Airey was still glancing at the dead cat, not getting close enough to it to realize that it actually wasn't a real cat - as he listened to Miss Cambridge and Mr. Newell recount what had happened. Or, as the case was, accused each other of things.

His face became serious for a moment as he approached the writing on the wall and his shoe made a very uncomfortable squishing noise thanks to the water trapped inside. "Blazing comets," he said as he looked down at his very wet foot. Leaning in a bit, Airey squinted at the blood red coloring for a moment before he stuck his finger in it and immediately put it into his mouth without another thought. "It's paint. Nasty flavor really," he said while his face squished up a bit. "I suspect you are right, Mr. Newell. Looks like a practical joke and a moderately executed one." Which was almost a compliment coming from him. Although he would have used dragon's blood instead of paint if it had been him. "And Miss Cambridge, I was never accusing you of anything, for the record." He knew that she wouldn't get caught so easily.

His eyes shifted to the Ravenclaw and then to the dead cat. Well, HE wasn't going to get close enough to it. Even stuffed cats gave him the heebie geebies. One of the students could check that and report back.

This WAS the perfect set up for him to play a practical joke on all them. They were making it FAR too easy and the temptation was boiling up inside him. So. Easy. To. Freak. Them. All. Out. But he was going to resist. Safety of was not something to joke about. Especially not in light of last term's events.

"The Chamber has been empty for decades now. In fact, the former History of Magic professor even held a lesson down there." Or so he had read about in old yearbooks. "Now, if you are really concerned at the chance - however unlikely - that something very real is happening, I can see about some school staff going into the Chamber and investigating." Emphasis on school staff was just for you, Alexa Cambridge. "In the meantime, I suggest we clean this paint off the walls. mop up the water, and....deal with that." Cue some epic pointing towards the DEAD cat. "You all know the proper cleaning spells for that, yes?"

Uhhh...WHAA?

Sophie sort of took a step back. She had just walked up and was therefore completely innocent in whatever had happened here. She wasn't saying a thing here. Nope. Not putting her foot in her mouth anytime soon.



Sophie shot Caleb a GLARE.

She didn't want anybody in her family having a finger pointed at them anytime soon. Couldn't he just be quiet? He was getting long winded, and that was when people usually put their foot in their mouth...

GRYFFINDORS.

You gotta love 'em! You just have to.

Sophie loved how they were always like 'We'll jump face first into danger and possibly get ourselves seriously hurt or killed, while you sit back on the couch and wait for us to do all the work for you'.

Thank you, Godric. Mental high five here. You're AWESOME.

But then...THEY HAD TO CLEAN UP?! BUT WHY?!

Sophie felt like pointing out that one of the French girls had been walking away just as she'd walked up. Maybe she saw what happened. Or better yet, maybe she should be here cleaning up this mess.

"I'd say Tergeo for the water and Scourgify for the paint, sir," Mo suggested, more for the benefit of the younger students than for the professor. He may have made apologetic faces at Cambridge, since he'd essentially accused her of Muggleborn-bullying, but otherwise... this fifth year was staying out of it.

It wasn't a very funny joke, was it?

Much as it pained him to do so, Mo took it upon himself to wade through the water to retrieve the dead cat. The dead PINK cat. He swallowed back revulsion as he untangled it from the wall, and then gave a strangled laugh when it fell free in his hands. "It's just a TOY." He showed it to the other students and the professor.

Why was Sophie GLARING at him so much? He hadn't done anything! Totally innocent. He ignored her and let out a sigh of relief, however, when Mo discovered that the dead cat wasn't even real. It was fake. See? Just like Caleb had said! Someone was trying to scare them all. He was so smart.

BUT WAIT...THEY HAD TO CLEAN? What? Shouldn't he be REWARDED for being so clever and deducting what had really happened here? Flamsteed was a total party pooper. Not wanting to lose points though (and maybe hoping he'd gain a few) he grudgingly took out his wand and started to work on the first letter of the message. "Scourgify," he grumbled, watching as the paint slowly lifted off the walls.

Clean up the mess?

That was totally unfair, seeing as they hadn't made it. And if he was right and it was a practical joke then shouldn't they find the culprit and make them clean up? Seemed like a fair punishment to Charlie.

She wasn't going to voice that, though. Instead, she nodded in agreement at the Ravenclaw Captain, and pulled her wand from inside her robes. She was pointing in in the direction of the water when he retrieved that cat. "I said it wasn't real," she pointed out, to the corridor in general, but she was sort of smiling. After all, it was a pink cat.

Shaking her head a little, she watched as the first year began to clear away the paint and focused on the water. "Tergo."

She pretty much ventures here on a daily basis. For a very simple reason that the bathroom is on this level. Duh. Surely not the library. One needs far more visits to the facilities than the library. And if it's not the case for someone then that person has a problem. A HUGE one! Really. Fortunately she didn't have this kind of problem. She might have had another one that was going there for no obvious reason.

Just before she stepped into the bathroom, she noticed that there was chatter more than usual ahead in the corridor. She paused then followed the sound of the voices until she came upon a little crowd. She took in the faces and recognized most by name, friends, and others by sight. Oh, and Professor Airey was here too. But then something else caught her attention. Something SHIFTY! The chamber of secrets! The fifth-year squinted at the words rolling them around in her head until they clicked. Yup, she knew history and this wasn't a good thing. NOPE! Time to run. She knew Hogwarts wasn't going to hold longer. Nope. Far too many stuffs have been happening. These were good four and a half years, though. She had enough tales to tell her grandchildren.

Though before bolting to go and pack her stuffs, curiosity got the better of her and she found herself inching closer to Lex as she listened to Flamsteed talk. She was glad she didn't flee right away because the man's words were comforting. IT might have slipped her mind that the chamber thingy was sort of over. Ahem. She knew of this, yeah? just needed to be reminded.

Cassia nudged Lex lightly and shot a finger at the words. "Ominous, huh? do we know who did this?" She asked. You know she just got here.

Oh, and they were going to clean it? A firstie and another girl already started doing so. The fifth-year touched her hand to her wand and wondered if she should join or if it wasn't needed. And there was the supposedly dead cat. Cassia watched Mo handle it and was relieved that it was a toy. Not that she was worried. What makes you think so? pffft.

In Airey's defense, it wasn't like this was the first pink cat to have graced the corridors of Hogwarts. But he was pleased to know that it was a fake dead cat and not a real dead cat.

"Right you are, Mr. Branxton," he said as he gave the boy a quick salute before tending to a section of the wall himself with some well pointed Scourgify casting. "Each of you take 5 points for your cleaning efforts, even if you had nothing to do with it being there in the first place." There was a lesson here about joining together to defend their school, but he knew if he were in students' shoes at the moment he would definitely not want to hear about that, so he left those thoughts unsaid for the time being. Which got him to thinking about...the whole scene.

"Did any of you see anything to give any indication as to who did this?"

And he was going to assume that a field trip into the Chamber was not necessary since no one was panicking. Which was sort of a pity because he wouldn't have minded spelunking down there with Tiberius.

Marcus and Caleb got five points for helping clean up a mess they didn't create?! Meh. Should be ten, at least on Caleb's part, but it was something. Might get Sophie to going in a minute or two, at least.

Oh? Now he was asking if anybody saw anything that might be of help?

"Ahem," she said, clearing her throat. "I don't really know who did this, but that French girl might," she said. "Sorry. I don't know her name, but I can point her out. When I was walking up to Lex and Caleb here, the French girl was walking away. Maybe she saw what happened."

Sophie still wondered why their guests were staying in the castle anyway. The next round of that competition wasn't until the spring, so it wasn't like they couldn't return and go back to their regular studies at their own school in the meantime. Was the Apparition system broke down or something?

"Thank you," Caleb said with a grin. He KNEW that cleaning up would pay off! Hehe. As he kept cleaning, he looked over at Sophie as she started to talk about a french girl. What french girl? Caleb hadn't noticed anyone, but then again, he'd been a bit DISTRACTED by the giant, seemingly blood-like paint all over the walls announcing their impending doom.

"I didn't see anyone, but my sis might be on to something. I doubt it was a Hogwarts student who did this," he said, raising an eyebrow. He had no real PROOF of this, but it had to be someone else. After all, they were OUTSIDERS. They were here for a COMPETITION. "I mean, no offense to our visitors, but everyone at Hogwarts KNOWS there's nothing to fear here at the chamber, it would make sense that someone outside the school wanted to scare us but didn't do much research into what they were actually DOING."

Ok, this whole Ravenclaw side of his brain was scaring him.

No Caleb, you DID spoil the fun. She was all set to have some kind of grand adventure, search groups heading down into the Chamber and everything until he mentioned it was all a joke. Way to crush a 14 year old's spirit, yeah??? But she wouldn't say anything because the Professor was speaking up and Mo was giving her apologetic looks. No need to be sorry. She's flattered someone thinks she can pull it off...though she might actually have been offended. Who in Merlin's beard would get caught on a simple prank like this?????

Wait! What?! Search party down in the chamber?!

Alexa was positively beaming--staff? STAFF?? Lex's face fell. STAAAAAAAFF?? Okay, the way she saw it, she had about 2 hours to get the Headmistress to hire her, then she'd be able to go, be a TRUE GRYFFINDOR then get her butt fired for reckless endangerment. A good plan, she needed to get started on it now--after they cleaned? Huh? But WHHHHYYY?? This was SO COOL! WHHHY take it down??????

She thought to ask but see...no one else seemed to find this cool and she'd get looks so...Lex raised her wand to the wall...but lowered it as her best friend approached. She leaned closer to her, continuing in the whisper the other girl had started. "No clue but Cass, we have to get into that chamber, we have to, okay??? The Professor says there's nothing down there but come on, basilisks and chambers."

Then she straightened and aimed for the wall again. "Tergeo!" Sniffle Goodbye epic writing. "Tergeo!" And what was Sophie going on about? What French girl? She hadn't seen anyone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

"Ahem," she said, clearing her throat. "I don't really know who did this, but that French girl might," she said. "Sorry. I don't know her name, but I can point her out. When I was walking up to Lex and Caleb here, the French girl was walking away. Maybe she saw what happened."

His part of the cleaning done, the Astronomy professor turned his head towards the young Slytherin and his eyebrows furrowed every so slightly. "French girl? You mean one of the visiting Beauxbatons students?" he asked. Just for extra clarification, you know? There were plenty of French students among the Hogwarts student body. "Yes, please do point her out to me."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

"I didn't see anyone, but my sis might be on to something. I doubt it was a Hogwarts student who did this," he said, raising an eyebrow. He had no real PROOF of this, but it had to be someone else. After all, they were OUTSIDERS. They were here for a COMPETITION. "I mean, no offense to our visitors, but everyone at Hogwarts KNOWS there's nothing to fear here at the chamber, it would make sense that someone outside the school wanted to scare us but didn't do much research into what they were actually DOING."

Ok, this whole Ravenclaw side of his brain was scaring him.

Airey figured that the two were right, but he had been at the butt of assumptions while at Hogwarts because of his track record - unjustly at times too - so the astronomer was a bit hesitant to start pointing and not pointing fingers at certain people. Not to mention that he probably would have given something like this a go as a students. Bit more thought out version, however. "You are probably right, but until we know for sure try not to make assumptions on the matter."

Thankfully, he was back to chuckling with the boy's next words. "Hence why I said moderately," he chuckled. "Looks like the lot of you know your history a bit better than whoever it was that did this. Consider yourselves having a leg up on your History of Magic." They could pretend to thank their Hogwarts education if they wished. Either way, and now he was assuming things here, Hogwarts students were brighter than the competition and perhaps this prank had just proved that.

"I will let the Headmistress know about this and in the meantime..." Cue a LOOK at you Miss Cambridge because he would have thought the same thing at your age. "...no one go looking for the Chamber or doing anything they ought not to. No retaliation." Not unless it was better thought out anyway, but that was a thought they would have to use Legilimency to know.

Sophie nodded in reply to the professor's question. "One of the visiting students, yes," she clarified. She'd seen the girl around, and she'd seen her walking down the corridor just minutes earlier, so she was sure she could point her out. "I can point her out," she added, "but we'll have to leave the corridor. She went that way." Sophie pointed down the corridor in the direction the girl had gone.

FRENCH GIRL BUSTED. What now, Beauxbatons? What, what?

OOC: Pixie, I won't be able to reply until sometime next week. Sorry!

Aha, so it seemed like it WAS one of the visitors. A Beauxbatons girl, to be exact. Way to go Sophie! They were so smart between the two of them, he couldn't wait to tell his Mum and Dad about this, they'd be so proud!

"Can't trust the ladies to handle their emotions well, am I right Professor?" Caleb said with a grin and a wink, looking at Flamsteed for at least a chuckle or two at his joke. Now that he was assured that it was, in fact, just a big prank to try and get them scared, Caleb was in a much better mood. AND he'd gotten points for being awesome and cleaning too, which was always a good thing.

Ooooooo, corridor.

Theodore rubbed his eyes hard as he made his way down the second floor corridor, and he randomly remembered how he used to run down these as a kid. Hard to believe that this was his fifth year at Hogwarts, and not much had changed really. Apart from the whole girlfriend thing, like woah, that was a fluke. But other than that, same old Theodore. Same old school.

He yawned dramatically then stopped halfway down the corridor and leaned against the wall.

There was homework sitting in his bag. Unfinished homework.

Theodore stood staring at his bag for a moment. Should he do the thing? Should he - Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah..

Derry was wandering. Yep. Wandering around with absolutely no destination in mind, apart from anywhere but near homework. Anyway, she seemed to be avoiding the whole homework thing so far, and was apparently on the second floor. Huh. This was nice she supposed... though she wasn't a fan of Arithmancy, so usually she associated this corridor with ohmygodnopleasenomorenumbers... but there you go.

She was walking quietly, contemplating the more pressing matters in life - such as 'should I have pizza or chicken for dinner' - when she noticed Theo leaning against the wall staring at his bag. Hmmm... She paused and stared too, waiting quietly for a second before asking, "Is it supposed to do something?"

What was the point in homework anyway? Unless it was actually practicing magic, of course. Essays were just a waste of precious time. Theo nodded at this thought and that was when he decided that there would be no homework-doing tonight. So, what could he do instead? Hm... was it a bit chilly in this corridor? His deep thought process was interrupted by footsteps.

"I'm, erm..." What was that word? "Procrastivating." Yeah, it was something like that. Theo shrugged his bag out of his view and smiled at Derry. At least he was being distracted by someone that he liked, rather than a first year or one of those random talkative strangers that he always seemed to attract. Why were wizards and witches so friendly sometimes?

"Was gonna try homework, but nah. What you up to?" Hopefully it was interesting enough for him to tag along.