Only half-listening to the students, Anastasia had been about to pin the brooch to her jacket when her ears finally absorbed what they were trying to tell her.

"WHAT?" she exclaimed, dropping the brooch back on the floor and pricking her finger in the process. She brought the bleeding pinprick to her mouth and frowned, her large blue eyes moving from student to student as they spoke. "My brooch has GHOSTS in it now?!"

What was UP with the Other World always trying to ruin her life? Ughhhhhhh! She HATED ghosts!!!! And they knew that, too!! All these dumb ghosts --- Myrtle, Isfret?, Peeves, the Grey Lady--- WHATEVER! They probably deserved to be sucked away! If only she had a vacuum that could suck all the ghosts in the world up up and away.... if only.

But back to the weird, creepy takeover plot, as Sierra had said. "Why?" was all the Headmistress could say, complete with a delicate shrug of her shoulders. "I got the brooch in Egypt..." she momentarily avoided everyone's eyes and instead stared at the object in question, as though staring at it would unlock its secrets. "It looked expensive but was marked really low.... you could call it a real steal for the open-air market... it had some um runes on the back, but I didn't really pay attention to those....I don't know if they're still there or not."

She hadn't really noticed them when she'd picked it up again. Huh, imagine that. The redhead took a few cautious steps closer to the brooch, which Hollyberry was twirling for some reason. Weird girl. "Stop that," she flapped her hand at her. "You might be making the ghosts feel ill."

Snort. As if she cared what the ghosts felt like at the moment. "Tell me more about this Isfret, if you can," the redhead asked as she flicked her wand into her hand and pointed it at the brooch. She looked up and over at the Head Girl. "And what's with all the pets?"

Louisa was getting tired of holding her cat and standing like a statue while everything just happened. Well, nothing was happening now except for the headmistress admitting to buying a brooch with way less Galleons than its jewels indicate. Veeery good gossip material. Oh and Egypt? As in the ancient country where magicians had their own twisted and very unique spells and curses? Anyone making the connection here again? Mhhmmm. There was something else tugging at the back of her mind though but she couldn't put her finger on it...

Hmmm...

... "Huh...?" She had to blink when Truebridge addressed her. "It said in the invitation to bring our pets." Her hand stroked Cuddles' head inducing a happy purr from the small cat. "The ghosts said they, the pets, have sharper senses and could feel the presence of this entity, Isfret." The girl couldn't help but lift her chin up proudly as she continued, "My cats screeched... and bit into my sock just as the brooch sucked in the ghosts." Impressive, eh? "He didn't materialized where we could see him, he just let out a hysterical laugh. That means he was around and Cuddles & Viola did feel his presence." And thus end the heroic story of her two cats. She would've beamed if her nerves weren't about to crack.

Anyways. "Also, we were thinking that Myrtle is very needed in order to figure out more about Isfret." To deal with the main cause of this all. "She mentioned something about him 'entrusting' her with the brooch."

Kurumi tried to keep her focus on the brooch as the woman spoke to see if there was any noticeable change in it, but her head snapped around when the Headmistress had seemingly just NOW realized what they had been telling her. Wanting oh so very much to point out that her patronus had told her that all the House ghosts had been sucked into the brooch, Kurumi instead bit her tongue and somewhat tuned out the conversation as she continued to look at the brooch. Kurumi really wasn't interested in repeating the same information to the Headmistress over and over again. Not when there was this brooch levitating in front of her.

Kurumi came back to the conversation when the Headmistress said she had bought it in Egypt and...it had runes on the back? With one more flick of her wand Kurumi rotated the brooch so that the back was facing her just as she was being flapped at. Stop, erm, alright... With one more flick Kurumi cast Fixate and left the brooch suspended in the air. "Myrtle said not to touch the brooch again or I'll regret it," Kurumi responded - which really only made her more curious to touch it again to see what would happen... "She has been acting especially...odd this term. Disrupting lessons and destroying school property. I think it was her that caused all the damage to the Charms Annex."

She really needed to stop touching random objects. Like mysterious orbs that found her in corridors.

Peering a little closer, Kurumi thought that she could make out...something on the back of it. Were those the runes that the Headmistress had just been talking about? Surely former Professor Truebridge wouldn't have allowed his wife to buy something dangerous...assuming he even knew there were runes on the back of it to begin with. He HAD taught Ancient Runes while Kurumi had been at Hogwarts - been bloody brilliant at it as well. "Headmistress...would you mind if I administered a Polishing Charm to your brooch? I think...I might see something..." Or it was just horribly scratched.

Sierra hadn't realized she'd been holding in her breath as she watched the Headmistress begin to pin the brooch back to her jacket. She wasn't sure whether to just stand back and watch or lunge forward and knock the brooch off to the side.

...and she didn't exactly want to do either. She had a feeling she'd be in trouble if she just stood there and even more trouble if she tackled the Headmistress. Lucky for her, she didn't have to decide. As the brooch hit the floor, Sierra followed it with her eyes.

The others had already answered the questions that were asked, but Sierra had some input of her own. "...and I think we need to find out who Isfret is and what he might want," she said. "Surely he's got some kind of motive for doing...well, everything. He's convinced Myrtle she should jump ship and join him, so...he has to want her help for something."

So...how do they get Myrtle back? Or, better yet, how do they get Myrtle back without her destroying public property? "Maybe the runes on it say something?" she suggested. She looked at Kurumi, who asked to use a Polishing Charm. "Yeah, a Polishing Charm, and then maybe we can do a rune reading..."

Selina just stood there with her arms crossed as all of this commotion was going on. Honestly, they couldn't do this ANYWHERE else? A creepy mist just took over the room and ghosts had been attacked in here less then five minutes ago. Or did everyone else forget that? They NEEDED to get out of her. Gryffindors did not back down from a fight, but they knew when a fight did not need to provoked with someone stronger then them. If the ghost appeared, she would stay and help, but WHY take the chance? She was only seventeen, newly seventeen, and she was not ready to throw herself so willingly into danger.

The redhead just wanted to leave and now that an ADULT was there to help, she would not have minded if they all just left now. They COULD leave right? Because she was going to just start grabbing people and dragging them along with her to go. This place was dangerous. There was a reason why they were NEVER allowed in here in the first place. Seriously, or did everyone just forget that.

While everyone else spoke, Selina finally chirped up, "Headmistress? Could we have this conversation somewhere else...? I mean, we are sort of sitting ducks here. No?" Yes.

So the Head Girl was proud of being a crazy cat lady, that was the case, hmm? Anastasia's blue eyes flicked down to the cats in question and surprisingly didn't feel any hatred toward them. How strange... just earlier in the term she'd freaked out and sent her own cat back home...

But anyway, to the ghost story. "I think you're all right about needing Myrtle...." she addressed the girls, since the boys were all standing around like a planter of pansies. "...and you're very correct about us needing another location to discuss this in." She shivered, not realizing she was doing so, and started toward the door.

Oh but was the part house elf speaking? She wanted to polish the brooch? Anastasia eyed her as though she were going to steal it instead of just polish it and then shrugged. "Fine, that's fine. Levitate it with us. We're going straight to the source....or as close as we can get, anyway. To Myrtle's bathroom, everyone!"

Onward ho!

Giving the Headmistress a firm nod, Kurumi flicked her wand at the brooch again to make it levitate beside her and began to follow the woman out of the Spirit Room. Hey, the Headmistress was rather elegant when walking in heels...if circumstances were different and Kurumi didn't think that the woman hated her she would ask for heel walking lessons sometime.

Anyway, off to Myrtle's loo they went...

After Cookie had sent her patronus, Dylan was still in a state of...severe apprehension. The Slytherin wanted out of the room...and away from these people. He was done with nonsense...Seriously, the ghosts had drug them here for a stupid reason...when in the end, the Headmistress was getting involved, anyway.

While he waited for the woman to arrive, Dylan remained sitting, glowering at everyone in a murderous fashion. At least Skylar was with him on this one. There was a reason he respected the Gryffindor Captain. She had COMMON SENSE and wanted to LIVE, obviously.

Like him.

Once the Headmistress had stepped into the room, it seemed like everyone was jumping to give their version of events...but Dylan just observed quietly. He didn't have anything positive to say right now...So, it was probably best if just keep his mouth shut...

No need to offend anyone, the Slytherin was convinced...Not in front of the Headmistress, anyway. Perhaps afterward...

...And then Skylar was suggesting Myrtle's bathroom. Pfft, a GIRL'S loo? Yes, why not?...because that would be so much better than this GHOST room.

No, really. Sarcasm aside. It would be.

Rubbing his face, Dylan made for the exit, making it a point to steer clear of the levitated brooch. That thing was NOT touching him...

Still nobody pinched her. Thinking this was a dream was stupid anyways, because it was far from. Before Nessie could begin panicking all over again though, the Headmistress appeared inside the room.

Wait...the barrier? Did it go just like that? Erm..well that was strange.

Well then if it was gone they could go right? No need to be here. Selina luckily worded that idea to the Headmistress and the red head lady agreed. Perfect because staying here did not seem safe, in actual fact the whole entire school felt a little unsafe at the moment but just here in the spirit room seemed much worse!

With Puffles still curled up in her shoulder, Nessie headed out the room and followed the others to Myrtle's second floor bathroom.

...right.

Why didn't she think of that? They had to go look for Myrtle...in her loo. Where else would she be? Well, actually, the ghost was starting to pop up in a random variety of places. In a loo, in a classroom, here in the spirit room with this brooch.

The brooch. Sierra watched as Kurumi levitated it into the air and began the walk away. Sierra sighed and turned in that direction, as well and left the area.

Follow the possessed brooch. Great. Why couldn't it be, follow the butterflies?

After passing his frogs to Kurumi, Spike miiiight have zoned out a little bit. Things had gotten so confusing. First Sir Nick and the Baron were talking in lowered voices, which made the Ravenclaw feel a little put out. He could have been in bed right now, afterall. And then there was Myrtle's arrival, and ghosts getting sucked into a brooch and...

Blink.Blink.Blink.

Well, it was safe to say Spike's mind was following many trails of thought of what had happened, but none of them made sense. And how did any of this links to disappearing creatures, or being locked out of the common rooms? He stood there, forehead creased in thought, letting the other Prefects explain what had been going on to the Headmistress.

Hang on? They were going to Myrtle's bathroom? That was a girl's bathroom, was it not?

Spike rolled his eyes, lightly shook his curls. Woooonderful.