Fifth Floor: Gregory the Smarmy

[Wilber Winterbottom]

Further down the fifth-floor corridor awaits a statue of a rather large bald man with several chins. If you know your potions or history well enough, you will be able to identify this medieval wizard as the inventor of Gregory's Unctuous Unction. Though a fine wizard, he is credited for worming his way into King Richard's confidence and making a fortune by administrating his BFF-in-a-vial to the former Muggle ruler.

While Gregory the Smarmy's story may be interesting to some, you might find what he is hiding to be more your scene. Looking closely behind the large man, you just might see a slight opening of a secret passageway. Few, however, have access to the passage and know exactly where it leads because not very many people know how to get the bulky statue to move aside. Trying all of the random passwords you know will result in failure and wasted time. Perhaps you need to take a leaf out of Gregory's book and find a way to excessively flatter him. Good luck.

[emjay]

Phoenix often frequented this statue simply as a spot for studying or planning strategy or working on his master list of secret rooms and passages. It might seem like an odd place to conduct that sort of work, but to Phoenix it made perfect sense. He knew ol' Greg held a secret of his own and that insufferable smirk on his face only served as a reminder that Phoenix hadn't completely figured it out yet. It was something of a motivator.

Today he wasn't so preoccupied with figuring our secrets as he sat on the floor with his back against the wall opposite from the statue. Today he was lightly sketching out some gobstones diagrams and strategies in his journal.

[astrocat]

Brandon didn't know about the secret passage. He didn't know because he hadn't been here very long, and he'd never asked his older sister where they were. He'd known she had a habit of sneaking out- he'd 'overheard' a very loud and angry conversation about it- but she never explained how she was doing it, and anyway Brandon was terrified of getting caught sneaking out. He'd be punished, and he was terrified of being punished. What if they sent a letter home? What if they yelled at him? He wasn't taking any chances.

The reason he was by this secret passage(that he really didn't know about) was because he tripped over something. Not only did he trip, he managed to fall right in front of an older student and land a bit on their feet. "Sorry..." he apologized, scared and still sprawled on the floor. "My bad. Sorry." Please don't yell at him. Sorry.

Sorry.

[emjay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

Brandon didn't know about the secret passage. He didn't know because he hadn't been here very long, and he'd never asked his older sister where they were. He'd known she had a habit of sneaking out- he'd 'overheard' a very loud and angry conversation about it- but she never explained how she was doing it, and anyway Brandon was terrified of getting caught sneaking out. He'd be punished, and he was terrified of being punished. What if they sent a letter home? What if they yelled at him? He wasn't taking any chances.

The reason he was by this secret passage(that he really didn't know about) was because he tripped over something. Not only did he trip, he managed to fall right in front of an older student and land a bit on their feet. "Sorry..." he apologized, scared and still sprawled on the floor. "My bad. Sorry." Please don't yell at him. Sorry.

Sorry.

Phoenix was normally fairly observant, noticing things around him that many people might not pay much attention to, but today was one of those times that he was fully engrossed in what he was doing. That tended to happen when he was doing something he was really interested in like the gobstones strategies he was working out. And being that he was fully engrossed, he didn't notice the younger boy until he was sprawled across the floor in front of him.

Phoenix looked up suddenly, slightly startled by the noise and sudden appearance. "Oh.. it's alright," he said to the boy apologizing. No harm, no foul. He hadn't tripped over Phoenix's feet, had he? He pulled in his outstretched legs subconsciously. "Are you okay?"

[astrocat]

"I'm fine," Brandon said immediately, even though he hadn't checked. He was pretty sure his knee was bruised, but the more he thought about having a bruise the more the thought upset him and he did his best to ignore that whole idea for later. Another reason he said he was fine was that even if he WAS sure that he bruised his knee, the other kid would be concerned or something like that and Brandon didn't want him to be concerned because he just didn't. He didn't like people being concerned for him at all. He tried his best to pick himself back up again as fast as possible and collect all his things that fell. "I'm sorry I tripped. I didn't mess up your diagrams, did I?" It would be the worst if he'd accidentally messed up the writings. Even though the boy didn't seem to be mad.

[emjay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

"I'm fine," Brandon said immediately, even though he hadn't checked. He was pretty sure his knee was bruised, but the more he thought about having a bruise the more the thought upset him and he did his best to ignore that whole idea for later. Another reason he said he was fine was that even if he WAS sure that he bruised his knee, the other kid would be concerned or something like that and Brandon didn't want him to be concerned because he just didn't. He didn't like people being concerned for him at all. He tried his best to pick himself back up again as fast as possible and collect all his things that fell. "I'm sorry I tripped. I didn't mess up your diagrams, did I?" It would be the worst if he'd accidentally messed up the writings. Even though the boy didn't seem to be mad.

"Okay." Phoenix had no reason not to take the boy's word for it. It hadn't appeared to have been too bad a fall. Maybe more a bruised ego than anything else, he thought, though a couple physical bruises were possible as well. But likely nothing serious as far as he could tell.

"You don't have to keep apologizing, I know it was an accident." It really wasn't even that big of a deal so Phoenix was a little unsure about why the other boy was so apologetic. Maybe his parents yelled at him a lot at home so it was ingrained in him, he didn't know, but that would make sense if people were making someone feel like things were always their fault. "But no, my strategy layouts are just fine." He glanced down at his notes again just to be sure, but he wouldn't have been mad anyway.

[astrocat]

Brandon looked at the other boy uneasily. He seemed to genuinely not be mad at Brandon's mistake(There are no accidents), which Brandon didn't understand. Not only that, but he said to STOP apologizing. "Sor- I mean, oh," he said. "Okay." Carefully, he took a seat next to the older student and crossed his legs. "What are you strategizing at? If I may know." Maybe he couldn't know. But he was already sort of looking, so he hoped he was allowed. "Are those the..." His mind blanked. "...the spraying things that are really popular in the wizarding world?"