Clutching the sign she had made in class tightly in her hands, Kurumi made her way to the Headmaster's office and hoped that the others had received her memo about congregating here. If you wanted something to change, the best thing to do was take it straight to the top, right? Of course, Kurumi would prefer to have done this without the use of signs and chants...but this was part of Professor Scabior's assignment...so it wasn't like anyone could get TOO upset over all this.

Right?

Kurumi was just going to choose to believe that.

So, holding her sign high above her head, Kurumi waved it and waited for the others to arrive.

Anya skipped down the hallway holding her banner. She was off! To go lay in the grass and yell about not being able to lay on the ground of the astronomy tower.

That is... until she took a wrong turn and saw Kurumi with her sign.

Oh yeah! That must have been why she grabbed her sign earlier. And it made WAY more sense than protesting outside in the middle of the day. She was starting to think she'd lost her mind the amount of things she'd been forgetting lately.

She really needed to start carrying around a planner... or calendar... or watch... or sundial...

"Hey Kurumi!" Anya said skipping to stop next to the Prefect. "I'm here."

She'd just pretend she planned it that way.

When the History of Magic class had progressed to the point where they were grouping into protest groups, Gideon hadn't be sure where to go. That was until he found out about the idea to fight for the observatory to be opened to students once more. That was for certain a cause he could get behind because he seriously missed his time stargazing and trying to work at it from other high points in the school like the common room had only worked to some extent.

So when he was told about the meet up at the stone gargoyles, the Gryffindor prefect gathered up his sign and headed in that direction. He spotted his fellow prefect and Anya already there and smiled softly at them. "Hey," he greeted the two girls. "Is it just us....or are we expecting more?"

Nora was sooo freaking out about this, when she didn't really have anything to worry about. It was professor Scabior's assignment to protest, after all, so what could happen?

Errr... she never really got that close to the Headmaster. That's what worried her. Besides seeing him in the Great Hall at the feasts, she never saw him. What if he was a big, scary guy? But... no, he couldn't be. He seemed pretty nice, from that awfully big distance that was always between them.

So, with the banner she made in class neatly rolled in one hand, Nora made her way to the gargoyles where that girl, Kurumi, had asked them all to meet. There were a few already there, but she knew no one, unfortunately. "Hi everyone."

Kennedy followed the students to the Gargoyles, his poster hung over his shoulder. It was time to protest, but if he had to be honest, his idea for underage Apparition was a great one, though it lacked supporters. One thing he knew was that protests were only successful if there was more than one person present. So, if you can't beat them join them...or something like that.

The point was, he wasn't going to look like a loser with a poster. So, here was, with...the star people. It wasn't a bad cause though. He wanted the Observatory open as much as they did.

After approaching the crowd the Prefect leaned against the wall. "Hey Kurumi...everyone." He didn't know them all so he sent them a wave as well. "How are going to do this?" he asked. Were they just going to scream random things about the Observatory? Chant? Or were they waiting for more...there were more protesters, right?

Anya smiled as others joined them. This was going to be the best protest ever!

She smiled at the Slytherin Prefect. "Oh! I've got an idea." she said rocking on her heels for a second.

"We can do a pretend lesson sit in!" she said beaming. "To show all the Headmaster how useful having the tower back would be!"

She plopped down on the floor and took a nice relaxed laying down position. She pretended that the stars were above her.

"Did you know that there are 5 planets you can see without a telescope?" She asked. She guessed they did. But that was something her dad taught her. "This time of year... we could see... Mars pretty well... right around... there." she said pointing to a spot a little to the left and down of directly above her.

Yup. Anya really, really loved star-gazing.

And she also loved just laying down in random places.

Smiling as each person joined the group, Kurumi couldn't help but blush a little as people turned to her for what to do. Kurumi really didn't have the first idea about how to protest anything and was much more comfortable in negotiation and talking things out. What she DID know was that they needed to get people's attention, hence all the signs and stuff, so they were moving in the right direction.

"I am pretty sure there are still a few others that wanted to join us," she said with a small nod towards Gideon who had asked the question specifically.

Turning to Kennedy now, Kurumi chewed on her lip. "Break down the Headmaster's door?" she said OBVIOUSLY joking. She wasn't seriously suggesting that. Nope. NOT AT ALL.

Kurumi then turned to Anya who had come up with a rather brilliant idea actually. "I like that Anya," she nodded. Did that mean they did it right here in front of the gargoyles? Kurumi leaned her sign against the wall and scratched the back of her neck. "We need to get his attention first....so how do we do that? Sing? Chant?" A variation of twinkle twinkle littler star perhaps?

Hmm....

The young Gryffindor's idea was actually interesting. Kennedy nodded as he tapped his chin. "Yeah...we could do that," he said, signaling at the young lion on the ground, "and not move until he agrees to open the Observatory." He kind of blocked whatever she said afterward. Kennedy was too busy imagining the Headmaster blocked from leaving his office because a bunch of students were on the ground and refused to leave. It wasn't like he would step over them, would he?

Naaah.

He turned to Kurumi and smirked. "Now you're talking." Of course, he was joking too. But if they did go that route he'd stay in the back to make a run for it in case the Headmaster was ready to take any house points. "I say we do what she's doing," his eyes landing on the girl Kurumi called Anya once again, "and sing some star song...loudly." While he left that option in the air, Kennedy mimicked Anya's position on the ground, propping himself on his elbow.

The ground was NOT a comfy place for laying down on.

Anya propped herself on her elbows. She looked at the older two Prefects and sported a wide grin. Aww! They liked her idea! This was the BEST protest ever already!

And she wasn't just saying that because this was her only protest ever.

She looked around. There wasn't a door to break down. Or even to knock on. In fact... where was the Headmaster's Office anyway? There was just the weird statue here...

Which... she could climb... that seemed to get Mr. Landscape Architect Man's attention last year. But... Anya didn't think it would help enough for her to suggest it.

Plus... she was super comfy in her relaxed on-the-floor position.

She looked between the two. It looked like a star song was the way they were going...

"I know... umm... twinkle twinkle little star." she said. "Oh! And that one from Pinocchio." And the one from Hercules for that matter.

She also knew that one nursery rhyme about stars. The one that she used on her banner.

"I can also beat box." She'd just throw that out there. You know, in case they wanted to rap badly. Because... she didn't actually know how to beat box.

She then sat up the rest of the way abruptly. "You know what would be fun? If we put out all the candles on this hallway and made sparks with our wands! It would be just like we were singing around a campfire!"

Except... completely different.

Oh, dear.

Nora found it a challenge to keep up with everyone's good ideas, but she liked every single one. Well, maybe except for the one in which they'd break the door to the Headmaster's office. That was a bit... too much, wasn't it?

"I like your idea," she said to the younger Gryffindor whose name she didn't know. "The chanting and the -" She took her wand and muttered Lumos under her breath. "- lights." Lights were pretty. And chanting something won't cause any damage and make their protest... civilized.

Before Kurumi answered his question, two more had arrived including another prefect. At least Scabior's assurances that as long as they didn't break any rules they wouldn't get into trouble was a relief that they didn't have to worry about going against the flow. But then again it was a class assignment...right? "Hello," he said returning each other their greetings before nodding as his fellow lion mentioned a few more were expected.

Kennedy did bring up a point....how was this to be best done. Sit-in was one option and singing and chanting was a possible addition to it. The sixth year tried to think of his own thoughts to add ideas and possibilities into the plan, raising an eyebrow at Kurumi's idea that just had to be a joke. Seeing Anya lay down and talk about sky-watching he couldn't help but smile. "Aye...I did know that," he remarked having been shown that by his mum several years back not to mention at least once in class. "And that looks about right," he added looking at her location for Mars.

Focus Gideon...history of magic class....not astronomy at the moment.

Gideon pulled himself away from the subject he loved to get back to the task at hand. "They all sound like good ideas," he remarked finally. He couldn't help if his mind was preoccupied enough with other thingsnamely a certain redhead to come up with anything at the moment to add to them. Not to mention too much contrast might just make it more confusing. "Twinkle twinkle might be good." The Gryffindor prefect couldn't remember if even knew the other song Anya refered to.

Alright next would be Head Master Tate. It made sense to get his attention for their cause. As Oakey walked about the staircase with his large banners in hand He saw a few other Protestors two of which were the Gryffindor Prefects Kurumi and Gideon.

He wanted to stay and talk. Especially to Kurumi, who he hadn't seen in ages. It'd be nice to catch up and chat for a bit but there was so much ground to cover and he had only put up two banners since the start of the assignment. Plus the awkwardness of the situation had presented itself. Their group had shown up to work on their protest and Oakey showed up for his. This wouldn't result in a stand off that would ultimately result in Oakey being silenced again, would it?

Oakey smiled and nodded to the group and rolled one of his large banner down the spiral stair case. Taking his wand he used the sticking charm to stick it to the stairs until it rested perfectly going down the steps. Nice day outside today isn't it? he said to the other Protesters, pocketed his wand and ran off.

Tate emerged from his inner sanctum to a mob scene. Several, several students were laying about on his floor, and they all had flashing signs and were... well, Merlin. Didn't they have better things to do then pollute his hallway?

LIKE LEARN THINGS???

"Hm. Okay, kiddos. Hold that thought." With a flick of his wand, Tate glued the lot of them to the floor where they lay. He stepped over those few in his way and headed toward the corridor. "Just need to grab a bite. I'll be back later."

Kurumi continued to nod to everyone and their suggestions. She was really liking the idea of a sit in until the Headmaster agreed to reopen the observatory because they would be killing two birds with one stone really. Studying AND protesting at the same time. It was a win-win for the Gryffindor.

"Alright everyone, how about we begin singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?" she suggested as she turned her attention to the stone gargoyles. "Twinkle twinkle little star...how I wonder WHERE you are..." Just then, there was movement and the Headmaster appeared looking...displeased. OH GOOD! They had gotten his attention.

But then he flicked his wand at them and Kurumi could only blink in confusion. Huh? And now he was walking away?!

"WAIT! Headmaster!" Kurumi called, taking a step and holding her sign out. "We want to discuss the opening of the obser----------WOAH!" Next thing Kurumi knew she was falling forward...but her feet were glued in place to the cobbled floor.

Anya giggled enthusiastically. It was good to know that Gideon was also a sky watcher. She felt a little silly for knowing where Mars should be. But... he made her feel a bit better.

Yay for songs! Twinkle twinkle it was! She gave a short wave to Oakey as he walked by. She smiled at his banner. More Hogsmeade days would be nice!

Except... that wasn't what she was protesting.

She followed Kurumi's lead and began singing when....

The headmister came out! Big Head Mister Tatey!

O_O

That was definitely a wand wave! She looked around panicked that they'd all been turned into something crazy... like... chickens...

But the sight of her Prefect nearly falling calmed her down. "You should have laid down like the rest of us." she giggled lightly.

Could they go back to singing now?

And without waiting to see what the other students did... Anya started right back up... "Twinkle, twinkle little" she belted before stopping abruptly.

Gideon nodded as it was agreed they would sing to get the headmaster's attention, hoping he was in fact in his office at the moment otherwise Taking a moment to remember the words, the sixth year mimiced his fellow prefect just a step or not behind as he started on the first line. "Twinkle Twinkle little star..." he sang hesitantly seeing as he wasn't the most comfortable singer even though he wasn't bad at it.

They didn't have to sing for long as Headmaster Tate came out to greet them. But wait...he was leaving them? Guess now they had to vocalize to get him to stay and listen to their cause. That was how protests were done after all if he was correct in his memory of the lesson.

"But Headmaster...we'll only be a mi-" he started to say, moving and reaching out to help Kurumi as she seemed ready to fall. Well reaching out only seeing as he found himself stuck on his feet with whatever spell the older man had flicked on them. So much for just a simple peaceful protest...now they were caught. "Headmaster Tate! We are meerly trying to do as we were told."

Did he know of Professor Scabior's assignment?

The Headmaster did whaaaaat?!

Just as the big, scary man came out of his office, Nora's eyes went so wide that she didn't even have words to say hello. But never mind that. Because he GLUED them to the floor while he was going to have a SNACK! He didn't take points or get mad, noooo, but he GLUED them! And even better, left them there!

Looking around from one student to another, she also noticed a banner that someone else put there, protesting for... more Hogsmeade weekends? Errr...

What were they going to doooo?!

As Audrey ran to catch up with the rest of the protestors, holding her sign, her feet suddenly became stuck to the floor. "Oh my gosh!" she cried out, "What is happening?" She had just turned the corner when the headmaster had cast his spell.

O____________O

THIS WAS NOT COOL!

He was glued on the ground. Only his arms, neck and head were free. AND THE HEADMASTER STEPPED OVER THEM...

How rude.

Kennedy wasn't sure if to yell after the man, sing extremely loud or threaten sue. This was dangerous. What if there was a fire? He couldn't run nor move to safety. He looked up to the people who were fortunate enough to be standing up. "What now?" Yeah. Could they get him a pillow at least?

They've tried a peaceful attempt. Can they turn it up a bit MORE?

Though lacking a sign for the protest for the observatory, Penelope finally made her way all the way down to the second floor and quickly spotted the gargoyles Kurumi had told her about, as well as a bunch of other students, including three of her housemates that she recognized. And there went the guy she recognized as the one who'd given the speech before they could eat at the feast. Was that supposed to happen during a protest? Hmm.

Once she'd reached the group, she noticed some were lying on the ground, like Anya, and others were standing, or something in between in the case of Kurumi. And they all appeared to have signs. Hmm.

"So what're we doing?" she asked. Mostly what was SHE supposed to do since she had arrived later than everyone else and everyone else appeared to already know what they were doing.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand the Headmaster was gone.

If the man had been hungry he should have waited BEFORE sticking them to the ground. "I even baked him oatmeal cookies," Kurumi whimpered as she looked at her bag that was now out of reach because HER FEET WERE GLUED TO THE FLOOR.

When she heard Kennedy speak, all Kurumi could do was shrug her shoulders and look at everyone else around. "There isn't really much we CAN do until the Headmaster comes back," she replied. "We could try to unstick ourselves, but since I am not entirely sure which sticking spell he used...that could be bad." Like, their shoes melting or something else. "We will just need to draw attention to the fact that we are all stuck here. Sing louder? Make more noise?" Kurumi was open to suggestions.

But then she saw that Penelope had arrived...and was walking?! "Penelope! Can you move?" Like, not stuck to the floor sort of thing?

Alyssa figured that sometimes when you made a protest that you needed to go to the highest levels of authority. Since she couldn’t go to the Minister of Magic with her request, she figured that she would go to the next person in authority. The Hogwarts Headmaster!!

She carried her contraband into the waiting room of the Headmaster’s office. She looked around trying to figure out where she would hang her banner. It needed to be in a position where it would DEFINITELY catch everyone’s eye, even the Headmaster’s

However, she noticed that she wasn't the only one who had the same idea. She saw that some of the students had been glued to the floor. She was going to ask who had done that to them, but suspected who it was. 'Better not to know' Alyssa thought to herself.

She quickly side stepped them and looked around and to see where she could hang her banner. Then she noticed the Stone Gargoyles. "DING! DING!", the bells went off inside her brain. She could hang her banner on the arm of each of the Stone Gargoyles. Whenever they opened to let someone through, her banner would stretch out and reveal itself.

Looking around making sure that the Headmaster wasn't around, Alyssa quickly looped one end of her banner around one arm of the Gargoyle and then poking holes at the other end of the banner, she threaded some string through the holes, tied the threads together to form a loop and then ran across to the other Gargoyle, and looped the threads around it's arm. Now that the banner was stretched wide apart, anyone coming back up the stairs would definitely see it....anyone especially the Headmaster.

Alyssa quickly looked around before making a mad dash back to the safety of her Common Room.

Lana wasn't completely sure if she was going to the right place or not. In fact, she was rather confused at the moment. There had been words of something going down with stars and she wanted in on it as well. She liked stars, they were pretty and she wanted to see more of them. She had heard about people down by the stone gargoyles and rushed to her common room to make a sign to bring with her.

Holding her sign in front of her, she rounded the corner as she heard voices and stopped. There were a number of people and she didn't really know all that many of them, but she figured she was in the right place. She did reconginze the nice Lion Prefect and few other Lions she remembered from last year's Quidditch time. There was even that nice Lion seeker that reminded her of a little bird. "I'm not too late to join, am I?" she asked quietly as she headed toward the group.

Only once she had gotten closer to them, did she noticed most of them seem stuck to the floor and tilted her head slightly. Was being stuck part of what they were doing?

At the word oatmeal something in Kennedy's head wrung.

Not only because oatmeal cookies were his favorite and the only type of cookies he'd really eat, but because he thought of a plan. "Hey, Kurumi, we could eat those cookies on purpose when he returns." Like making fun of him that they are eating HIS cookies without remorse. That was a great plan...also because he was hungry.

He then rested his head back on the CONCRETE ground and thought. What else could they do. "What if we cover the entire walls and gargoyles with posters?" Blind the man with star stuff related posters. Plus, he wouldn't be able to ignore it if covered EVERYTHING.