How he hadn't been here yet was a question in itself but at least this was the chance Matt had been looking for the entire time since the entrance hall was empty and therefore much easier to see if there were any clues to find. If anyone had decided to come along, then he'd have to cover his tracks since he wasn't looking to have people possibly moving any sign there had been to explain the decrees. Taking out a small magnifying glass from his back pocket, he scanned along the floor with it; making sure that he didn't step over his own feet since the last thing he was looking to have happen was fall over.

Having had enough of the great outdoors, Damien wandered inside the castle through the Entrance Hall. The Courtyard debocle was enough to change his mind on visiting the grounds again. Or perhaps he'll just avoid the first year students altogether -- save any more chances of running into the Headmaster or any of the other teachers.

Turning the corner, the Hufflepuff spoted a familiar figure -- crouched down with a magnifying glass. Really? Perhaps he wanted to be a detective when he was out of school, but Damien couldn't remember any wizarding careers that involved detective work -- That is unless it had to do with the Magical Law Enforcement department at the Ministry of Magic.

Part of him wanted to scare Matt, but he needed all the friends he could get. So Damien walked steadily around Matt's figure until the boys were pretty much facing each other -- sort of. Matt was still haunched over playing Sherlock Holmes.

"See anything interesting?" he asked simply.

As he was about to find something, someone decided to interrupt him but before he could say anything; Matt noticed that it was Damien, well that was different then since he wasn't going to tell off one of his friends for possibly moving anything that might have been immediately in front of him. "Not yet but I hope to find something soon that will prove these decrees are coming from somewhere in the school. Immediately I thought this was involvement of the Ministry again but I haven't seen anything to prove that theory to be correct in any way shape or form." He looked up and set the magnifying glass to his side since searching for anything else could wait until this conversation was actually over. "So, what's up dude?" Clearly that was the first thing he wanted to know merely since he hadn't seen the Hufflepuff in awhile.

Damien slowly raised an eyebrow at his friends long-winded explanation. Now -- Matt should know how involved (or lack thereof) Damien got when it came to school. So it should come of no surprise that the Hufflepuff had absolutely no clue what his Slytherin counterpart was talking about. "You lost me at 'decrees'," he admitted rather sheepishly. "I know I'm not the brightest wand in the shop, but what involvement of the Ministry has you set out to be Matt Steveson, boy wonder wizard detective?"

What's up. A lot, really. The two boys were meant to meet up in Diagon Alley over the Holiday. Damien got Raven instead -- who, granted, was intriguing to converse with. He was getting rather desparate at this point, but didn't want to unload everything on Matt just yet. He might just be Damien's best ally. "Did you ever hear from Raven that we got a chance to erm -- 'bond' over some ice cream over the Holiday?"

So Damien didn't know what was going on? Well that worked well for Matt since it was the chance for him to explain exactly what he noticed going on around the school since the term started a few months ago, even though it hadn't exactly seemed that long. "Okay so, there's been a bunch of new rules enforced in locations such as the dungeons where you have to wear gloves that are your house colour and you have to yell; I mean not only is that annoying since there's no quiet down there for the Slytherins anymore but it's immensely unnecessary." That was the very reason he could never get any studying or homework done in the common room since it was just too loud for him to be able to focus. "It just seems like they're up to make our lives more difficult, like the Ministry wants to see exactly what we can handle with these ridiculous rules. I'm out to find some clues to why this has happened during this term." Even if meant that he had to look a little stupid wandering around with a magnifying glass.

After he spoke again, the Slytherin couldn't help but laugh; needless to say he did feel bad for his Hufflepuff friend to have to put up with Raven since that was no easy feat even if it was only for five seconds. "Oh I knew about that, she told me when I got back to her apartment. Sorry about that dude, I had to meet some people about what was going on with my old school and I should have owled you sooner." He was also supposed to have met Stella then too but that clearly didn't happen either.

That was -- interesting. Gloves in house colours and yelling? "As in -- yelling to comunicate with everyone else in the dungeons?" Damien asked, eyebrows still raised. Not only was that interesting, he had to agree with Matt. It seemed highly unecessary to enforce something as rediculous as that. "I'm not all that familiar with the Ministry," he began again, "But this isn't the first time they've tried to change things around Hogwarts, is it? Do you really think it's them, though?"

He waved off the apology of not being able to meet up over the Holiday. "I understand that things happen," he said. "Raven looked less than entertained with me, so I think it's her you should actually apologizet to." That would be something to see -- he was sure the two of them were far from civil with each other, but that didn't mean Damien would like the entertainment. "What exactly did you need regarding your old school? Nothing too serious?" Damien had only attended on magical school, and knowing that Matt had been to one other than Hogwarts, he was curious as to how different or similar it could be. Not that he would transfer schools his second to last year -- but if things kept going at the rate they were, he might have to do something drastic.

...He was kind of freaking out on the inside. And it probably showed a little on the outside. Anakin could feel his cheeks were flushed, and the tips of his ears were bright red, he could feel the heat radiating from them. He was still smiling though, maybe a little crookedly, maybe a little goofily, but he was still smiling.

Why wouldn't he be? Overall, he felt the date had gone alright. Maybe a little, or a lot awkward in the beginning, maybe a little awkward now, but still it was a first date. It couldn't be perfect right?

But it could still be enjoyable, like this one had.

Since there was a lull in the conversation, An was paying more attention to his walking then to her, because last thing he wanted would be to trip and fall and then accidently drag her down with him. Reaching the front entrance though, and stepping in the doorway, Anakin stopped and turned to look at her, trying hard not to blush even more. "Thanks for agreeing to come with me today Queenie, I had a lot of fun."

...She was holding his hand.

SHEWASHOLDINGHISHAND

Vashti was honestly freaking out on the inside. But in a good way, if there was such a thing. She didn't mind holding his hand; in fact, if she was honest, she actually kind of liked it. It was good thing he wasn't trying to continue a conversation though because this had rendered her completely speechless.

A part of her couldn't believe her first date EVER was ending already. It had been extremely and ridiculously awkward in the beginning, but once they'd left that freaky Puddifoot's place and went to the Three Broomsticks, the awkwardness had lessened and she was actually able to enjoy the rest of the day. But now they were entering the Hogwarts Entrance Hall and were about to say good-bye and officially end their first date. HER first date.

Vashti turned and smiled at him, her face probably redder than the rubies in the Gryffindor house point hourglass. "No problem... I'm glad I said yes," she replied. "Thanks for inviting me in the first place. I had a great time."

Once they had stopped, Anakin couldn't help but notice she was a little red as well, which made him feel a little bit less self conscious about the own burning temperature of his face. Even though he still found blushing to be completely unmanly. Not that An could see he was really all the 'manly' anyways.

Beaming when she said she was glad she'd come, because Anakin just couldn't HELP but beam, he nodded a little before using his free hand to mess with his hair a little bit. "I'm glad you said yes too." Just...throwing that out there. "And good, I'm glad. Maybe...we could do it again sometime?" Was that proper dating etiquette? Was it alright to hint at another date at the end of the first one? Anakin didn't even know, he could only hope it was alright since he just had.

"I'm sorry about the, er, beginning awkwardness. I honestly had no idea what Puddifoot's was." He didn't generally spend his time down in Hogsmeade to be honest.

She was glad that he was glad that she said yes...if that made any sense at all. At least he didn't regret her coming and wish he'd asked someone else... She assumed he didn't anyway. He COULD be lying, but he didn't seem the type. Especially not when he was all red in the face like she was. Plus...he wanted to go on a date like this again? That was...good, yeah?

"Y-Yeah, sure... That'd be great," Vashti replied with a small, nervous smile.

Then she suddenly let out a nervous giggle. "It's okay. It's not your fault." She had had her suspicions about Madam Puddifoot's, but because she was stupidly naive, she hadn't said anything.

Anakin could only shuffle his feet a little awkwardly, now that the date was coming to a close he wasn't all that sure of what he could, or should say to her. It was like the beginning all over again, and he could only hope next time they went out they'd both feel a little more comfortable even in the seemingly awkward parts now.

Keeping eyes focused on her face, Anakin beamed once more when she agreed to going once more with him at another time. And nodded, giving her hand a small squeeze. "Awesome, I..uh, look forward to it." And he would.

Not his fault? "I disagree...but thanks for being so forgiving of it." If he'd known the kind of place it was, he never would have suggested it. "Erm, so...do you want me to walk you up to your dorm?" Not that he was anxious to get rid of her.

Merlin, it was like the beginning of the date all over again. Everything was feeling so awkward now. Why did it have to keep getting like this? Was this what all dates were like? She grinned though when he said he looked forward to going with her again. "Me too." Hopefully it wouldn't be as awkward as this one though. Vashti wasn't sure how either of them would survive another really awkward date.

And SHE disagreed with that, but she didn't really want to keep pressing the subject, so she just shrugged. At least they knew to NOT go into Madam Puddifoot's next time.

She shook her head when he offered to walk her aaaall the way up to the Ravenclaw dorm. "Nah, I'll be fine. Thanks for the offer though." She wasn't going to make him walk all the way up those steps since he'd done so previous to ask her on this date in the first place. Besides, it might just be even more awkward walking all that way and they needed to get LESS awkward, not more.

And it might only get more awkward after she did what just popped into her head.

Vashti leaned up on her tip-toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "So, um, good night." With that she turned and made her way up the stairs to the Ravenclaw common room, her face burning and her heart soaring.

Erin couldn't moved her feet. It felt like a hundred pounds heavier than before. She was not entirely tired but her feet gave up because of the cold weather. Instead, Erin settled at the foot of the stairs in the Entrance Hall. She knew, many students will look at her and wonder why was she staying in there, but she could also meet some friends and helped her out, or maybe, just talk to her while she was waiting for her numb legs to regain its consciousness.

Looking at the hourglasses, Slytherins were still on the lead. Ravenclaws should work extra hard to take the spot from them. Erin moved her palm up to her chin bored to death for waiting too long.

Well it certainly was a cold day out... good thing she had some business to attend to in the castle otherwise she'd have gone mad! What with all the snow, ery few students ever ventured out to visit her these days, and the gardens were ... in hibernation for the time being. Boring.

No, today she wanted to explore the castle, and pay the Astronomy towers a visit. There was rather a lot to look forward to. The upcoming Herbology lesson was going to be interesting to say the least, and being inside would be a bonus.

Seren was about to make her way up the staircase when she saw Erin sitting there looking a little down.
"You alright dear?" she asked, coming to a stop a little in front of the young Ravenclaw.
"That doesn't look too comfortable."

Harvey walked into the castle to take shelter from the cold outside when he saw that Erin was sat on the stairs and Professor Bentley was there with her. He was curious so he went over since Erin was his friend. "Hi Professor how are you?" he greeted his herbology professor and then he turned to Erin "Hey Erin, you ok? you seem I dont know, you seem down. Is everything alright?" He asked Erin concerned about his friend.

With her hand on her cheek, Erin got startled by the sound of Professor Bentley's voice. She surely remembered her, the little sweet Ravenclaw who visited her before classes even started. Erin knew this act would be a remarkable one to a teacher. Of all the people in the castle, of all her friends, a Professor would be the one to spot her in here? She wasn't prepared for this. How will she act in front of Professor Bentley? Well, it was rather lucky of her that she was nice.

"Oh, Professor Bentley! You're out from your Herbology residence?!" Erin said quite unsure if it implied a question. It was too cold outside. What must be the reason for the Professor to leave her place? Inside the castle would be the best place to chat with other faculty members and probably, students whom she was fond of.

Then Erin suddenly realized that she was asked of a question and she needed to answer. It felt like she was in class. Heh. "Uhm," she hesitated a little then continued, "My feet's numb. I think it's because of the cold," said Erin flatly.

And there came her friend Harvey. He was in the same way concerned as Professor Bentley was. "Well, I can't walk right now." He also seemed too cold to stay outside.

Seren was a little worried about Erin. Honestly, what good ever came form sitting on steps in the Entrance Hall?... none that she could think of.

With the sudden arrival of Harvey, she was momentarily distracted from the girl. "Hello dear," she said quickly but politely before turning back to Erin.

"Yes I try to come up to the castle as often as I can. As it so happens I have a little business to attend to... its a nice excuse to get out of the cold." Not that her office or quarters were cold. Not by a long shot, they were rather warm and toasty, especially with all the logs she's been putting on the fire.
Numb?... Did Erin just say her feet were numb?
"Well thats not very good... not wearing thick enough socks?"
Socks were very important during the winter. In fact dressing appropriately in general was highly recommended.

"Oh! Numb." Harvey said concerned. He stood by to see if there was something he could do or help in any way needed. He was not about to abandon his friend if she needed his help, that was not in his nature.

A business? Was it something about...? Ow, she couldn't think of anything. Herbology was supposed to be held at the Herbology gardens. Maybe, the business she was trying to say would be a big surprise for everybody. Ow, how Erin loved surprises! "I hate the cold," said Erin feeling her feet slighly coming back to normal but she knew it'll still be taking her a little more time.

"I actually had thick socks!" Erin said defensively but smiling to Professor Bentley. "It's just that I had a figure skating lesson with my friend Jez." That was probably the best lesson she ever had but she will not say it in front of the professor. "I had a great time in that. If I'd known, I would end up like this, well," she paused for a while thinking what to add, "I guess, I would still do it." Erin laughed after saying this.

Looking up at Harvey, "Ow, thanks! In my state, I don't think I could go up the Ravenclaw Tower," said Erin turning a look to Professor Bentley.

Annabeth spotted Harvey and Erin, she felt terrible, her head banged, her stomach churned, as though she was going to be sick, and she had a huge cut on her head, from when she fell off her bed when she was looking under it. she held her stomack and walked over to them, "Hey Harvey, Erin," she said and stumbled past them to go to her next lesson.

she fell over and cut her head again, and above all that, became uncontious!

Harvey ran over to Ann "Ann! Ann are you ok?" He asked concerned.

Annabeth might have sensed something as she did a little moan, but became silent again.

"Ann! Ann!" Harvey didnt know what to do in a situation like this. He could lift Ann and take her to the H Wing on his own. So he proceeded to try and get her up and about again.

Both of the large main oak doors are ajar, allowing a slight chill to sweep through the entrance hall, and causing small flakes to sprinkle onto the stone. Puddles of water, much bigger than anything created by the landing snowflakes are scattered throughout the floor in a zig-zaggy manner.

If you turn your head just to the right, you can see a slowly moving snowman, with a large cane looking chuck from its head smashed off right below it’s top hat. The snowman is not moving in any particular direction, just circling the hall, creating more puddles as it circles.

Jez walked into the Entrance Hall on the way to the Great one - and stopped in her tracks. A snowman ... moving around the hall. The books in Jez's arms fell to the floor with loud clunks. She swallowed, stiffing the urge to cry out. Her inner curiosity made her move forward tentatively to examine the snowman at a closer range, sidestepping puddles as she went. What in the name of Merlin's pants was it doing? A better question was, who was enchanting it ...