummed to himself with the earmuffs still on.

[Felixir]

Those earmuffs. Toby knew them well, having donned a pair every single time he'd come to visit his mandrake over the last few months (just in case, y'know?). He'd actually managed to find himself a favourite pair... uh... well, NOT that he had favourites or anything like that, Merlin no. But he'd found a pair that FIT his HEAD the BEST and most comfortable...est. Uh. Yeah.

It was actually the 'HUH?' pair Toby had worn in that first mandrake lesson, and he sought them out now, sifting through and trying on the few pairs in that design before finally finding them. AHA. Toby made sure they were all snug and firmly wrapped around his ears before heading back to Mandy the mandrake.

So they had to... pull it out... and stun it. Oh. Well... as long as that didn't hurt it. Toby had never been stunned before, but all the times the spell had been mentioned in classes the professor never mentioned any pain, so he supposed it would be fine. Right. OKAY. Gloves were on too, so LET'S GOOOOOO. Time to Herbologiiiiise.

Before he did ANYTHING, Toby looked around the room properly to check and see that everyone had their ear muffs on and stuff, so he didn't accidentally kill them with his mandrake if it screamed. He couldn't SEE any earmuffless people, but he did see that a few kids had already started and nobody was dropping to the floor, so figured that meant it was okay to start.

Toby spent a few moments to properly take hold of the mandrake's leaves, wanting to get a proper grip nice and close to the head so he could free the mandrake with one sharp yank and not end up messing it up and having to re-pull. When he was ready, the Hufflepuff gave a great tug on the mandrake, pulling it free from its soily confines. His wand was in his other hand, ready, and as soon as the actual mandrake root was visible, still halfway in the pot, Toby shot the spell at it. "Stupefy!"

Luckily, his aim was spot on. Like, he didn't hit his hand with the spell or anything like that. The mandrake was well and truly STUNNED and Toby set it down on the desk, then looked up towards Truebridge but kept his earmuffs ON until instructed otherwise.

[Deezerz]

Beverly added the new information to her notes, marking an asterisk at the beginning of each point so she new which was new info. She liked organization, especially in her note-taking.

Next came the choice of earmuffs. She took the blue with the HUH? on them. It fit since she wouldn't be able to hear a thing. Huh? Exactly. Tugging on either side and patting them over her ears, she made sure they were securely on. There was no way Beverly Wayne would go out because of a howling plant.

Rubbing her hands together after centering the pot, Beverly wrapped her hand around its leaves and gave it a firm tug. The plant wriggled and opened its ugly mouth once it was out. Good try, potato. Wrinkling her nose at it, Beverly cast firmly. "Stupefy!"

It froze mid-cry--she guessed as its mouth was still wide open-- and she set it on the surface of the table next to the pot.

[ACROMANTULAS!]

Breaking off from the rest, a small group of acromantulas scurried eagerly towards the greenhouses. Larger than the majority of their siblings, they were eager to stretch their 8 legs and follow through with Mother's instructions. One of the smaller, but also one of the more physically strong, took the lead and threw itself at the wall of the greenhouse.

Glass went everywhere.

Hairy black bodies began scurrying through the hole insie.

Pincers clicked eagerly as their black beady eyes fell upon their prey.

"Take them to Mother."

[Cassirin]

Mandrakes mandrakes mandrakes. Dot had her pretty fuzzy pink earmuffs on, and her gloves because GROSS dirt, and she was patting her little pot fondly. This was her mandrake and she was a good momma... was that DIRT on her wrist? Ew, no.

Professor! Dirt!

There was sort of... popping feeling around her, although Dot couldn't actually hear the crash of the glass, and she looked up curiously. Oh, hullo there giant spiders. Did this mean they didn't have to do any more Herbology? Run for your lives?

"PROFESSOR I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT RUNNING FOR OUR LIVES." She waved her hand.

[Samia]

Herbology was just okay, you know? Noel once thought he'd really like it but it didn't really. It was just okay. Kind of boring, not nearly as boring as arithmancy of course.

So he had been quietly writing down things and looking at his pot.

Noting the instructions, the blond grabbed his ear muffs and put them on.

So ... he didn't really hear when the glass broke.

He did ... however SEE when gross black things started crawling in.

The reason for the cobwebs ......

...

..

Noel stared, wide eyed and then CURSED rather foully under his breath. CUZ HOW CAN YOU NOT??????

The sixteen year looked at the professor and then the giant spiders - AND his hand grabbed one of the empty pots nearby. HE WAS ALLOWED TO THROW IT AT THEM, YES? This might be an emergency .........

[Anna Banana]

Breaking off from the rest, a small group of acromantulas scurried eagerly towards the greenhouses. Larger than the majority of their siblings, they were eager to stretch their 8 legs and follow through with Mother's instructions. One of the smaller, but also one of the more physically strong, took the lead and threw itself at the wall of the greenhouse.

Glass went everywhere.

Hairy black bodies began scurrying through the hole insie.

Pincers clicked eagerly as their black beady eyes fell upon their prey.

"Take them to Mother."

Kate had just put her earmuffs on and was about to follow through with the rest of the professor's instructions, when she heard the sound of glass shattering. Even through the earmuffs, the sound was unmistakable. Had somebody had an unfortunate run-in with a mandrake and fainted to their death?! OH, NO.

Kate spun around, earmuffs still in place, and just froze in her tracks as she took in the sight of HUGE, hairy spiders pretty much EVERYWHERE. Uhh... Something told her this was very, very, VERY unplanned and had absolutely nothing to do with their lesson on mandrakes. Kate spared a quick glance to her little plant. PSH. She could care less about re-potting it now. It was on its own, as it was every man for himself now.

Have a nice life, mandrake.

'Take them to mother'. THEM. Did they want the mandrakes? Kate began pushing hers forward. Take it. GO. Bring it to whoever mother is, and please don't ever let me see you again. Okay? Thanks. She drew her wand out, because that was just THE thing to do. Somebody else was going to jump forward and kill all of them, right? Somebody? Anybody?

GRYFFINDORS?!

[BanaBatGirl]

Great, all the earmuffs were on and the students were moving ahead with pulling out their mandrakes and stunniii-----

:gasp:

ACROMANTULAS?! BREAKING THROUGH HER GREENHOUSES?!!! OH NO THEY DID NOT.

The redhead reacted with fury, immediately picking up the nearest empty pot (sorry, Adi) and hurling it at the spiders. "USE THE MANDRAKES--- NO MORE STUNNING!" she yelled, though it was very unlikely that anyone could hear because of their earmuffs. Heck, she couldn't even hear the walls shattering as the stupid giant spiders broke through.

Annie whipped out her wand next and started casting a giant shield charm over all the children. Run for their lives--- DUH! Just run AWAY from the spiders and not TO them, okay!

Her next instinct was to use the mandrakes as a weapon. FOLLOW THE PROF'S LEAD, kids! She saw that one Hufflepuff had the right idea. Annie rushed down the row of mandrakes the earmuffed students hadn't touched yet. She started pulling one after the other after the other, whipping them around her head and tossing them at the acromantulas as they began to scream their deadly cries. Had anyone tested the yelp of a mandrake vs. an acromantula yet? Well they were about to find out just how deadly these plants could be.

[Cassirin]

Oh oh oh! They could just unpot their mandrakes and throw the thing at the spider beasts? That was a for real and actual response to this particular danger? It might not be better than running, but the professor hadn't said they could run, and Dot wasn't going to lose house points for running out of bounds.

Sometimes Hogwarts was a LITTLE silly about rules. Like prison.

Dot tugged up her dragonhide gloves with a ferocious look before digging BOTH hands around the chubby belly of her mandrake. This excellent mandrake momma was going to have to say goodbye to her ugly baby. "Sorry about throwing you at a spider," she whispered to the thingy, which was screaming its head off.

And then she threw it. "GO AWAY, SPIDER BEASTS."

[Deezerz]

She had been busy poking her mandrake when all of a sudden...

A pot flew across the greenhouse....

Lifting her gaze, Beverly's eyes widened. ACROMANTULAS! Was this part of the lesson? Yes? No? By the look on the Headmistress' face Beverly took it as a no. THEY WERE UNDER ATTACK.

What does one do when they're under attack? They fight back.

Taking the Headmistress' lead, Beverly quickly cast Finite on her mandrake. It's face contorted, and assuming it was screaming, she tossed it over at the acromantulas like a grenade.

"GET AS FAR FROM THEM AS YOU CAN!" she yelled, dramatically gesturing with her arm for the students closest to them to move away. Following Truebridges' lead, she rushed on over and pulled mandrakes like her life depended on it--which it really did-- and tossed them the spiders's way.

Were acromantuala sensitive to screaming mandrakes?

[Anna Banana]

Ohh, okay, well THIS might be fun in a weird and twisted kind of way. On one hand, Kate was so freaked out beyond belief that she was out of her mind and wanted to do nothing but flail about and scream. On the other hand, throwing plants at over-sized spiders kind of seemed FUN. Yeah. Like she said. 'Fun in a weird and twisted kind of way'.

With her wand still held tightly in her hand (because she was NOT putting it away), Kate ran after the Headmistress. She felt just like a warrior heading out to fight on the front line. The only thing she needed now was a battle cry, but the only thing that came to mind was, 'TAKE THAT'! Weak, Kate. Nevertheless, she ripped a mandrake from a pot and hurled it toward a spider. "TAKE THAT!" she yelled, because something was better than nothing.

[Samia]

The moment Noel saw the headmistress throwing the mandrake at the spiders. Noel THREW the pot he had in his hand at the spiders with all the strength he had. He really thought the pot with the mandrakes would work much more effectively you know.

FIRST THE IMPACT OF THE POT ITSELF.

THEY'LL think that they could recover from that impact but THEN THE CRIES would be happening.

DOUBLE ATTACK.

TOO caught up in the moment, the boy grabbed the pots one after another and threw them at the gross hairy things. "TAKE THAT YOU FUDGING THINGS!"

[Govoni]

.

.

Well, THAT was a relief...because Gabriel had stunned his mandrake a few times during the homework phase...and had worried that he was going to get in trouble for it if the Headmistress found out. Plant cruelty...or something. Yes! Good call, Banner.

Selecting another pair of earmuffs...the burger ones, which reminded the Ravenclaw that he was hungry...Gabe snapped them into place. Taking a moment to make sure they were properly covering his ears, he went ahead and did the initial Stupefy...before uprooting his mandrake. He wasn't sure about the others...but Carbunculus had a rambunctious nature, despite maturing...

What happened next, though....Well....

Suddenly, the loudest shattering noise Gabriel had ever heard broke over the room...and he spun on the spot, eyes widening to the size of saucers. It was like his worst nightmares being realized, watching large spiders spill into the greenhouse.......................

Acromantulas.

Gabe could've cried.

He was officially the worst prefect in history. He wanted to run for his life, leave the lot of them for dead, and save his own neck....In fact, an exit strategy seemed like a pretty good idea.........but he didn't. Gosh. DOT was in here......and Toby. Even Gabriel Banner wouldn't leave his friends behind.

Right. They were....tossing mandrakes....

Stumbling backwards slightly, trying to steady his shaking limbs, Gabe followed Beverly's lead. "Finite!" was uttered before he ripped the plant up out of the pot and hurled it towards the nearest spider. The delivery wasn't the best...but HE TRIED. That...counted for something...right?

Merlin help, he really didn't want to die like this....

[ArianaBlack]

So the acne DID clear up. Well that was good to know. Hopefully it meant his mandrake wouldn't look as awkward now either because boy was that thing an ugly teenager. Just saying. And Zander was kind of looking forward to the moving them around thing. It'd be kind of cool to see how much they changed, y'know? Despite the fact that it was a total pain the last time.

He went to grab his earmuffs, which she had remembered to bring to the lesson this time. Then after putting them on he stood for a moment to debate whether stupefy would be a good idea, which it probably would be. So the prefect took out his wand to cast a quick-- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

HOLY MOTHER OF MERLIN.

THOSE WERE ACROMANTULAS!!!!! Actually, Zander had come across them face to face before. So it wasn't even as terrifying. They just brought back TONS of warflashbacks. Also IS THIS WHY THERE WERE SO MANY COBWEBS?

O M G.

They were back here to eat Zander and Aegis!!! They must've been mad after they were only able to get Gregoire the last time and HOLY COW. This meant he was totally and singly handed my responsible for this years Hogwarts mystery and total mass destruction. Uh. Talk about oops? So THIS is what Flammy meant by tidal waves. Huh. Makes sense now.

So he was in Herbology with the Headmistress that knew he was one of those responsible for aggravating the acromantulas last term and now those spiders were breaking in to eat them all. What else could go wrong? Probably loads of things actually. It was just a typical day at Hogwarts after all. Nothing out of the ordinary yet.

EXCEPT YES PULLING OUT THE MANDRAKE NOW!!!!

"TAKE THIS SPIDER SCUM!!!" .... Did mandrakes work against man eating beats? Also while we're taking the time here RIP Gregoire you will always be remembered especially now when we will probably die the same way as you the end.

Reason number 400067 as to why Zander should've skipped class today.
.

[RedRabbit]

*Noah had been following the lesson and had just put the earmuffs on with something touch his shoulder. Turning he flicked off a bit off glass, wait... Glass? That was when he saw the spiders. He hated spiders with a firey passion. He was trying to think of a fire spell when he remembered where he was, not a good idea with people around. Backing away from the spiders he followed the professors lead and started chucking the ugly baby plant at the spiders.*

[MudInMyBlood]

Zander seemed amused by her answer, and she couldn't help but to smile at him. Must be that he had a jerk of a mandrake to take care of too. Probably he could sympathize. He could probably laugh again now that he didn't have to play daddy to an undeserving, party throwing, disrespecting turd face.

And now they had to yank them from their homes. AJ had no problem with that. No problem at all. She would slowly yank them out... really enjoy this part. A fun little bonus was that their cries could kill you now. It wasn't like she wanted to die, but knowing that you could really got the blood pumping.

Earmuffs on! There. She was protected against the grim reaper. Watching Truebridge first, she grabbed her mandrake. S L O W L Y, she started to pull him up. Seriously, grass grew faster than this. Peter was wailing and trying to kill her obviously. Too bad he still was lacking in the manners department. But, trying to kill somebody... that was taking it to an unhealthy level. Peter needed counseling. She should know.

Finally, he was yanked all the way up. Well, not really yanked, more like slowly pulled up. "STU---"

Motion caught her eye, and sweet, majestical baby unicorns. There were spiders. Shattered glass and complete chaos. This was the thing that AJ lived for. She was going to ride that spider. Maybe it just wanted some company? Or not. Apparently they were under attack. The headmistress was slinging mandrakes like a side show at a circus. It was mad impressive.

For a moment, AJ bit her bottom lip. She was torn. Spiders were really just misunderstood creatures. But, when was she going to get the chance to sling another mandrake IN FRONT of the Hogwarts boss lady? Decision made.

"Peter you're up." Karma was something else, wasn't it? AJ was an athlete and baseball was her favorite sport. It was safe to say that her aim was spot on.

"CHAAAAAAAARGE!"

Peter was flopping by her side as she ran up on the closer spider. Left foot out. Right foot back. Peter was airborne. How do you like them apples, spiders? And she was sorry. Would they still agree to a spider play date with her precious spiders in the castle?

No?

Pot time. AJ grabbed as many as she could, and started flinging them like they were baseballs. You want some? Come get some.

[kayquilz]

....Eden nodded at Truebridge and grabbed her earmuffs. She was about to put them on when--

OH SNAP.

A GIANT. BLOODY. SPIDER. JUST LIKE THAT. APPEARED.

She'd heard the rumors--Damien's leg, hello?! And Now Bunz wanted them to sacrifice the lives of the poor, defenseless mandrakes to defeat the spiders? Eden clutched the pot that held Hippolanta and...had to reason with herself.

Eden...your life...it's important...these mandrakes might survive if you throw it...those cries MIGH be fatal to the spiders... But Eden also thought the spiders could be reasoned with. But alas....she bit her lip, and followed Bunz' lead.

She liked her life, thank you. And she didn't want to muck up now. She had too much going for her at the moment.

So she did it. She threw her mandrake at the spiders and burst into tears.

>.<

[Weasley174]

Angel was just looking at her mandrake, wondering how big it had got when suddenly there was a commotion. Seriously what was with these Spiders today and could she go and ask the COMC Professor for a dragon, because that would get rid of them right, you know Dragons could breath fire.

Angel watched as everyone else started to throw things at the spiders and she looked at her plant and lobbed it.... she really wanted to leave this place now.

[FearlessLeader19]

Hum, hum, hum!

Wait! What was that out of the corner of his eyes?

:x3: SPIDERS!

Adi's instinct was to get his wand and blast the things but the next thing he knew was Truebridge grabbing his empty pot and throwing it at them. BRILLIANT! The Head was saying something- Use the mandrakes?- Was that what she was saying? YES! Look the others were doing it! Adi noticed something Bev and Gabe did which caused their mandrakes to start screaming. "Finite!'' Oh yeah! His mandrake was having a wail of a time again.

With all the upper body strength Adi could muster, he tossed the mandrake at the spiders. HAVE FUN WITH IT, SPIDEYS! Wasting no time to check where the mandrake landed, he hurried to follow Truebridge's lead with the other potted 'drakes.

Hope you like screaming mandrakes, Acromantulas! Mwahahaha!

[ACROMANTULAS!]

The first spider charged forward.

Suddenly its legs bent at odd angles and it began to screech a warning towards its siblings to move back. Writhing in agony for almost a full minute, it eventually flopped over on its back.

Dead as a door nail.

The rest of the swarm hissed and waved their arms angrily from a distance outside of the greenhouse. A few, whose eyes you could swear were darker than before, charged forward with nothing to lose and began ripping and tearing up any mandrakes they could find on the ground before succumbing to the mandrakes' screams and joining their group's leader on their backs with legs folded across their bodies or sticking up in the air.

Still more came scurried inside and around their fallen companions. The screams of the mandrakes hindered their advancement and some continued to fall, but as more and more mandrakes were torn to pieces the more agile and confident the acromantula's movement became.

"THAT ONE! IT IS MINE!" screeched one. Pincers clicking together aggressively, it began making wild and unpredictable movements toward the human fleshie who was clearly one of the leaders (Samia).

"YOU AND YOU, WITH ME!" ordered another as three acromantula converged on the red headed human (BanaBatGirl).

The rest continued to dispose any mandrakes they could get their pincers on.

[kayquilz]

Eden's eyes were full of tears--MERLIN MERLIN--those spiders--they were RIPPING through some of the poor mandrakes, and Eden almost died of grief right there--

TRUEBRIDGE.

Eden brandished her wand and sent a sharp freezing spell int he direction of the spider that aimed for her. "IMMOBULUS--" she didn't know what else to do, and it was the first spell that popped into her head.

[Govoni]

.

.

.

THEY WERE TEARING THROUGH THE MANDRAKES!!! This....this wasn't working. Not in a way that was really making much of a difference....and they were closing in on the Headmistress. She was their LEADER. What would happen if they took her?!

They would die.....that's what. They were going to die.

.....and Gabe...Gabe didn't want to die like this. No...He...he had NEWTs to sit in a few weeks...and then Germany was happening. He was going to move there and study the sciences and change the face of the world. He....this....they.....

The Ravenclaw prefect doubled over, dry heaving. No....no....no, no, no, no, no....Not an anxiety attack. NOT RIGHT NOW....

He stumbled, gripping at the workstation surface. Eden was nearby, crying and shouting spells...or was it just one spell? There was too much commotion; he couldn't focus enough to...pinpoint. "We need to...get out of here...." They ALL did. How could they fight off an army?! It....it wasn't logical. They were just kids...or students, to be more politically correct

...AND....! THAT was the Hufflepuff that had given him the brownies! THAT'S WHO THAT WAS! Gabe stared at the enormous spider snapping up Noel Wallace and gasped. IF ONLY HE HAD CHEMICALS...He could make a molotov cocktail...because science....Science fixed everything....but he...he could've accidently Incinerated Noel....BUT IF THEY COULD JUST MOVE NOEL OUT OF THE WAY...

Shakily, still, Gabe forgot about the mandrakes and pointed his wand................"Accio Noel Wallace.".......No, that wasn't going to work...but he'd been about to cast Bombarda...and well....HE'D REDIRECTED LAST MINUTE. He didn't want to fry his classmate!....or set the place on fire. HE WASN'T MADE FOR WAR...

....."S-s-...STUPEFY!" There.......That...that, was better.

FLAILING!!!!

[Samia]

Pretty soon they were going to run out of mandrakes and pots. Surely, the headmistress had a plan B, yes? For now though ... Noel was hurling mandrake pots at the spiders with all his puff power. And it seemed to be working .. the spiders were starting to die. IT WAS WORKING.

...

Only ... not so much anymore.

More of them started to emerge and WAS THAT ONE LOOKING AT HIM? Noel hurled a pot at it but missed because the hairy monster was moving fast and unpredictable. WHAT DID IT MEAN THAT ONE IS MINE? "NO I AM NOT YOURS!" The puff wailed, grabbing a pot and throwing in it's direction.

Something was telling him the 'pot throwing' alone was not going to work anymore. There was too much panic and DID SOMEONE TRY AND ACCIO HIM? Noel wanted to look back but that hairy thing was too close ... the 'accio' reminded him to use his wand. Without another thought, the boy pointed his wand at the thing and: "Confringo!"

[Felixir]

O_______________________________O

Everything seemed to happen all at once. Toby didn't HEAR the acromantula arrive, but it was impossible to miss the glass that went literally everywhere. He span around to see what the heck was going on and... yeah. Big, terrifying spiders. YEAH. YEAH. OR, MORE ACCURATELY, NOOOOOOOOOOOPE.

It was bizarre, because Toby could SEE the chaos, but the fact that he couldn't hear anything made it feel like it wasn't even REAL. Like a dre-... no, nightmare. Definitely a nightmare. He could see mandrakes FLYING through the air, and big spiders curling up dead, and the Hufflepuff automatically picked up his own stunned mandrake and clutched it protectively to his chest before anyone could grab it. Priorities.

He didn't hear any instructions of course, and he didn't know whether he wanted to fight or flee. Because this was clearly a fighting situation, the way they were advancing on people, but Toby didn't want to believe it, but everyone else was fighting back and throwing spells and mandrakes, and they wouldn't do that for no reason. He WANTED to run, because SPIDERS, but there were people here he didn't want to abandon.

So mostly he just sat there, wide-eyed and staring, doing nothing until he saw three of those big spiders go for Truebridge, at which point he went into autopilot. Nuh-uh. Not our headmistress. Toby's wand was back in his hand in a second, and Toby automatically cast, not at the spiders, but at the floor they were scurrying over. "Glisseo!"

... He was also still cradling his mandrake protectively. His mandrake was NOT gonna be savaged.

[MudInMyBlood]

In the middle of her pot tossing, and mandrake slinging good time, she noticed that the first spider died. He killed over. WOOT. Mandrakes were super powerful. Good thinking, headmistress. Even better for leading by example. This was the BEST lesson ever.

More spiders were coming, and they were going down one by one. YESSS. Only some were making it. EEP. Was there going to be enough mandrakes to go around? Was it just her or was Noel looking like a target. What was up with that? Before she could think too much into that she noticed three of them coming at her headmistress.

RUDE. Bullies. "SPIDER BULLIES. BULLLIIIIESSS." Pick on someone your own side. Nobody was going to be taken from the greenhouse. Not today, spider bullies. And not on her watch. You got that?

Spells were flying, but she didn't know which ones were being used because of the whole wearing earmuffs so she doesn't die thing. What spell would be useful? She stopped and thought for a moment. Like, this was a normal lesson and she had all the time in the world to figure something out.

Hopping around in her little area while trying to think was happening. Oh, she had something. "Confundo." What? It was the best thing she could come up with under pressure. Plus, confused spiders sounded like a good idea. Maybe they would forget about trying to eat them and instead give them all spidey rides. After the fun was over they would just go back to their homes and all would be well with the world. AJ just REALLY wanted a spider ride.

There were still some pots left, and the fourth year just couldn't help herself. One, two, three. Pots were flying. A nice bump on the head will surely help with the confusion thing. You know, if the spell worked. Spellwork wasn't always her friend.

[Anna Banana]

"THAT ONE! IT IS MINE!" screeched one. Pincers clicking together aggressively, it began making wild and unpredictable movements toward the human fleshie who was clearly one of the leaders (Samia).

"YOU AND YOU, WITH ME!" ordered another as three acromantula converged on the red headed human (BanaBatGirl).

The rest continued to dispose any mandrakes they could get their pincers on.

Once again, Kate had that startling feeling that all she wanted to do was around screaming her head off with her hands flailing madly in the air. She was only a second year! Couldn't this have happened when she was a little older and had more experience? Or, better yet, couldn't this have just not happened at all?! For a split second, Kate's senses returned to her, and she jerked a mandrake from a pot and flung it at the nearest spider.

It really just bounced off the spider like a ping pong ball, though. She didn't think it noticed, really.

...but then they started barking orders and staking claims on actual people, and umm...no. Kate could NOT let that happen for many reasons, but mainly because Truebridge was the only adult in the greenhouse at the moment and one of the spiders wanted to take her with it. "No, no, no, no, no. NOT the Headmistress!" Kate firmly told it, as if she expected it to pout but nod and move along.

Uhh....Kate pointed her wand at the spider. "Arania Exumai!" she said. She'd honestly never cast the spell before, only practiced it, but it was worth a shot. Besides, what was the worst it would do? Shoot a little sparkle then fizzle out?

[FearlessLeader19]

Uh oh.

The mandrakes seem to work for a minute or two but then the spiders were after the humans again. And they were going after Noel and Truebridge! Gabe seemed to be handling helping the Hufflepuff so Adi hastily went to assist Toby with their beloved Headmistress.

"INCEENDIO!'' He was careful to aim for one of the spiders and not Truebridge. Didn't want to burn her, did he? ''Diminuendo!'' he exclaimed pointing his wand at another one. Maybe if they could shrink them...

[Kolyander]

Grabbing up her quill Hady quickly took down all that was being said in her fine neat handwriting making sure she didn't miss anything. Pushing the parchment and quill aside she then pulled on her dragonhide gloves making sure they were nice and snug around her fingers and wrists. Perfect.

Next came her earmuffs which she snapped down tightly over her ears once she had them set onto her head. And she was ready to go. Wand in hand she pulled her potted Mandrake closer to her and was just gripping him tightly by the top of his rotted head area when there was suddenly glass everywhere!

Whipping around Hady instantly saw the cause and very much nearly froze. SHE FROZE!

The third year didn't know what to do but she knew standing there wouldn't help a thing. Everyone was yelling as the spiders crept through the hole in the greenhouse and towards them. Before she knew it mandrakes were sailing through the air at the spiders. Did that work on them?

She sure hoped so! She'd been bitten already by the much smaller baby spiders and she could very much recall the painful itchy rash and bites that made her sick right away. These though...these were bigger. A lot bigger...

Shaking her head quickly and pushing her immediant fear aside the brunette followed the Headmistress' lead and yanked her mandrake up from his pot and threw him with as much force as she could towards the nearest spiders. Where the heck was her bestie when she needed someone that wouldn't panic over this to help her along... They had been an awesome team a few terms ago working with the spiders. SIGH.

[Deezerz]

Holy. Mother. Of. Dragons.

She almost laughed at how doomed they all seemed. See. If they got out the acromantulas would chase after them. They were probably faster with their giant eight legs. They probably had more reinforcements. So really. They were sort of doomed unless they didn't get wizard reinforcements themselves.

And they were going after the Headmistress and a Hufflepuff. Always the Hufflepuff. Seeing as Gabriel was handling the Puffer situation, Beverly stayed near the Headmistress, a mandrake in her arms. The acromantulas were clever and were destroying them. There was NO way she was getting rid of the last few. She was keeping this one as a repellent and shield.

"Scream louder, you! Scream!" She shook the mandrake as if that would make it's cry louder. If it did, she wouldn't have known.

Moving quickly, Beverly started casting in the direction of the spiders. MERLIN. She loved a good fight! Aha! "Stupefy...Stupefy!" Did she get any? "Stupefy!"

[ACROMANTULAS!]

It was hard to decipher what spells were hitting and what were not in the fray, but it was becoming clear that the number of acromantulas was dwindling. Just not at a very fast rate.

The initial pair of acromantula on the attack for the two humans (BanaBatGirl and Samia) and already fallen, but were quickly replaced by others to fulfill their cause. And fulfill they did. Wrapping their big hairy tree trunk legs around the human, the pair of acromantula lifted them high above their ugly black heads and let out a loud screech.

A screech that was echoed by the remaining arachnid.

Two humans in their clutches, the acromantula scurried through the fray. Despite being hit by a few spells, their abdomens smoking, their resolve was too strong to please Mother. Bursting forth from the greenhouse, they moved a quickly as their 8 limbs could carry them towards the Forbidden Forest...

[Saz Hale]

Abby was shocked as she saw the spiders run off towards the forbidden forest with the Headmistress and another student what were they going to do and was Hogwarts going to let the spiders get away with it she wanted to chase after the spiders but she knew that it would have been far too dangerous she looked about at her fellow students not sure what to do next

[Anna Banana]

It was no use.

In the last few seconds, all Kate could do was squeeze her eyes shut and hope a miracle happened. It didn't.

Well, it DID, but only because she and most of the students in the class were saved. Sort of. There was still an army of Acromantula after them. On the other hand, the Headmistress and a Hufflepuff were kidnapped and taken away. If Kate could find her voice, she might be able to yell at them or chase after them. She could do neither, though.

When everything was said and done, Kate decided she needed to make a grand escape and get a professor PRONTO. With wide eyes and maybe a few tears, she edged toward the entrance and crawled out. When she was outside the greenhouses, she made a run for it, en route to find the first adult she set her eyes on.

[Stormdancer]

Marsha liked animals. Loved them, almost more than her family - almost… but even she had to admit that acromantuala’s were scary. She was dwarfed by their sheer size and she didn’t know ANY spells that would help combat them. So instead she had run around the greenhouse, colloecting as many pots as she could - taking them to the older students and the Headmistress who were throwing them as fast as they could towards the…. THINGS.

Griffins and Dragons and Hippogriffs were NOTHING like these things… Maybe it was the eyes and the pinchers and the hair legs? Marsha didn’t know, but she thought that MAYBE, just maybe she had found the first creature that she wouldn’t like to have one-to-one time with… and maybe right now, that was a VERY good thing.

AKA, stay away… please? She was only little - hardly worth sacrificing… promise.

[kayquilz]

Eden's spell was futile. She watched in dissatisfaction and fear as another spider came to claim Bunz...and the Hufflepuff, Noel. With wide eyes, she glanced over at Gabe and took his hand, comfortingly. It looked like the spiders were leaving...

"Gabe...we need to get everyone in the castle...and we need to go find Professor Botros..." she said softly. She felt out of place bossing her peers around, so she would let Gabriel do that.

But she did not let go of his hand.

Her face was blank, and she looked...traumatized. Sure, she disliked Truebridge...but she had never wished the woman dead...she would never have...wanted that.

But her heart was sinking as she thought of the redheaded headmistress being carried into the forest. And Noel....poor Noel Wallace....she sniffled and quickly wiped her right eye with her arm.

What were NEWTs, again? Tests? Really?

[Cassirin]

Wait, NO. All their fighting, and the stupid spider thingies had managed to snag the Headmistress AND a Hufflepuff (it was always a Hufflepuff). Dot wasn't even scared anymore. Now she was just LIVID. She'd gotten dirty and killed her mandrake and the acromantulas had won the battle.

But not the war!

"FOLLOW THOSE BEASTIES AND TAKE BACK OUR OWN!" She raised her fists into the air and shook them menacingly in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. And at the prefects who were probably going to start bossing her soon.

She was going after her fellow ginger, thank you. Dot started climbing over debris toward the door.

[ArianaBlack]

..... So uh.... Could he panic now.... Or?

YES MOST DEFINITELY PANICKING NOW, THANKS. With or without permission.

Zander looked around the greenhouse with WIDE EYES. So basically their Headmistress was gone and so was any sign of hope. And it was basically ALL his fault on account of the whole acromantula thing!!! Uh, sorry Hogwarts. Didn't mean for it to go this far.... Maybe if he just wrote the spiders a giant apology or something... Nah. Who did he think he was!? A Ravenclaw? PFT.

As if.

So uh, what were they supposed to do now? Run to the prefects or something?

Oh wait. He is a prefect. Oh. Well talk about a game changer...

"OI, our spells aren't doing much! We've got to get everyone back to the safety of the castle!!" There was a lot of yelling. Ahem. Actually, these blasted earmuffs would make this a lot harder than that.... Uh. COULD ANYONE EVEN HERE HIM???? Read lips maybe??? Uh. Talk about communication issues, right?

Pointing? Would that be a bad thing? Did the spiders understand sign language??? ZANDER WAS NOT TRAINED FOR THIS! NOT OUR DIVISION.

Instead the Gryffindor opted to point his wand forward, casting a bunch of "Stupefy!" spells as he went. Then he turned to the students nearest him and pointed sneakily towards an exit. This not being able to communicate thing was hard... SOMEONE NEEDS TO TELL A PROFESSOR!!! And Zander couldn't just leave everyone here. WHAT WERE THEY SUPPOSED TO DO? "STUPEFY!!"

Zander was kind of in shock here, people. UH. So he did the only thing he could think of.... PROTECT THE ICKLES!!! So uhum yes, Zander Adair coming through and standing in front of all the short people. Motioning them towards an escape. OI, STUPID SPIDERS!! Gotta get through this idiot before you can eat the tiny tots! Also uh, someone was going to get help, right? Because Zander wasn't sure how long he's be able to hold them off...

[Govoni]

.

.

Okay, Eden McGee was clutching his hand...and Gabe didn't even bat an eye at the odd contact. Something was needed to anchor him to the spot because seeing their Headmistress and classmate being viciously dragged away was.........Well......it.....it was.......

His brain was in such a jumbled, frantic state that he couldn't even produce the right word.

There was crippling frustration, too...as tears began leaking down his face. He wasn't equipped to deal with this sort of thing. Not physically or emotionally...but he needed to pull it together. Eden was looking at him almost expectantly...like he was going to...be levelheaded in the moment. He'd have laughed at her were they not about to be slaughtered.

"We need to...get to the Professors with...with astute defensive knowledge." It came out breathless and disbelieving...because he couldn't BELIEVE they were dealing with THIS, of all things. "Botros, yes....but....Dakest, too....and Culloden."

.

.

TRANSFERRING TO HOGWARTS HAD BEEN THE WORST THING TO EVER HAPPEN...IN THE HISTORY OF ALL HIS HAPPENINGS.

Clinging to Eden's hand still, squeezing...and probably hurting it (sorry, Eden), he glanced around. Zander...was right. They needed to get back to the castle. They needed to fortify a base...regroup...come up with a strategy...a plan...."Zander's r-right." HE WOULD NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH...Merlin, he took a moment to BREATH. "We should move with...shield spells and...patronuses ready, maybe." Whoever could cast them. "We...need help."

....and what....was Dot doing?!?!?!?! COULD HE CAST AGAINST A FELLOW STUDENT NOW?! You know, Stun and levitate her back to the castle?! Yea, Gabe adored Dot but he was NOT following her into the forbidden forest. He was NOT going in there again. "Dot....there's an age line. You wouldn't get through into the forest, anyway." Blinking as his logic broke through, he continued. "Let's...seek out reinforcements." Professors, essentially...and their peers who were legally adults...with hero complexes.

Sans himself.

[kayquilz]

Eden didn't bat an eyelash. As soon as Dot broke rank to race after the eight-legged monsters, she lunged forward to grab the girl's wrist--sharply--letting go of Gabriel for a minute.

"DOT. NO. STOP IT!" she shrieked, not wanting ANY of the students to race to their IMINENT DEATHS, CLEARLY.

Breathing heavily, she nodded at Zander, who was, after all, a prefect as well.

"ZANDER--" she didn't think his...stunning spells were doing much. "Gabe--has a point--We need to get back to the castle--we need everyone to go as quickly as possible--and with shield spells...and anyone who can cast any patronuses..." she glanced at her fellow 'Claw.

"...Do you need me to run to fetch someone? Botros? Dakest? Who's closest?" she asked softly. "'I'm...I run every morning--I'm fast--"

Her mind was absolutely racing. Her hand was throbbing from Gabe's grasp, and she wanted to hug Zander because he looked so...forlorn. "I do NOT think we should stay put--" that was VERY clear.

[Cassirin]

Ravenclaws were TOTAL bummers. Dot didn't even make it three steps before Eden was hauling her back and Gabe was blustering at her. BLUSTERING. She tried to wiggle her wrist free from Eden's grip, but girlfriend must be doing some of those hand exercises. She was strong.

"Send a patronus. It's faster than a person. And it isn't any safer in the castle, I think. Did you see how easy it was to bust down those greenhouse walls? We need to go to the FOREST. I can ride on Gabe's BACK."

[ArianaBlack]

It was a very, VERY good thing that they were in such a mess now because there wasn't actually any time to panic. Wait. No. That was wrong. It was a very, VERY BAD thing that they were in such a big mess right now. But, apparently Zander was working well under pressure because Eden and Gabe were totally agreeing with him and they were Ravenclaws!!!

Well uh, at least it LOOKED like they were agreeing with him. To be quite honest, Zander couldn't hear a thing because of these blasted earmuffs. And he couldn't just take them off because there were still plenty of screaming mandrakes on the loose.

AND they were talking so quickly that this lip reading thing wasn't going over too well, either.... PLEASE SLOW DOWN THANKS.

So uh... He got uh... Something about a patronus which Zander couldn't do yet so no. Something about a shield??? And something about an egg and cheese sandwich, though that sounded like a really good lunch, what did it have to do with spiders??? Did they like egg and cheese maybe? Huh. Interesting.

Not sure where he could get the egg and cheese from... But shields? He could do that. No problem. "Protego!!" He held out his wand. Man. It's a good thing he didn't drop DADA. "PROTEGO MAXIMA!!" The point here being to protect all of those behind him so that everyone could climb through and get themselves OUT OF THIS DEATH TRAP!!!

[Deezerz]

KIDNAPPERS!

Beverly threw her last mandrake like a football after the acromantulas that took the Headmistress and the Puffer boy. Firing spells back and forth...that wasn't going to work. They were going to stay stuck here with the amount of arachnids that replaced the fallen ones.

Beverly's eyebrows rose dangerously too high up her forehead as DOT almost ran after the kidnappers. This batch of Slytherin were honestly not the brightest. Thank Merlin this was last term. She wanted out, and it wasn't because of the spiders.

"No ONE is going to the Forest!" Beverly snapped, shooting a scowl at the younger snake. Did she NOT hear about what happened to Gregoire last term? No Snake was going to get hurt on her watch.

She didn't have time to explain the why's and don'ts, Zander was already working on the shields. "Good start, Adair!" Beverly shouted (she still had her earmuffs). She joined him, casting Protego Maxima to join with his, creating an even larger shield. Who knew it was the Gryffindors with the ideas now.

"Everyone huddle together so we can create a shield big enough and get out of here!" Like the Romans. Testudo formation!

[FearlessLeader19]

"BEVERLY'S RIGHT!" Adi shouted over all the voices as he moved to stand next to the Slytherin. Sorry but he needed to get his own thoughts in after what had just happened. "Besides... there's an age line as was mentioned earlier by Gabe.'' The Hufflepuff and Beverly had recently encountered that line.

"Good idea, Zander,'' he praised his friend. "When we get to the Castle we should split up into groups to get help just in case there are spiders there.'' At that point, anything was possible. "The younger ones, I know they think they can help but I think it's best they get back to their common rooms.'' Sorry, kiddos.

Now, Adi raised his wand to join in the Shield Charm casting. ''Protego Maxima!''

[Govoni]

.

.

.....uh. Eden didn't need to look at HIM like that. Gabriel still couldn't...cast a corporeal patronus...and he'd TRIED; had been trying in the privacy of his dorm ever since that Defense lesson. LUCKILY (or UNluckily), due to the commotion and emotional stress of the current situation, Gabe didn't feel his usual failure and embarrassment...but...

Erm.

"I don't think......we should split up." He'd seen enough muggle horror films to know that when people started doing that, people died...in some pretty gruesome ways, too. It was like saying, 'I'll be right back' in Scream...THOSE SPIDERS WOULD PICK THEM OFF ONE BY ONE! Pausing, Gabe tried to calm the hysteria that was building in his chest. He couldn't have been happier that this was his final term here. AT THIS DANGEROUS PLACE. His nerves just couldn't take the stress, anymore. "We'll...go to-together." THERE WAS ANOTHER PAUSE, AS HE SWALLOWED THICKLY. ".........Protection spells and anything else....we can....can think of."

Wait. Was Beverly saying something?....and Adi? There was too much commotion and mandrake screaming for Gabe to make out anything they were shouting...See, Eden, Zander, and Dot were CLOSE; their shouting broke through a bit...but...Oh...they were gesturing towards the door. A COMMON GOAL, THEN.

.

.

...and no, Dot, you are NOT riding on our back. >.>....

[FearlessLeader19]

Okay, so Gabe didn't want to split up. Adi could understand that. But splitting up could work as both as an advantage and a disadvantage to them. Nodding at Gabe, he asked the others, especially the Prefects. "What do you guys think? Splitting up could help us get help faster but at the same time it would be best to stick together.''

Adi continued moving with the group towards the door, still concentrating on holding the Shield Charm while keeping an eye out for more spiders. ''Everyone, keep a look out for anymore of them.'' The students knew what he meant.

[kayquilz]

Eden stayed suuuuuper close to Gabe and met his gaze. "All together? All of us? Or me and you?" she sighed and glanced around at the group.

"Can...anyone produce a patronus to send to a professor?" she asked, waving her wand and producing yet another shield. There was a lot of confusion..Adi and Beverly spoke up, finally, and Eden felt like the prefects were just as frazzled as she was.

Cue more hand grabbing for Gabe....from Eden. "Don't leave me--" she said softly, her blue eyes wide. She didn't know why, but she didn't much fancy being separated from Gabe right now...it was weird, confused her, and she wasn't sure why she trusted him of all the people in the Greenhouse with them right now.

Adi. Eden glanced at him. "We absolutely cannot afford to split up. We need to get everyone back in the castle and get help now--" her voice was growing higher in pitch, and sharper, too. "Anyone who can perform a patronus, please do so-----WE HAVE TO GET INTO THE CASTLE, AND WATCH OUT FOR SPIDERS, Like Adi said--SHIELD CHARMS, PATRONUSES ANYTHING YOU CAN MANAGE--if we stick together as a group, we got this--"

Eden would not enjoy being a prefect. This felt weird. Telling people what to do? Ew ew ew. Eden was better suited to slink in the shadows and...yeah.

[Govoni]

Gabe had moved a bit closer (pulling Eden along)...since Adi was trying to communicate something to him; his feet and legs stiff, yet trembling, with each step. He'd missed most of the dialogue...but understood 'splitting up' and 'faster'...There was Ravenclaw reasoning at work here. It might've been faster...but not safer. That was the....the goal, right? To get EVERYONE back safely...

"It'll be....be easier to guard a central target...than several smaller ones. More wands, more magic...more protection for.....for each individual unit." Shout!talking seemed to be...be helping with the anxiety somewhat, even if he still felt dizzy with fear and disbelief.

.

.

...And, yes, essentially everything Eden had JUST said.

Leaning into his housemate's space, so she didn't miss what he was trying to say, Gabriel nodded; also very confused about the sudden respect he felt for someone he'd simply tolerated not five hours ago. "...O-ok-...okay." The stuttering and broken speech were embarrassing additions but, once again, there were far too many things going on to recognize that particular feeling. And fear was much stronger, anyway. More consuming. More real.

In response, he gripped her hand a bit tighter (almost like it was a lifeline), wand clutched in the other. Maybe she could make him strong enough to...fight back?

OMG. ALSO....

"Accio schoolbag! Accio Herbology notes!"

[ACROMANTULAS!]

Few acromantulas remained now in this particular group, and no mandrake left intact that had been uprooted, but those that did come round about back into the greenhouse continued to throw themselves towards the humans.

The shield spell was impressive, enough to make the first arachnid disintegrate on the spot from the collaborative will powers of the youthful casters, but it was apparent that it would not keep the acromantulas out for much longer. Not without more mature wizarding blood.

With each one that charged forward, it got that much closer to scurrying all the way through the enchantment.

[natekka]

WRONG SIDE OF THE GREENHOUSE.

Clara was on the wrong side of the freakin' greenhouse.

One minute everything was fine and dandy, and now mandrakes were dead -- pretty much all of them .... and ... and ... what ..... what was even going on!?? Due to being one of the last to get to class, places to choose from were limited and she was no where near Eden or Gabriel ... she couldn't easily reach them. Instead, she'd been backed up against the side of the greenhouse, slowing inching her way into a corner, with no idea whether she was in less trouble or more trouble than her friends. She was on her own.

She tried to keep her head clear - though, that was proving to be incredibly difficult - and kept reminding herself of her own future. In the line of work she wanted to go into, she would definitely be in danger for some of the time, and this was just .... this was just p-practise.

Wand raised, she tried to make herself seem as big as possible. They hadn't noticed her yet, it seemed, and were more focused on the larger group...... Not that that held any comfort for her...

Come on, Wilde. Think...

[Weasley174]

Angel was scared, she was very scared about the whole situation and now the Professor had gone.

Angel looked around at everyone she liked Adi's suggestion of staying together, she did not want to be on her own now, though what was going to happen with the Herbology lesson, she had been looking forwards to it and now these spiders had ruined it, how unfair was that.

Angel wondered if to try and escape through the greenhouse whilst everyone else was trying to keep them at bay, she had no idea if anyone knew how to sent a patronus.

"We could send up some sort of signal into the sky, like a few spells shot maybe the groundkeeper could see?" Angel continued to stay with the group for now, she was very scared about the situation.

[Felixir]

Toby was still just stood there, now with a suspicious looking stunned-mandrake-shaped lump right there under his school shirt. At some point during the chaos, he'd found the time to, uh, rescue it.

Now it just needed to stay stunned so that nobody accidentally died, but really that was the LEAST of everyone's problems. Well... it was sort of on par with the problems, seeing as it was a kind of mortal peril thing. But the Acromantulas were more of an immediate problem. As they were still running at them aND HAD ALREADY DONE A KIDNAP.

"Impedimenta!" Toby cast at the spiders, not able to hear the other students talking and yelling as he STILL HAD HIS EARMUFFS ON. Of course. With screaming mandrakes flying through the air, it had seemed a good idea to keep them on. Invincible or not, they would be loud.

Anyway. Right. STILL SPIDERS TO DEAL WITH. Then he could go chase after the spiders, presumably to the forest. GOOD PLAN.

(Awful plan.)

SPIDERS FIRST.

"PROTEGO!"

[DaniDiNardo]

The grounds were unusually quiet today, even for a day when there were classes going on. It was the eerie kind of silence that left an unsettled feeling in the man who'd gone off for a walk hours ago. Even more unsettling was the commotion he heard coming from the Greenhouses.

If he remembered correctly...it wasn't...explosions on the agenda for today, just mandrakes. Those...those didn't sound like THAT.

Heading that way, Maddox was forced to pull back when he saw a hoard of acromantulas darting away. Even more unsettling was another set trying to get IN.

WHAT THE KNEAZLE WAS GOING ON???

The man shrunk into the form of a cat, going for stealth as he bolted over. What he saw was a massacre....a right awful massacre and another set rushing in and getting taken out....Going through the front was out of the question but a quick perimetre search brought him to the hole he assumed they'd first crashed in from. On this side he got a better idea of what exactly he'd just run into. "Whoa..." Now stretched back into the form of a man he could see over most heads and over at the spoils of a battle he apparently crashed.

Snapping out of the initial shock, Maddox forced his way to the front of the group to reinforce what looked like a fading shield. "Is this everyone? Where's the Headmistress?" Status report PLEASE?

[kayquilz]

Eden FINALLY SPOTTED CLARA. Merlin, her heart was in panic for a minute when she couldn't find her. But she stayed closed to Gabe and just squeaked a little when the spiders seemed to charge at them again--she gestured for Clara to come over CLOSER TO HER.

"PROTEGO MAXIMA--" she followed Zander's lead--

Actually, Angel's idea wasn't terrible, and it was literally all they had since...you know, no one had offered to send a patronus into the castle. Eden had her wand POINTED to the sky when...

Oh bless him.

Bless him.

Eden had never wanted to rush forward and hug a professor whilst simultaneously sobbing in his/her arms before, but in that moment...she wanted to. QUIGLEY. Eden just sniffled a little at Quiggles...

"They took her. And they took Noel Wallace. Into the forest." she said juuuuust loud enough for him to hear.

[Govoni]

Gabe had just stuffed his notebook back down into his school bag, shouldering it....when he noticed the spiders edging closer; bulldozing at the wavering magical barrier. They were going to break through. They were going to break through and drag every last one of them away...into the forest...to be mauled and snacked on. Spider snacks. That's what they would be. The off-brand kind.

So, could they...stop with the debating and...escape?! Please? Any moment now, really...

...Of course...before they could make much of a move...a two things happened. Gabe, by accident, glanced towards the back corner, on the other side of the charging spiders...and noticed red hair. Specific red hair...but before he could think on it, there was Quigley. Quigley. QUIGLEY.

He swayed on the spot from the absolute relief.
.

.

"....and it's been several minutes....and no, sir." Gabe glanced at Eden, eyes WIDE. WAS THAT CLARA?!..."There's...a girl just there." He was pointing towards the redheaded girl; a fellow Ravenclaw. A Ravenclaw that was Clara. Merlin, his brain hurt.

[FearlessLeader19]

Adi nodded at Gabe again. Alright, it seemed most of them wanted to stick together and that wasn't a problem for Adi. Right now they needed to get out of here, get the younger ones to safety then get help.

"If anyone thinks they need to re-cast the shield charm at any point in time, DO. IT.'' Some spells had the tendency to weaken after a point in time and this was one of those times they could not afford to let that happen. He himself was going to cast some other charms. "Repello Inimicum! Fianto Duri!'' He really had no idea if he had done these right but if he had, they would have protection that even the spiders could not get through.

Oh, hey! CATMAN TO THE RESCUE! He already had the Superhero like name and here he was to save them. PHEW!

WOAH! Was Gabe swaying? With his free hand, the Hufflepuff reached out towards the Ravenclaw. "You'll be alright, buddy.'' Because it was obvious Gabe was not okay so it was useless to ask if he was. Leaving him and Eden to tell Quigley what had happened, Adi focused on keeping an eye out for more spiders.

[ACROMANTULAS!]

Disintegrating as they struck the newly fortified shield thanks to the appearance of a mature (and tantalizing) wizard, what was left of the remaining acromantulas was no more.

No more screeching.

No more pincers clicking.

Just the eerie silence signaling the end of one battle but not the war.

[Lissy Longbottom]

As if this subject couldn't get any WORSE, Caleb could not believe that everything had just...happened. And in the blink of an eye. This whole school year was turning into one big free for all for monsters, it seemed. And now TRUEBRIDGE WAS GONE! Their leader! How on Earth could they do anything without her?! Whenever things had gone wrong, she was the one who always fixed it - but without her, what would they do?

What if she...GULP...died?

Caleb could barely think straight in his panic, but he had been thinking clearly enough to finally cast a protection spell on himself and the few kids nearby. He had never been THAT good at defense spells, sad to say, but he could at least protect himself until help arrived...

Which it did in the form of Professor Maddox just a moment later. Finally! An adult who could do something! Thank goodness he'd gotten here as fast as he had...

"Like she said," he finally piped up into the conversation, finding his voice as he cocked his shoulder at the girl who'd spoken up ever so faintly when Maddox asked what happened. "Headmistress Truebridge was dragged into the forest by the spiders. Along with the Hufflepuff kid," he summed it all up for him. "Right now we're just trying to...well...stop anyone else from getting taken," he explained with a shrug. That seemed like the best explanation at this point - protection spells, headcounts, etc to make sure that no one else ended up as spider chow.

THere had been a lot of them, and well...would they be satisfied with two humans? Surely they'd need more to feast on...WAIT WHAT WAS HE THINKING. NO ONE WAS GETTING EATEN. NOPE. HE REFUSED TO BELIEVE IT. NOT AGAIN.

[Felixir]

................. Toby could only stare in abject horror as he watched the acromantulas DISINTEGRATE and DIE. It was awful... AWFUL. He thought the shields would just KEEP THEM AT BAY????? Not do THAT.

It was enough to make him all wibbly. And, in fact, it did. Wibbly and conflicting feelings threatened to engulf him. He didn't know how to make sense of the matter because KILLING THINGS WAS UNNECESSARY, but then... they'd TAKEN Truebridge and Noel! But... Toby still hadn't wanted the spiders to DIE. They could have incapacitated them without doing that. *wibble*

He very belatedly realised that people were talking in the greenhouses. It wasn't until he saw an adult figure in the corner of his eyes that Toby had even thought to look round and pull his earmuffs off. Everything seemed to be dying down now, the spiders were dead gone and Quigley was here to fix everything.

... And also, Toby could go ahead and put Mandy the mandrake, sole survivor of the mandrake massacre of '87, back into a pot. That seemed wise; the mandrake WAS still stunned, but Toby knew his spells sometimes had a habit of randomly wearing off. The entire situation felt bizarre and so so surreal, as the others started talking about what had happened while Toby went right on ahead and repotted his mandrake back into its pot, covering the thing with soil and then casting 'Finite' on it. It felt better to focus on that than on... on anything else. In fact, he was tempted to very aggressively ignore everything else and start tending to the plants instead, making sure they were... okay.

For now, though, Toby turned back to the rest of the group but stayed by his now re-potted mandrake, looking grim and staying resolutely silent.

[Govoni]

WOAH! Was Gabe swaying? With his free hand, the Hufflepuff reached out towards the Ravenclaw. "You'll be alright, buddy.'' Because it was obvious Gabe was not okay so it was useless to ask if he was. Leaving him and Eden to tell Quigley what had happened, Adi focused on keeping an eye out for more spiders.
.

.

NO!

SOMEONE WAS TOUCHING HIM!!! A SPIDER HAD GOTTEN HIM! SOMEONE HELP!

Flailing with a bit too much vigor and enthusiasm, trying to angle his wand, Gabriel whipped his hand around, accidently smacking his fellow prefect in the face...or it had felt like a face. Of course, when he noticed it wasn't a spider that had touched him but.....Adi....the Ravenclaw SQUINTED.

TENSIONS WERE HIGH.

.....He was just going to.....cling to Eden...a bit more. Did he look put through the wringer? Because he FELT put through the wringer.

[Saz Hale]

Abby was dissapointed but thought that the spiders would return she could sense that they were at war over something but not what but what were the school going to do without the headmistress and would any more prisoners be taken by the spiders

[MudInMyBlood]

Just when she thought things were going their way, the bullies turned into kidnappers. Their little army had been defeated. Maybe defeated wasn't the correct word, but they had failed. The headmistress and Noel was gone. Them being taken into forest wasn't good. With her still having her earmuffs on she didn't know what Dot was going on about, but it looked promising. If AJ had to guess, the young Slytherin wanted to follow, and AJ was all about that life.

Nobody was letting her though. There was always somebody there to spoil the fun. What was everybody saying?No way was she going to take off her earmuffs and get taken out by a mandrake. It was complete chaos. While some of the spiders were definitely getting creamed, there were still more. Spells were flying, and AJ was randomly throwing at spells herself. Some were probably even made up.

It looked like the prefects were trying to formulate a plan but she was more interested in not being a spidey snack. Then Quigley showed up. They were saved. Please let him be down with a search and rescue mission where they would all be able to participate. Finally, she took her earmuffs off. "Soooo... are we going to show those spiders why they don't come in our house and snatch our people?"

[Weasley174]

Angel was nervous about this whole situation, what did this mean for the school, who was in charge now that the Headmistress was well she was being held prisoner... also she wanted to know what was going on with the spiders, first it was a student last term and now this, Angel really wanted to crawl and hide behind the Professor but she knew she couldn't be a coward it was very important that.

She was still trying to come to terms with it all but at least the cool charms professor was here. "Professor want me to go and get help?" Angel would take on an army of spiders to get some help. "I'm a fast runner." Angel didn't mind going through the spiders as well, if it was needed.

[Cassirin]

Oh, a professor was there! Yay. Dot didn't even feel bad as she threw her arms around him and held on tightly. Thank Merlin thank Merlin thank Merlin. It was all going to be okay now.

"Professor, we fought them off with our bare hands and wands and mandrakes! And then they still took the Headmistress. I tried to follow, but the sensible Ravenclaws said we couldn't go into the Forbidden Forest after them. But now you're here, so let's go, please. Can I ride on your back on account of the age line? What if they're eating Noel RIGHT NOW? We can't delay."

[Deezerz]

One moment they were on their own, the next Quigley appeared, and thanks to HIS help, the acromantulas disintegrated. Beverly was quite sure they wouldn't have made it out seeing as there were only a few working together to keep the shield up.

Lowering her wand arm, but not her guard, Beverly breathed in a shaky breath then let it out slowly. Her hands were trembling, she hid it by clutching to her Aspen wand.

"Professor." She watched her step as she approached the man. "Professor Quigley. This was too organized of a plan. They might come back." They didn't seem satisfied she was going to add, but well, she might sound like a loony so she kept that to herself.

She shot a scowl at the Slytherin clinging to the man. If she tried to go into the Forbidden Forest Beverly wouldn't think twice, and she wouldn't regret casting on the girl. It'd be for her own safety.

[Jessiqua]

HooooooOOOOOOOollly Merlin!

Zhenya was absolutely terrified. TERRIFIED. She was terrified of spiders, and here they were; ACROMANTULAS in the Herbology Greenhouses. OH MERLIN. Zhenya's skipping attitude completely disappeared, replaced with a terrified shock. Like petrification. Ugh.

And now they had no headmistress, and a student had been taken. How unfortunate. Zhenya listened as some of the Prefects and other students started telling Professor Quigley about what happened. She was so relieved when she saw him, she almost cried. He would know what to do... it seemed silent, like there were no more acromantulas there, but they might be back...

[DaniDiNardo]

Every muscle in his body remained tense until the last of the acromantulas was taken out. Then and only then did he turn his attention once again to the students he was now left in charge of. Even while he listened, he tried to pick up any other sounds in the event there was a second hoard heading towards them from a different end.

With all the scents waffing through the Greenhouse it was near impossible for him to do his own checks, leaving him to listen to the accounts being offered.

His eyes steadily widened. Annie was gone. So was Mister Wallace. There was another girl. They wanted to GO IN AFTER THEM??? Something about a ride on his back and age lines. The Charms Professor stepped wide once the Ravenclaw Prefect began flailing before his attention was snatched by a certain Gryffindor.

"Oh yes, Miss Valentine and while we're at it, we can teach them how easily we die." Maddox enjoyed the bravery that existed in his former house but NOT when there seemed to be some organized hit on Hogwarts. His gaze lingered a moment on Dot...who was now attached firmly to him before glancing over everyone else. "You....can have a ride if you want but let me make this clear, no one is going into the forest after those things. The current plan of action is to quickly make our way back to the Great Hall as is the protocol set up for this situation. No matter what you see, don't stop moving." So no, Angel, it won't be necessary to run off looking for help. "Everyone stay close to each other, no loud noises--NO ONE FALL BEHIND." He would be in the rear to ensure nothing followed and to keep the stragglers going.

"Prefects, I need you closer to the front of the group, keep your eyes peeled, do not engage any creatures you see unless noticed. We're not trying to draw attention to ourselves. Through the hole in the wall quickly. I want lively steps if you wanna live."

Pause. "Where's the other girl?"

[FearlessLeader19]

EEEEEP! It had been a mistake reaching for Gabe to reassure him! Look at him flail there, yo! And then.. :blink: SMACK! Adi got a faceful of Gabe's hand. "Ouch!'' Rubbing his cheek, the Hufflepuff surveyed his friend. Okay, you're forgiven, Gabe, since this situation has got everyone jumpy.

But it was all so silent now... was this the calm before the storm?

His eyes snapped to AJ whom he was standing close by to. Naturally she wanted to sow the spiders who was boss. Adi was not being the over protective boyfriend today. Nope, though he was looking out for her. Of course he was, just as he was watching out for the others.

Alrightey, so they needed to head to the Great Hall and they ALL needed to get there in one piece. Trusting that everyone would be looking out for each other, Adi move away from AJ after squeezing her hand briefly to head to the front as directed by Quigley. No taking on the spiders unless the group was made. Got it! He hastily made his way through the hole in the wall, keeping his wand at the ready and making sure his part of the Shield Charm was still active by casting it again.

[Lissy Longbottom]

There was PROTOCOL for this? Had this happened before? Caleb had a few questions about that, but knew that now was not the time. Quigley had his own problems to take care of, especially since AJ had a death wish and wanted to go AFTER them. Really?! Had no one learned ANYTHING from last term and Gregoire? GAHHH. Thank goodness he wasn't or prefect.

"You heard the man," he said loudly to the group before beckoning for the kiddos to follow and taking off through the hole, headed towards the Great Hall.

[Deezerz]

All of this. It was exhausting. Mentally mostly. One moment she was busting her head over mandrakes, then next thing she was fighting to stay alive - or at least not get dragged away. Beverly didn't think of it as over. If she did her body and mind would relax and she couldn't let her guard down. Especially not when Quigley instructed the Prefects to take the front.

Alert and maybe even a bit jumpy, Beverly took the front, instructing a few of the stragglers to follow and to be quiet.

What if there was another ambush waiting for them?

What if they were the last ones in the castle?

Her eyes drifted in the direction of the gates. It was a tempting idea but...she unfortunately wasn't a wimp. So the Great Hall it was.

[Felixir]

"You can't get into the forest if you're a student anyway, even without the age line," Toby had finally spoken up to point out. "There's another barrier."

Because they'd tried. Not in a hooligan kind of way, but in an 'omg a Hippogriff ran into the Forest and we're chasing after it with professors' kind of way, but Toby didn't point out that part, because really he'd rather just stop talking again. But yeah... that thought had just occurred to him, and the Hufflepuff thought it prudent to share that he knew from EXPERIENCE that the forest was literally no-go. Hopefully that meant that Noel couldn't have been carried through, but... somehow Toby thought that maybe the acromantulas had a weird sort of magic that countered it. Maybe? Hopefully not, though.

... But maybe.

Anyway. Toby had taken to hugging his potted mandrake close to his chest, unwilling to let it go again. It was a lot easier to focus on the mandrake than thoughts of the attacking spiders, but it seemed he wouldn't be allowed that luxury for long, as it was time to move out.

Toby hesitated, unwilling to really go anywhere but knowing there would be no arguments. He wanted to bring the mandrake with him, keep it safe and everything, but there was a chance that it would break out of its pot and thus accidentally kinda sorta murder everyone with its lungs of doom, so... maybe not. Toby didn't want to endanger anyone else. BUT he was still keeping the mandrake SAFE, sooooo when Quigley was finishing up his instructions, Toby ducked away and quickly went to hide the mandrake in a concealed spot in the greenhouse (in case the acromantulas came BACK), dumping some more soil into the pot to keep it nice and secure in there. "I'll come check on you when it's all over," he whispered to the plant, then hurried back to the rest of the group, in time for them to all set off through the hole in the wall.

Right. Yes. Okay. Following.

[Saz Hale]

Abby listened to what Professor Quigley and followed the rest of the group and went through the hole in the wall quickly and hoped that this would not be the end of Hogwarts

[natekka]

Thinking was something that just wasn't happening for Clara. Knowing what to do in this situation and actually being able to do it were two very different things, and her instincts were kicking in. One second she was somewhat strong, and the next she could feel the familiar tightening in her chest, along with her palms getting sweatier.

Not now. Please, not now...

She was aware of a louder voice - perhaps a teacher? - but she couldn't make any move towards it or even indicate her position. Eden had seen her, she was sure. Hopefully that was enough.

Now, her breaths were coming in short, staggered intervals.

Her eyes were starting to get droopy...

Clara made one last ditch effort to propel herself towards the group, but they were too far away, and she ended up tripping on a shattered plant pot, leaving a long cut along her arm. She prayed someone had seen her, because she wasn't going to be able to move from this spot alone. Her body was going into shock, it seemed...not that she was mentally aware of that. She was barely aware of the breaths entering and leaving her body.... Soon enough...she wasn't aware of anything at all.

[laurange]

Brian was pretty much paralysed with shock, even his screams dying in his throat as the spiders appeared. HUGE MAN-EATING SPIDERS. There was no way he could tell his ma about this or she'd insist on putting him back into muggle school and have all these wizarding folk sod themselves. Nope. He wanted to learn, and he was already pretty defenseless. He knew his spellwork was sub-par at best and negligible at worst, so he kinda stuck to the back of the class like he usually did.

Thinking was something that just wasn't happening for Clara. Knowing what to do in this situation and actually being able to do it were two very different things, and her instincts were kicking in. One second she was somewhat strong, and the next she could feel the familiar tightening in her chest, along with her palms getting sweatier.

Not now. Please, not now...

She was aware of a louder voice - perhaps a teacher? - but she couldn't make any move towards it or even indicate her position. Eden had seen her, she was sure. Hopefully that was enough.

Now, her breaths were coming in short, staggered intervals.

Her eyes were starting to get droopy...

Clara made one last ditch effort to propel herself towards the group, but they were too far away, and she ended up tripping on a shattered plant pot, leaving a long cut along her arm. She prayed someone had seen her, because she wasn't going to be able to move from this spot alone. Her body was going into shock, it seemed...not that she was mentally aware of that. She was barely aware of the breaths entering and leaving her body.... Soon enough...she wasn't aware of anything at all.

He was about to crawl under a random thing and hide when he heard a pot shatter. How he heard that in the din was beyond him, but he turned around quickly enough to get whiplash and saw a familiar-looking Ravenclaw redhead. Oh lord, it was CLARA. He knew Clara. Clara was as tough as nails- except apparently not at the moment. At the moment? She looked pretty broken and was that BLOOD on her arm? Scurrying over, he sat next to her and tried to figure out if he should wash that large, ugly gash on her arm or wake her up first. Or maybe wait for reinforcements?

His hands found his wand and handkerchief before he even had time to really think about it. Looked like he'd be washing it, which was probably a good idea seeing as she'd tripped over a pot full of soil and who knew what could have gotten into that cut? "Aguamenti," he said, and even though he could barely hear anything over the sound of feet, used the feeble trickle of water from his wand to try cleaning up his friend's wound. And poke her every now and then. "Wake uuuuup, Claraaaa." Please wake up. Enough people were down as it was. Wake up, wake up, wake up.

[MudInMyBlood]

Sooo... was that a no? It sounded a lot like sarcasm, and all AJ was trying to do was avenge her headmistress and fellow classmate. It wasn't looking like she was going to get her way though. "Alright..." She was totally bummed out, but maybe they were going to formulate a plan and then they would attack. She was hopeful.

Ugh. No babysitter for her please. AJ followed out behind the prefects and kept an eye on Adi. She didn't want anybody to get hurt, but him especially. Off to plan a spidey attack. At least that was what she was off to do.

[2111jen]

Samuel was trying to pau attention to the lesson. Then he heard something about spidees....coool. He loved Spidees. He turned to pay attention to the spidees insread. Probably regreting it later. Oh! They were moving! He got up and followed the rest of the group.