The first thing you do when in a place you are unfamiliar with is try and find exits and make escape plans for when you get in trouble and need an escape plan. Of course. So Dante was on some floor and by this weird statue. This weird statue which might have a secret passage. But probably everyone knew about it and it was a dud.

Dante walked back and forth stroking his imaginary beard thinking if he should try and see if there was a passage. Sure why not. He knocked on it once and nothing.

Well that was actually disappointing.

Even though he was expecting nothing.

Some people knock on wood. Was one's luck going to be stronger if you knocked on... rocks? That's what statues were, yes? Squint at the boy.

Granted, Lotus watched for a moment or two, in case the statue decided the boy was rude for doing that and killed him. Couldn't help to learn from other people's mistakes, yes? Not that she planned on staying in this castle long. Then she remembered something.

Something she'd read with Lex. Or she had read and Lex just busied herself with something else, rather. See, L-Squared had been looking for ways to escape last year, so they obviously went through all the known passageways first. But none would work, since they were all sealed. Thanks, Voldie. And this was one. "I don't think they like it when you do that." The statues. "You wouldn't like it if I knocked on you, right?" Well, she wouldn't.

There are times like now. That you wish you knew a spell to make you strong like superman and have his x ray vision. That would be awesome. Because Dante was only 11 and way to weak to move this statue on his own and he did not know any magic to help the matter. So he kept knocking on it to see what would happen. He did not expect a girl to start talking to him. He jumped away from the statue in surprise.

Why was she talking to him. No Prefect badge. So he would not get caught for any wrong doing. Maybe she was just crazy..probably that or weird.

"Why, it is not like i am making fun of it's humpback. Which is pretty funny"

Just look at that thing.

Prefect badges matter not, truth be told. Though maybe the only kid who could get away with things just for being somewhat cute was that Toussaint kid. And he wasn't exactly cute, he was oblivious or pretending to be, anyway.

This little guy was safe, as a Slytherin.

But the retaliation was unwelcomed.

"A statue that needs a password to move out of the way couldn't possibly welcome touch." That was logical, wasn't it. "The passageway is blocked, anyway, so you wouldn't go too far if you managed to get in it." This wasn't an invitation or a challenge. She did not care about the statue, or the passageway, or the kid. They were just facts being handed to what appeared to be a firstie. Right, a firstie, why was she talking to a firstie now?

"Yeah and this statue looks like it would not want to be touched anyway." Gross statue it was and how could she know what statue's were thinking? Did she talk to statues. More important, could statue talk? Dante had no idea. Would be pretty awesome if she could. Maybe you learn that when you are a seventh year or something. "Oh, it is already blocked. Well that sucks." Don't know why he believed her. But it sounded serious.Plus that probably meant that all the other passageways were blocked. Well that save him the time he was going to spend testing them out.

"I'm Dante, by the way."

It was an awesome name, which people should remember. Plus talking to strangers was just weird.

Yeah, exactly, so why did he touch it to begin with? He was trying to get a passageway out of it for real? Ah, that was kind of cute. Kind of. What a little adventurer and possible troublemaker he was. The color of his robes didn't mean she wouldn't be keeping an out for him. Except... he listened. Huh. Shocking.

"Someone told you about the passageways, yes?" Otherwise, why would he go looking for them? Unless he had a very active imagination (which she knew children have - particularly the wizarding kind), then someone must have told him. "Perhaps you'll find the room of requirement useful." If he was looking for ways out or something of the like, the RoR was a temporary answer. Though it fails to keep winter and dementors OUT.

Dante, however, was quite an unusual and interesting name. "And I'm Lotus. Lotus Wisteria." No longer strangers, then. A smile was given to the boy, because why not.

Dante was still thinking about the other passageways. When she asked him a question. "Yeah, my hair obsessed brother told me about them." Though he had failed to mention the Room of Requirements. Probably keeping that info for himself. Stupid Nigel. But that room sounded pretty awesome. If he knew what it was. "What is this room of requirements?" Maybe Dante should just explore the castle one weekend. It would be awesome and would help him with places above the third floor.

Walking up that far was a lot of effort.

"Oh, Plants. That is a cool name."

Now, Man-eating plants were really interesting.

That explains it. Also, hair-obsessed? She didn't know what to think of that, so she ignored that part of the answer, but..., "Is your brother at Hogwarts, too?" Couldn't be younger, right? Unless he was a kid who loved to read and knew about passageways from another era. It is more likely that his brother was older and playing with his brother. That makes more sense. "I think the Head Girl knows about one still-functioning way out." But Lotus wouldn't say, why would she? The boy could interrogate Lex, she didn't mind that.

Excellent question! "The room of requirement can be anything you need it to be. Literally. It changes, depending on the purpose of those who seek for it." This was clearly VERY important information she was sharing with someone she didn't know, which was very unlike her, but there was something about the kid...

...oh, plants.

Well, that was better than legume. Another smile. "So is Dante, very unusual." Was he versed in literature? Probably not. "You're a first year, yes?" Might as well know this for future reference. Though, there seemed to be only one Dante at Hogwarts.

"No, he just graduated and is off to college somewhere" Thank Merlin for that. And whoa the Head Girl knew about an operating secret passageway. That was awesome. Maybe that is why she is Head Girl. Hope it is not become she has the biggest head of the girls. "Really. Well i will have to meet her and ask her about that." Unless she hated first years. But nobody could resist his smile. Not even Bellaire, since she did not turn him into a rat.

"That room sounds fantastic. You know where it is?" One more thing to see in this castle. Which Dante had to admit was more cool than he thought it would be. Dante shrugged. He liked his name. Like she said it was unusual and pretty awesome. "Yeah, i'm a first year"

Lotus was the first older girl he met that was not weird so far. Because everyone knows older kids are weird.

Well, that was... weird. And rather confusing. VERY confusing. She was familiar with most of the class that was now just graduated and none of them mentioned a little brother coming to Hogwarts. Or a brother named Dante. Or anything remotely close. Perhaps he was related to someone she wasn't close to...

...or didn't like, or approved.

Brother. Hair-obsessed. Wait. No, it's not possible. "Just graduated, you say? Do you mind telling me who?" She saw nothing on the boy that could remind him of... anyone. Only she had to ask because she was soooooo curious. And even if she wouldn't like the answer... she still wanted to know.

"Doesn't it?" she beamed at him, entirely and completely agreeing. Ironically, she's only been there once, or twice. "Seventh floor. The corridor with the Barnabus tapestry." Nod, nod. Truth, yo. "That's where it appears." Appear. Because it's not always there, you see? And she'd explain how to make such a thing happen, but not yet.

A nod happened. A firstie. So she'd been right.

"His name was Nigel Barrington" Dante said shrugging. Well not like it matter anymore. It was weird that most older people he talked to knew of him. Who knew he would be even some-what popular. He did not think he said his last name and who knows how many Nigel's were here last year.

Dante nodded. But the sound of it, it was an awesome room. That Dante had to visit when he had the time and energy to go up to the seventh floor. It sucks when you are some what close to the kitchen and Great Hall. "So it just appears. Just like that?"

Hmm...How would he find it than, if it likes to be sneaky.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

No, no, no.

She didn't hear that. LOL, NO.

Dante was joking. CLEARLY. He had to. Best joke she's ever heard. Sorry, Tag. This was probably Nigel's doing, no doubt. NO DOUBT. Except that's the only person she thought of and she didn't approve of being right about it now. Her smile was definitely gone. AND, she almost asked if he had died, since Dante said was, but then the boy had said he was in college now, so... unfortunately, he was still alive.

For now.

Everyone dies. Eventually.

"Oh. Nigel." It couldn't be Theodore Kinsley, no, it had to be Nigel Barrington. Let's try to be positive about this, yes? No. But brothers are usually very different from one another. In certain things. And Dante was holding no mirror. Hmmm. "Yeah, I didn't like him. You seem like the better brother already." Lotus said, with a small smile. No need to pretend to be friends with the one thing The Dead Kneazles didn't need.

At that question, she decided on telling him more, it really wasn't his fault he was Nigel's brother. "You walk in front of that wall three times, all the while asking for what you need this room to be, it should appear after that." Just be very, very, very specific. "Intent is everything. Being specific, too." Nod, nod.

Huh, She must not have liked Nigel. That much was obvious. Dante wanted to know what he did to her to cause this. Did they date and Nigel broke it off. Did not think he had it in him to do that. It might be an interesting story. See, it was true. She did not like him. Still wanted to know what caused this.

"Yep, he is an idiot.....Did he break up with you? and Thanks" It would be one explanation for her not liking him.

Dante liked his brother deep down. But he was an idiot.

Oh, now that was awesome. All you needed was to think of a room and walk in front 3 times and it could become real. Dante could think of a skate park or anything really. Now that would be seriously awesome. "Awesome and Thanks Again."

Unexpected.

His own little brother was telling her Nigel was an idiot. It was SO unexpected. And she almost beamed and hugged the boy for having the best sense in the entire world, but... WHY HER? Lotus blinked at his question and... you know, THE ANSWER WAS FAIRLY SIMPLE, so why wasn't she answering?!?! Wow, that came out of NOWHERE. Literally out of NOWHERE. If the idiot part had been unexpected, then the unexpected question was rather idiotic.

Perhaps that's why it took her a second or two.

Also, she was kind of making her mind about Dante, and like, she had loved him the minute he said his brother is an idiot, but then she wanted him to be out of her sight the second he asked THAT. You know what it's like to love something and have that taken away at the exact instant?! Airey does. Lotus just wanted to CRY right now. But didn't, for reasons.

Okay, she decided she liked this Slytherin boy. So, she cleared her throat and pretended the last couple of seconds didn't happen. A smirk lightly showing on her face, "I couldn't agree more." With the idiot part. As far as the break up..., "No, I never dated him, I just didn't like him," she couldn't help but roll her eyes at that, "I do hope he breaks up with the band," she was full of joy today, wasn't she? "I did break him a little with Bludgers back when we played Quidditch." TRUE. This was a very true statement. FACT.

A smile now for little Dante, "You're welcome."

He just asked one question. It was not that hard to answer...was it?

Maybe it was, Dante had no idea. Why else would she not like him. Well now that Dante had time to think about it. There were plenty of other reasons why. Well to late to not ask not forget that question. Dante nodded. Nigel was an idiot. It was a fact. Even Nigel agreed sometimes with. When he was wearing clothes. "Oh, well that makes sense" See now it was all clear. She just did not like him. Simple as that. Maybe dislike was maybe not strong enough a word...Maybe. She seemed to really not like him. Him break up from the band. Well, Dante did not really know anything about the band other than the name. So he had nothing to add to that. But hitting him with bludgers sounded hurtful and really cool.

"I bet he deserved it"

Dante smiled again. See, she was pretty nice.

Very simple to answer, actually. The question, that is.

However, she had no proper reasoning for disliking the guy, you know? Guess he's just one of those people you don't like just because. It happens. Especially if they share a yearbook superlative with you. Funny, she didn't care about superlatives at all, but sharing them with a Ravenclaw...

...yes, that was an issue.

"It does." A lot of sense! And Lotus was letting Nigel know of this, though something told her Dante wouldn't tell anything to his brother. About the question. It's pretty obvious the rest is common knowledge between the graduate and Lottie. Then a smirk was on her face, "Of course he did." As a Beater, everyone on the opposing team deserved a Bludger, no? Except West. And most Slytherins. Also, not the Gryffindors. So, mainly Ravenclaws, minus Vesper. Sounded legit.

The moment Dante smiled, she smiled too. She liked him. "You seem like a cool kid, Dante. Keep yourself alive at Hogwarts, okay?" Because you could only get a near-death experience while at school. CLEARLY. So, promises over the summer didn't matter.

Soph and Tobes had certainly done their research for this little bit of fun. They knew more or less what time Fuller and Thompson were likely to head down this little bit of corridor, and were sure to get there a little early.

"C'mon," the Hufflepuff said in a needlessly hushed tone, after poking his head around the corner to check that the coast was clear. He led the way to the humpbacked witch statue and then crossed to an alcove directly across from it, letting Soph take the more effective cover of the creepy looking witch.

Toby reached for his pocket to get out the tiny phial of potion... and froze. Where was it? The boy went wide-eyed and checked all his pockets, and was even about to look inside his shoe when he realised... his hand. It was already in his hand. Sigh.

Looking to Soph again, Toby a thumbs up and a questioning raise of his eyebrows, as if to say, all ready? Once he knew all was good, he unstoppered his phial, tipped the entire contents (only a mouthful's worth anyway) into his mouth, and waited.

Sophie couldn't have been anymore excited for this than she was, nor could she have been grinning any larger than she was as she and Tobes snuck down the corridor. She could not WAIT for this. IT WOULD BE HILARIOUS. THE BEST.

The massive smile still on her face, Soph nodded at Tobes and took her place across the corridor from him and crouched down, hidden by the humpbacked witch statue from where Thompson and Fuller would come walking. She was grateful Tobes let her have the more sneaky of hiding places because that mean Fuller was less likely to see her and thus she could get him GOOD. Which... was important because Soph thought Fuller was the one more likely to kill them for this, so she wanted to make sure she got him good enough that it'd be worth it.

Hehehehehe.

Following Tobes' lead, Soph uncorked her own vial of the potion and took a large mouthful.

And they waited.

There was nothing like a nice stroll through the halls before heading down to the ground level. To get a nice snack, or maybe even some more strolling with Piersie. "Thanks again to helping me out with the leftovers," Often in deep conversations it was easy to get lost in it and avoid most of the scenery in the background.. whatever it was. "I'm sure they'll enjoy being there before moving them into the new home." It was going to be a while before the construction could take place, if everything went according to plan.

"By the way, have you decided on your attire for Cosgrach's wedding yet?" It was near the winter break and well, Javier just liked to be ahead of the schedule with everything. It was how he rolled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

There was nothing like a nice stroll through the halls before heading down to the ground level. To get a nice snack, or maybe even some more strolling with Piersie. "Thanks again to helping me out with the leftovers," Often in deep conversations it was easy to get lost in it and avoid most of the scenery in the background.. whatever it was. "I'm sure they'll enjoy being there before moving them into the new home." It was going to be a while before the construction could take place, if everything went according to plan.

"By the way, have you decided on your attire for Cosgrach's wedding yet?" It was near the winter break and well, Javier just liked to be ahead of the schedule with everything. It was how he rolled.

As they strolled down the corridor, Piers snuck his hand into Javy's as they walked, the tap of their shoes and the distant hum of students walking above and below making the only noise. "Of course," he responded. He'd always help him. Unless it was harvesting flobberworm mucus. He wouldn't do that.

Piers chuckled at his question. "No, not yet. Have you?" That was more of Javy thing to do. Piers usually grabbed something 15 minutes before it was time to go.

Toby's heart felt like it was going a million miles a minute as he heard the targets professors making their way down the corridor towards them, exactly as he and Soph had planned for. He was nervous, but only in the 'oh man I really hope this works' way, and the nerves had put him in higher spirits than normal. Tobias was having to completely avoid looking at Soph, and to focus on waiting for the professors to reach just the right place and nothing else. If he so much as thought one funny thing, or made eye contact with Soph, he'd end up bursting into laughter and losing the potion.

It was tricky, and it was taking all of Toby's effort to keep himself under control, but the more he thought about the plan, the funnier everything seemed in his head. Just when he thought he wouldn't be able to maintain his composure any longer, both Thompson and Fuller had reached exactly where they needed to be.

The Hufflepuff looked to Soph, nodded (very nearly laughing), took a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig breath in through his nose, jumped out of his hiding place and into the corridor right in front of the pair, and blew.

The potion they were using made great flames fly out of his mouth, like he was some sort of human dragon, and Toby was sure to be RELENTLESS as he blew the flames directly at Professor Thompson, trying to get as much of his 8 foot taaaaall frame as possible. The flames wouldn't hurt the professors, but they'd certainly tickle them incessantly.

And he wasn't about to let up just yet.

Sophie had a much harder time keeping from laughing than Tobes seemed to.

As they waited, she kept LOOKING at him, and though he was good about keeping his gaze away from hers, she was STILL on the verge of laughing the entire time and she kept SMILING and had to try really, really hard to keep her lips pressed super tightly together so the potion wouldn't come seeping out. It looked pretty comical, she assumed, and she was on the verge of cracking when she heard their voices.

THEY WERE COMING.

Soph got serious, even though her excitement had just spiked considerably, and she tried to make herself smaller behind the humpbacked witch statue, not wanting to give anything away, and taking a deeeeeeeeeep, slow inhale of breath through her nose -

Just as Tobes jumped out, Soph did, too, and she immediately targeted Fuller and BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW the fire from her mouth, aiming the tickling flames first at his torso for a long while, then as she had to take another breath, she blew again and aimed everywhere and anywhere she could get good access to, particularly places she hoped he'd be especially ticklish.

And Soph wasn't letting up anytime soon either. Heheheheh.

Javier smiled a little at Piers at his answer. Some things may never change, but hey not everyone could be like him. "Naturally.." As he swung an arm around his neck to rest over his shoulder while they still walked like good old buddies. "Well, you can just let me or Lala know if you're still indecisive on that day." In his mind it would be stupid of him to let Piers look uncoordinated in his attire.

Turning his head, he blinked in surprise at the random appearance of Tobias and Sophie. "..Yes?" His eyebrow quirked up expectedly at them as he waited to see what they wanted. And that was the last thing he thought before he saw flames. "Whoa there." Instinctively his hand went to reach his pocket to withdraw his wand to extinguish them when.... there was no fire to put out. Hence his wand still remained in his pocket.

No. It was like nothing had happened. But something did happen, as he felt a rubbing sensation over his arms though his robes. It was a particular pattern of feelings that turned into soft tingling to a right on tickling sensation. What.. did.. they.. just.. doooo.. As Javier's facial expressions caused his lips to curve, releasing his arm from Piers' shoulder from merely drooping over to gripping him for support. His couldn't help himself as his grin turned into silent chuckling.. Alot of them. Before going to full on laughter.

Austin walked along the walls near the statue, running his hands along the details. He had stumbled along here the first night he found out, and had been coming here ever since. The statue was like his friend, seeming as he stopped talking to all of his real ones, and gave him comfort. The 12-year-old's eyes had small purple bags under them that gave Austin a ghost-like appearance. His clothes were clean, as they always were, but they were untidy. His shirt wasn't tucked in, and his tie wasn't tied all the way. Now, just about every boy his age, and even older, were wearing their robes this way. But Austin had never done it before a few weeks ago. Any friend of his could tell something was wrong just by looking at him. But he really didn't have any friends anymore, so it really didn't matter. I'll always have my trusty statue though. He thought as he patted the hunchback.

His appearance wasn't entirely his fault. It wasn't like he woke up one day and thought 'let's dress differently today'. No, it was more along the lines of 'I don't care anymore'. Ever since that letter arrived via Athena, nothing has been the same. He wasn't sure where the letter was now. There were vague memories in his head of him shoving the letter in a fire, which would explain the odd burns on his arms. But to be honest, he didn't really remember much in that first week.

He slumped up against the statue, and slid down into a sitting position. He loved this spot, not because it was so secretive, but because no one could see him. He wasn't sure if it was because people actually couldn't see him, or if they were just avoiding him. Either way he enjoyed the solitude.