Gregory the Smarmy

[Felixir]

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.

[The Narrator]

It's completely quiet in the corridor where Gregory the Smarmy's statue resides. It's a normal day, nothing out of the ordinary - until suddenly, there's the small sound of a CRACK, and a small piece of the stone wall falls and lands on the ground with a soft CLUNK.

A moment later, another louder CRACK as a bigger piece of stone falls from the wall. The crack in the wall expands, traveling higher and higher towards the ceiling, small pieces of stone falling off and making increasingly loud noises. One particularly large piece falls from the ceiling and hits Gregory on the head, taking a piece of his temple with it as it lands on the ground.

After a few moments the crumbling stops, but the damage is done. Best be cautious - the last thing you'd want is to set off another chain reaction.

[sweetpinkpixie]

After finishing up with Professor Strum with some NEWT revision as well as some advice on his supplementary research and translation efforts, Cooper just so happened to be in the corridor with the cracking noise echoed throughout it. Freezing mid-stride, the Ravenclaw was just a pace or two behind where the initial stone fell to the ground. Curious, he closed the space between himself and the stone and picked it up in his hand. No sooner had he pushed it around in his palm did the second crack come and the seventh year immediately untucked the book from under his arm to cover his head all while still holding on to that initial little pebble.

It was then that he saw the crevice forming in the wall, forming AND expanding, and as his gaze shifted so too did his head until it was looking up at the ceiling where a couple of small flecks fell and thwacked him in the forehead. "...what the..."

A large piece came down and Cooper dove out of the way and curled up as small as he could manage with his taller 6'2" frame with the book over his head. Ancient Runes was practically a tome at NEWT level, so it ought to provide some sort of protection in addition to the Algiz rune embossed on the cover.

When all the cracking and falling ceased, he timidly peeked out from behind his arms while still curled up on the ground beside the opposite wall and looked at the mess of debris in the corridor. Had their just been an earthquake?! Why were his thoughts immediately going to something awakening beneath Hogwarts and trying to break free? Like the Kraken. Had someone released the Kraken - and no, he did not mean Bartholomew Henry's half cousin or any other relation.

[FearlessLeader19]

Aria had been walking along the fifth floor corridor on a mission to completely… well, there was nothing in particular she was up to unless you count her making her way up to the seventh floor. Probably she’d even stop by the Gryffindor Tower with the hopes of finding Apollo and annoying him. That’s when she heard it though - that ginormous crashing that had her coming to an abrupt halt and pushing a hand at her chest as though hoping to slow her racing heart.

Rather than heading in the opposite direction, Aria, wand held aloof, approached the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the calamity that had taken place. “Wooow. Kazmi is not going to be happy about this.” The movement caught her eyes and Aria recognised Cooper the Ravenclaw seventh year. “Are you injured? You’d better hurry from there should… you know.” Cue her gesturing to the ceiling and the walls and the crack.

Those were all recipes for disaster.

[astrocat]

Sometimes being alert wasn't a bad idea. Sure, you could go around assuming that everything was gonna be fine, but nothing was ever fine and the world was obviously trying to hurt them. Ash was mildly surprised at the chunks falling from the ceiling, but not surprised that something was going wrong. This was Hogwarts.

As the chunks fell, Ash did her best to not get hit with anything, shielding herself with her backpack. She only got hit with a piece or too. Big enough to hurt but not injure her much. The statue though... it wasn't so lucky.

Ash, with all of her newfound self-preservation instincts, immediately left to go tell a professor or maybe Kazmi. No, she was not going to stick around and have the whole ceiling fall on her. That would really ruin her day.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Norman was walking down the corridor when he saw a few students gathered around Gregory the Smarmy. That in and of itself wasn’t unusual, but the stones on the ground certainly were. Then he saw the crack in the wall, just like the one he’d seen earlier this term in the first floor corridor but MUCH bigger. Now he was 100% convinced that these cracks were not normal wear and tear on the castle!

A million scenarios ran through his mind, each one worse than the last. Whatever this was, he just hoped it wasn’t dark magic… Though knowing this school, he wouldn’t be surprised! His aquamarine eyes darted from the crack in the wall to the broken statue to the stones on the ground to the students gathered. “Did any of you see what could’ve caused this?” he asked.

[Felixir]

Kamran had not intended to walk this way; he had no business down here, and no plans to patrol the corridors. But from around the corner, he'd heard it loud and clear: Did any of you see what could've caused this? Grounds for a detour if he'd ever heard it. Bracing himself, Kamran had gone to investigate.

Oh yeah. Not too happy at all.

He spotted the damage, as Norman had done, as soon he got within range of the old statue who bore what looked like a mighty headache. Kamran waited to hear if McLeod or Branxton had any answers for Norman, while he himself inspected old Greg and peered up at the wall.

"We ought to get this fixed up right now," he added. "And get a photo first, if possible." Evidence, or what have you. If Branxton didn't have his camera to hand, however - McLeod either, for that matter - Kamran was more than happy to get to mending regardless. Health and safety, et cetera.

[FearlessLeader19]

Aria didn’t even notice Ashley. And though she sensed someone else’s presence, when she turned to take a look the corridor behind her was empty. Okaaay then. She should hightail out of here too - before the walls decided to crumble onto her. Then again… was this happening in ALL parts of the Castle?

Before she could make a move though, Carton and Kazmi had found their way to the scene of the crime. Not that it really was a crime. “I didn’t,” Aria spoke up, glancing at Cooper. Had he seen anything? “Everything had pretty much already fallen apart by the time I got here.” It was WHY she was standing here in the first place - all that ruckus was enough to catch anyone’s attention who happened to be nearby. “But I can help with the fixing.” Something which needed to be handled pronto since the risk of someone being injured was very high.

[Felixir]

"Interesting." Was it clear from his voice that that was not the fun kind of interesting? Call him a trusting fool, but Kamran found himself believing what McLeod was saying, not least because he had been witnessing little pockets of disrepair all over the place recently. Not often or bad enough to really set off alarm bells - until... now - especially as for the most part, a little spellwork corrected the issues and correct they had remained. A repaired window here, an unwarped doorframe there, a crack in the stone floor quickly smoothed over.

General wear and tear he'd called it. He, who spent much of the last two years out on the grounds rather than roaming the main castle, and had managed to himself (the dangers of wishful thinking; lesson learned) that this was just par for the course inside the old castle.

But anyway. The fact that all the fixes so far seemed permanent was somewhat promising.

"Thank you, Miss McLeod. Absolutely you can help," Kamran said with a nod, drawing his own wand. "Regular repairing charms ought to serve for getting it all back in order. And then..." he looked towards Norman. "A little extra enchanting to stabilise the walls, do you suppose? Just for peace of mind."

Not to mention fixing up poor old Greg, his statue form apparently more predisposed to downfall than he ever was in life.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Norman eyed McLeod and Branxton, awaiting their answers. Not that he suspected either of them of causing the damage of course! But the more information he had, the better prepared he’d be to fix it, just in case this was caused by a curse or something resistant to normal mending charms. While he was waiting, Kamran showed up. The mention of fixing the damage got a nod of acknowledgement, and he drew his wand, aiming at the damaged wall.

He was mildly disappointed to hear that McLeod hadn’t seen what caused the damage, though no sign of emotion showed on his face. Looks like the cause would remain a mystery for the time being! “Thank you, Miss McLeod,” he replied. “If you should ever see anything out of the ordinary, don’t hesitate to tell us.”

He set to work repairing the wall with nonverbal mending spells, only looking away as Kamran spoke again. He returned the boss’s look with a slight nod. “Right, on it,” he replied. HIs eyes momentarily flicked toward the ceiling above the crack, and a thought occurred to him. Did this crack spread to the upper floors? “When we’re done here, I’ll inspect the sixth and seventh floors.”

[sweetpinkpixie]

It was a very simple and straight forward thing that had just occurred, in essence at least. Cooper had been walking and then stone had begun to come down and then a giant crack appeared. That was, of course, the very basic play-by-play of events. The same sort one would expect to hear in a quidditch match, which was something he was very accustomed to considering his dad. It was once he tried to explain the why these events had occurred that everything became messy and a seemingly nonsensical series of events could arguably be blamed for the seventh year's continued stationary state even after the younger Slytherin spoke to him.

"P-Pardon?" he stammered as his eyes finally reached hers, and just in time for their Transfiguration professor AND the head honcho himself. He too had completely missed the (brief?) appearance of Ashley and instead had his attention pulled to the two men as he scrambled to his feet. Relief was prominent in that there were no accusations being thrown at either himself or the other girl, the Ravenclaw brushed off his robes a bit and rubbed the back of his neck. First Helena with falling puzzle boxes and now himself with Hogwarts itself literally caving in on him - thank goodness for sturdy textbooks. "I...no...professor," he lamented with a small shake of the head. "I was just leaving my appointment with Professor Strum when a bit of the stone fell on me...and then everything shook...and then..." he trailed off with a little gesture towards the scene itself because, well, the scene spoke for itself. "I...thought it was an earthquake of some sort...only...I...don't recall any shaking..."

Just breaking and clunking.

"...there had been two distinct cracking noises...small and large, one after the other and very quickly after one another..."

The headmaster need not say another word about it, for the moment the man mentioned getting a photo...Cooper was whipping out his camera from his bag and would have ten to offer him later. One or two may be too artsy for Headmaster Kazmi's needs, but he really could no resist. The way a particular piece of rubble (the bit of Gregory's face) look so dejected and tragic beside the crack was framed by the light in the corridor was beautifully eerie. "I'll develop these as soon as possible, headmaster," Cooper offered before taking a couple snapshots of Professor Carton beginning on his magical repairs and setting his own wand to work with a nonverbal Reparo to the very bit of Gregory he had photographed.

[FearlessLeader19]

Poor Cooper.

He seemed shaken to Aria, which would be understandable given the mysterious circumstances. Did he need to get to the Healer by chance? With regard to Kazmi, the man’s single word said a lot; the most being that possibly that he was not amused? Who would be, anyway? “You’re welcome,’’ the Slytherin replied to both professors.

Now that it was determined that neither she nor Cooper had caused this unfortunate event, Aria found herself breathing better. She hadn’t realised she had been tense about being accused of having a role in destroying Hogwarts. “You can bet I’ll keep my eyes peeled, Professor!’’ This was directed to Carton.

“Does the magic around the Castle wear out over time?’’ Aria mused out loud, wandering over to the wall and directing her wand at the long crack there; in other words, assisting Carton. The way she saw it was that since the Castle was so ANCIENT, magic helped to hold it together. But wouldn’t that mean that it needed to be replenished periodically?

[Felixir]

Well that was wonderful. Not only had the castle walls decided to start falling, they had chosen to fall specifically onto a Branxton. If Kamran was the type to take stock of omens, that might seem like a concerning sign in his first year as headmaster. "Much appreciated, Mr Branxton. Be sure to stop by the hospital wing if necessary." Falling stone and all. That went for the both of them.

He did his own part in helping to fix up what damage had occurred, and then tidying up with a few cleaning spells for good measure. Good as new, and yet, the unease remained. "Thank you, Professor Carton." Kamran himself would be keeping an extra eye out wherever he went for this sort of thing - maybe do a few rounds of the corridors with exactly that in mind - in case there was more that would be necessary to get on top of. He silently thanked his lucky stars that the Board had agreed to keep themselves at bay this term; at least this could then be figured out without the added pressure of someone quite literally breathing down his neck.

And, speaking of figuring things out, McLeod had touched on a thought that had also occurred to Kamran. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a spell that lasts indefinitely, though the enchantments on the castle are particularly complex, designed to last long after the caster is no longer with us." Not exactly Kamran's specialist area, but no matter. If that really was the issue, experts did exist. "Still, certainly worth looking into." Exactly what he planned to do.