Simon was back at Hogwarts. So naturally the first thing he had to do was climb up the treehouse and survey the land. He figured that his best mate, Ethan, was busy with Prefect duties. So Simon decided to take over the consulting detective business for a day. He quickly set up the detective agency office and even put a sign right outside the door to the treehouse. The couch was in front of the desk. And his armchair and Ethan's were in their proper places. The fireplace was dimmed as it was rather warm in the room. Basically everything was set up perfectly.

So the boy took a moment to admire his work and then opened his notebook, waiting for the first client. He tapped his foot impatiently.

Next client... ....please?

Unsettling thoughts, yes, he’s got them.

After talking to Professor Culloden about his worries, Ethan took a walk outside the grounds to get some fresh air before the winter season comes. Who knows, maybe the snow would come earlier again this time around, yeah? The prefect aimlessly walked around the grounds until his feet subconsciously took him to the foot of the tree house. Was that…a sign hanging at the entrance? Oh no, was it another piece of gossip by the Aparecium or what? Without second thoughts, since he’s got nothing else better to do, he climbed up and eyed the sign.

Simon’s inside. Ethan grinned as he took out his wand and inscribed the makeshift sign with a ‘221B Baker Treehouse’ text.

Tucking away his wand, he went inside to see way up that two couches were set up, almost resembling the famous English Detective’s flat. Merlin’s beard. Ethan’s smile grew wider as he went up to see a familiar looking head. “Good day, Watson.” The prefect said as he sat on his armchair, crossed his legs and sat like a king. The grin was still on his face, his eyes twinkling with delight as he saw his best friend sat across him, busy with his book. Ethan had his hands under his chin in a steeple position, as a question popped inside his head. “As you can see, the Chorts are gone. Everything is back to normal…I presume. But the question remains, Doctor.” He started as his eyes shifted to one of the windows. “…did the Chorts lost their way, or did somebody brought them here?” Ethan had asked his uncle who helped get rid of the chorts after they departed school last term about them, but Max could only describe how the dark beasts behaved. Not quite the answer Ethan was looking for.

The door opened and he straightened his posture, ready for the first client. The boy got to his feet and began offering the client some refreshments. "Can I get you some tea, coffee, hot chocolate, water, milk, juice, or anything?" he asked glancing at his hands. Then the boy looked up startled when he realized he was looking at Ethan, his best mate.

Wait.

WHAT. HOW? "ETHAN!" he cried and bro-hugged his best mate who was an awesome Prefect now. Simon was so proud of him. His mate was going to be the best Prefect in history. Ethan was a fourth year Prefect and that was so rare- extremely rare. Merlin, the boy didn't even know if there had even been fourth year Prefects before his best mate. He let go of his mate and took a seat back in his comfy arm chair.

Simon nodded as Ethan gave him some updates about the Chort situation. "Yes, they have all suddenly vanished miraculously. Coincidence? I think not." offered Simon as he folded his arms. Truth be told, the boy was a little miffed that he hadn't been in the middle of the action with dealing with the Chorts. It would have been so intriguing and exhilarating to actually physically see one. For now, he'd just have to keep to the textbooks. Simon nodded again. "Indeed, Holmes. I'm still not satisfied by the lack of information available to us. I think a trip to the library or perhaps using your new titles to find more information would be highly useful." With Ethan in such a high authority position, they had nothing to fear. They could access all the information that the two boys had always dreamed of; however, Simon suspected that it could be more difficult to spend one-on-one time with his mate as his mate would be busy with specific Prefect duties.

"So how was your summer, my friend?" Simon wanted to shake all the formalities off and just goof off; however, he would have to keep up the act for just a wee little bit longer. He smirked.

The ever accommodating, Watson. Ethan was pleased. The prefect smiled at the offer, but then returned the hug that was given to him by Simon. The other boy literally screaming out his name didn’t go unnoticed. “Calm down, Watson. It’s as if I was dead and was brought back to life.” Hehehehe. “I’m very much alive, okay?” Merlin. His Watson was just precious. “My summer was okay. Soaked up as much sun as I could. How about you? How do you find your new home?”

Ethan got his wand out as they started to discuss about the chorts. Standing up from his armchair, the prefect performed an Imperturbable Charm on the door of the treehouse to prevent ANYONE from hearing their discussion. Who knows, the stuff must be highly classified. Getting comfortable once more in his armchair he placed his elbows on his knees this time as he shared his information with Simon. “My uncle was one of the wizards sent by the Ministry to get rid of the chorts after we departed school. Uncle Max said the chorts have horns and claws which has venom, and that they are ultra fast.” Was Simon glad that he’s hearing all this stuff from Max’s nephew? He should be because it is juicy information. “They were escorted by juvenile acromantulas, and lead them deep into the Forbidden Forest where the Chorts decided to reside.” Ethan’s brows furrowed as he tried to remember more details. “Uncle said they had to bind them with chains, because the ropes didn’t work well.” Ethan leaned back, sitting comfortably this time as his brain swirled with theories. “They are highly intelligent people, but how come they got…lost?” It looked like they were and decided to make Hogwarts their home, yeah? “A trip to the library would be logical, Watson. But keep your eyes and ears open for fishy happenings.” And him being a Prefect, “And I will see to it that you are well informed with all of this.” He can patrol the halls of Hogwarts late at night, yeah? He can do some snooping around if he finds a clue…

Obviously her idea to do manicures for Chocolate Frogs was spectacular, because Jasmine was agreeing with it being better. Money could get you a lot of things like clothes and make up, but you couldn't eat it. Not only could you eat chocolate, but you had a good time while doing so. "Maybe I could ask around... start with friends or whatever. Word could spread." Who knew. She was only 14, so she had no idea how this business stuff worked.

Looking at her friend's tattoo, she nodded. "I love dragons. I had so much fun pretending to be the dragon's tail in class with Mo." He was so funny with the way he had sat on the seagull. HAHAHA. Trying not to laugh at the memory, Lux considered Jasmine's question. "I'm not sure. It seems scarier than getting a piercing." That was kind of an issue for a chicken like her. "What would you get your next tattoo of?"

Starting on Jasmine's left hand, she scrunched her brows in concentration. "I like coming up here, but I don't too often. I probably should more. This is one of the few places off the ground I feel okay in." The other was when she was at Bay's house. Or in his tree house.

"Your bum wiggle is fantastic!" Isla said, laughing once more. Her mouth was starting to hurt from how much she was laughing. She needed to stop. She sat up and waved a hand at her face, trying to get air to hit her so she could calm down. "Okay, okay." She smiled, shaking her head in amusement. "You can't blackmail your own partner in crime!" She was silly if she did. Isla wouldn't be mad though, she was a good sport unless it came to mean things.

Sooooo pranks! "Vinnie. I have a great idea for Connor. I'm going to give him a telescope and when he looks through it, he'll get a black circle around his eye." She nodded. Sure it was simple, but he was their first victim and she didn't want it to be too bad. It was just the start of it all anyways. "And don't worry, I'll definitely credit you for my name." She smiled. "I've actually been trying to document some of their fears over the past few weeks, but it hasn't really been working." She shrugged. Even if she didn't know their fears, she could still prank them. Just not as well.

At Ethan's mention of being dead and being brought back to life hit Simon pretty hardcore. It made the boy pause as his comment reminded Simon of what he saw in the crystal ball during Divination class. The empty hospital bed... he thought. Of course. Why didn't he think of that before? No, he couldn't' lose his best mate. "Don't," he said softly. What would Watson be without his Holmes? Lost.

Simon smirked when he saw Ethan quickly cast a charm so that their conversations would be completely private. "Marvelous idea, Holmes," he said, nodding his head slightly at Ethan's quick thinking. Sinking further into his seat, he pulled out his notebook and got his pen ready to write down everything his mate was saying. His blue eyes widened in wonder as he tried to process what Ethan was telling him. HOW COME ETHAN'S FAMILY WAS SO COOL? Gah. Simon was definitely envious of that. He continued to listen and scribbled notes down, making sure to write them in their code so that no one could actually read the information that Ethan was sharing. Top secret stuff had to be kept top secret. Got lost? Simon stopped writing for a moment, putting down his pen. "Got lost?" he repeated as he tried to understand how that would happen. It didn't make sense. Biting his lip, he nodded in agreement with Ethan. "Will do. You keep an eye out too. You'll probably find more information, mate, with your Prefect duties." Simon nodded once again. He'd stay up late on Ethan's Prefect nights so that he too could do some research but in a different way.

O____O Great. That was the second most terrible first impression he had made thus far and it was only the beginning of term really. Ugh. He was so bad at this. Not to mention, this made him feel even worse about the whole thing. Seeing Leo's reaction, it kind of hurt. Though the boy was smiling, clearly something was off and it most definitely had to do with the awkward head scratching. Oof. "I-uh-I..." Uh. He. Uh. What.

But when the younger Gryffindor spoke next, Zander just nodded for a little bit. "Yeah, the best." But uh he uh. They had to talk about something else before he said anymore. He was getting more uncomfortable by the second and then thinking about Beautiful Bentley was just making things worse and uh okay hold on new subject please. "Soooo..." Ahem. Awkward. "Do you like the outdoors, then?"

Kace reminded Adi of AJ. She had said practically the same things to him. The parts with the wavelength and getting along well. It was awfully cool he met persons like him, in terms of personality and thinking. He grinned. "I'd be in charge of the army, Kace. You'll be second in command.'' He winked. "Or we both get our own army and have an epic battle.'' How awesome would that be?

"I'll be getting into something with Magical Creatures for sure. Listening to loads of people's problems all the time will drive me mad for sure.'' Not that he didn't like helping ou whenever he could but sometimes it could be too much to take. Anyway. "Er. Yeah, I do. AJ from Gryffindor,'' Adi explained. Surely Kace knew her? "I'd be happy to. Besides, I'd get to boast that I helped you get that Outstanding in both of those subjects.'' Hehe. Adi poked Kace. "Some friend you are. I'm supposed to get them free. Or at least a hefty discount.'' LOL.

“Hey…” Ethan tilted his head and grinned at Simon. “Is everything…all right?” The prefect’s super sensitive when it comes to observing Simon. Maybe it’s because he’s his best friend? Probably. There was something in his tone that didn’t sit well with the boy. "Mrs. Holden." Ethan thought as he observed Simon from his chair. As much as he wanted to ask about his mother’s situation, Ethan kept his mouth shut deciding that it wasn’t his right to ask. He respected Simon’s privacy, so he’ll just have to wait for his best bud to spill out stuff for him to know.

“That…or they were diverted by somebody. Why Hogwarts, I have no idea.” Ethan paused for a moment as he rubbed his chin with his finger. “No, I think I have two…” another pause as he structured his next sentence carefully. “One: Someone wants to get back at a staff member, Two: Someone wants Hogwarts to go down.” Serious stuff right there. And what better way to shut down an influential school such as their institution? Give them deadly beasts, and kill its students slowly from the inside.

Oohhhhooo look at Adi taking charge now. His prefect status was now showing. "Yes sir.." he said with a mock salute. He chuckled at that. Wait now that idea seemed better. "You know having our own battle maybe more fun. We can see who could be the better commander. Not like it is a competition or anything.." he winked and nudged his better. But who was he kidding, it totally was a competition.

He chuckled at the part when Adi mentioned it would drive him mad listening to people's problems. "It might drive me mad too, I think at one point I would snap and be like go fix your own problems! Why do you depend on me!?" He could just imagine the customers. Ohhooooo now his girlfriend was AJ? He remembered seeing her in lessons but never talked to her too much. "Maybe I can meet her one time or Emmy and I can have a double date with you guys?" he offered. It didn't sound like a bad idea. He would talk it over with Emmy of course.

"Hey hey hey I will try to get you the discount.." he said putting his arms up in his defense. "Besides you need to get me in to see all the creatures you will be working with.." he said offering him a deal.

Gwen furrowed her brow. "Yes they do. I've seen pictures." You did not mess with this girl and animals.

Duh. Of course she did. "Yeah but that doesn't mean your parents give them to you." Because they had that choice and whatnot. Sucked to be the kid that didn't get them.

Gwen shook her head. "I think I got this one." She turned a bit and reached up for the branch. Once she got both hands in it, she pulled herself up, walking up the trunk of the tree. She plopped on the branch next to Zeke.

They do? .................................. Naaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh, surely not. They were BIG cats, and while small ones climbed trees and got stuck, he figured Lions had more brains than to cry. "If it's true, you'll have to prove it." Because he wasn't believing it just yet. No, SEEING was believing.

As for the asthma thing, yeah, okay, she had a point. Kinda. "They'd be super sucky parents," he acknowledged, shrugging it off. And his new family were far from sucky.

Zeke sat, waiting, just watching Gwen as she monkey'd her way up to the branch with him. He was happy sitting here for now, and they'd have to get back down sooner or later. The tree wasn't going anywhere as far as he could tell. "Don't lose your balance now," he joked, placing a hand on her shoulder as if to push her, but he didn't. He was just playing. Heheeee.

Considering he'd been here for a while now, Lincoln hadn't properly explored the grounds with his lady by his side. Today was that day, though. He'd dragged her (well, carried her for a bit and then tugged on her hand for about an hour) around the grounds and down to the lake and back again. Of course their time by the lake was of tiny amounts, because a breeze had caught on some water and he'd had an impossible freak out before running away and screaming like a little girl.

He wasn't a girl though. Lincoln was a Darcy and there was no such thing as a Darcy girl. Genetic proof, even.

He climbed up the ladder ahead of Pi singing something from a soundtrack of one of their movies. Something about love, happiness and a beautiful girl. Who obviously wasn't as beautiful as HIS beautiful girl.

"Oh i knooooww my booty dont lie", Vinnie said laughing as she plopped down on the sofa next to Ilsa. Who was trying to catch her breath. Waving her hands at her friends too, the brunette couldnt stop laughing. Had anyone ever passed out from laughing?! Blackmail her? Who said she wanted to do that?!"Isla Isla Isla....why would i ever backmail you."

Oh my god the first prank sounded amazing. This would be so hilarious to watch. Connor would look like one of those old school doctors. Snort. "Thats a great idea",she chuckled,"its gonna be soooo funny and its harmless." Pretty good for a first try right?! The students had to get used to it first, before the hardcore ones would come out. "Man these boys are so sneaky", the brunette sighed," we need to figure this out. " Something in depth would be even more hilarious.

Pietra had mostly gotten over her initial sadness over being here at Hogwarts and not being back at home, but of course there was no better way for her to feel even better about it all then to do a bit of wandering and exploring with Linc. She even gave him lots of cheek kisses after the water had freaked him out a bit. They didn't need water. They had a tree house, one of the very best things about being here and the thing that was most like home. Of course at home, there were no other kids in her tree house and there were lots of pretty lights and pillows and things, but this was close enough right?

She watched Lincoln climb and grinned big when he started to sing. What a silly boy she had. So very silly, but it was a good thing because the silly was making her feel way better about all things. When he was most of the way up, Pi started too and followed. "Do you think this is what Hogwarts kids do for dates?" She wondered aloud (though only loud enough for Lincoln to hear) when they had finally gotten to the top of the ladder and inside the tree house.

"My eldest cousin was disowned, but I don't think it had anything to do with schools." To be honest, Archie didn't know much about Edan at all - it was a topic not worth raising at home, and Archie could never recall having met the so-called black sheep of the family, given he moved away when Archie was still a toddler.

Being left alone? "Oh," Archie commented. "You like your own company? That's cool. If you want me to leave, then just say...I didn't mean to interrupt or anything." Even if it was Silas who'd suggesting sitting down and then going to see the squid. "And you shouldn't tuck the scarf away...what's the point in wearing it if not to see it? It's not cold." And that's the only reason Archie could come up with.

He pushed the box towards Silas with a grin. "Help yourself. Auntie always makes me plenty. And I'm sure I can talk her into sending more if I'm sharing them with friends." He could even ask for Gryffindor ones next time!

Silas quirked a brow at the boy's mention of a family member ACTUALLY being disowned. How terrible. This made Silas frown deeply. "That has to suck." Like really badly.

Oh no! He had misunderstood! Putting a hand on the other boy's leg he shook his head. "No. I quite like your company actually. Don't go." He had gotten lonely being by himself all the time. He was trying to be a bit more outgoing. Oh and the scarf... "I like it... but I'm afraid people'll make funnof me because it's pink. I'm not quite... ready to put up with that." Not to mention it symbolized something entirely different for Silas...

And was Archie lacking friends also? It seemed that may be the case... Gingerly taking a cookie he bit a chunk of and sighed happily. He hadn't had sweets much. Sugar often caused him to go CRAZY. But a little wouldn't hurt, right? "Thanks, Archie. And yeah tell her you're sharing with a friend." BFFs okay?

Ah, so she usually lived in a city then probably. "Yeah, I can imagine. Though the city can be pretty cool too." He'd always liked going to London and spending a few nights there. It always looked cool to him, especially at night. All the lights and just the whole entire feel and atmosphere of the city. It was awesome.

Though was she...still talking about the view or something else?? "The view? Or...Hogwarts?" Or maybe it was both? Either way, David was curious.

Archie nodded. "Yeah. I'm really close to the rest of my cousins, so it's sad he's so far away and stuff. He's a lot older than me though too." Maybe he should ask one of the others about it. Benjy had mention going to visit Garrick's brother in his last letter.

Archie wasn't quite sure what to make of Silas' hand on his leg, but soon shrugged it off. There were lots of new things at Hogwarts, ways of doing things different to at home. It wasn't a problem, so he was happy to go with it. "I'd have been a bit put out if you'd asked me to, if I'm honest," Archie admitted. "Since you asked me to sit and all. But I thought it was polite to offer." And he'd been brought up well, and to uphold the family name and the business. Even if firewhiskey didn't hold the slightest bit of interest for him - the stuff tasted foul. "There's nothing wrong with pink." Unless? Oh. "Cos it's a girly colour? That's just stupid. Benjy's room is bright orange and it's well cool, like him. He's going to be a professional skateboarder, you know."

Archie picked up a cookie, and quickly beheaded the eagle that it depicted. "It's nice to share stuff," he replied to his new friend will a smile. Not that he didn't have other friends, but he hadn't shared his cookies with them yet. "I'll ask her to make some Gryffindor ones for you if you want. With pink scarves."

Jasmine could see the wheels spinning. Lux was formulating a plan for her potential business. "Sure, you could take an informal poll of your friends. See if they'd be interested. Maybe do a few free manicures for advertising purposes. Then your subjects tell everyone where they got their fabulous manicures." Jasmine held her hand up and wiggled her fingers, just to show how it was done. "Before you know it, they've told two friends and they've told two friends and BAM, you've got a business."

Jasmine laughed as she remembered the skit in History of Magic. It was hilarious.......the dragon and the seagull. When Lux asked about future tattoos, she thought for a moment. "Oh I don't know. I guess I'll know if and when the time comes." She'd definitely have to be very inspired to get a second tattoo, but it was possible.

"Not a big fan of heights, huh? Jasmine wasn't bothered by being high up, but she could understand how others could be.

"I'm really sorry to hear that. I have two sisters. They're older... we're pretty close though. I miss them a lot being here." He had the sads sometimes about it.

Oh man. Silas quickly removed his hand from Archie's leg. It was meant to reassure him to stay. Yeah. Way to go Si. Silently berating himself hr offered a sheepish grin. And man was this kid. .. SUPER POLITE OR WHAT? Geez. Si felt his manners lacking. Chuckling he shook his head. "That would have been awfully rude of me." And he didn't want to upset his new friend.

... girly colour. Sighs. Nodding his head her felt his ears turn bright red. His mum had warned him not to be wearing embarrassing colours at school, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right? And the mention of skateboarding made him smile. "That's wicked! " And it was ya know.

He was sharing his cookies. Hehe. This made Silas happy. Indeed it did. But...what could he share? "I have chapstick if you need some," he said lamely. Ugh. Ridiculous.

And his next comment made Silas smile wider still. "That would be very lovely." And he made a mental note to have his sisters bake something for Archie. And he needed to write them and tell all about his new friend!! "Wanna lay here and look at the clouds? See if we can find shapes in them."

The guy from the sounds of it wasn’t from the city like her judging by his response. Layla had been brought up slap bang in the middle of the biggest and busiest city in the whole country and she thrived on it. Being here at Hogwarts was like being in the exact opposite situation. There were no skyscrapers, rows of shops and black cabs here, it was all castles, classrooms and invisible horse drawn carriages. It was weird and not normal and she still didn’t entirely feel like she belonged.

“I prefer the city” she admitted, turning her head to the side to look at him. “You can get lost in the city, you ain’t judged. An’ there’s so much more to do.” She was a city girl and she wanted to be there. It wasn’t that she was scared of getting dirty, the girl engaged in sports all the time or that she was obsessed with shopping and socialising but it was bustling and exciting and in all honesty she felt safer there than she did here. Especially after what that guy had told her about the past couple of years events at the school. Sounded more like the institution needed shutting down.

“Both.” You know, the view and the school? “The view I can probably get used to eventually. The school? I dunno. I’m tryin’ to fit in but it ain’t particularly somewhere I’d long to be.” Or want to be. Make a few adjustments and she might be a little more interested but the fifteen-year-old liked her London life. She wasn’t sure whether she liked change but she was attempting it. Lessons had gone sorta well so far..

As soon as he heard his girlfriends voice, and effectively pulled her into a big hug as he looked out at the grounds, Lincoln stopped his loud singing and listened to what she had to say. Or ask. Truth be told, he didn't have a solid answer for her, but would pretend to. "I think yes. Because we are Hogwarts kids, and this is what we're doing on our date." He hadn't lied to her, because they were technically students at Hogwarts, but he wasn't entirely positive that they could be called 'Hogwarts kids'. Starting this late in the system seemed to put them at some sort of disadvantage in terms of that.

Or maybe it was just he who felt like that. He knew that she was incredibly homesick and he was certain he wasn't fitting in. Fun...

"Our dates are better than all of theirs anyway. Don't you agree?" Reasons being that they involved he and she and they were both particularly good looking. More reasons including he was a Darcy, she was a Moretti and she had the most wonderful eyes you could ever ask a girl to have and he actually did get lost in them quite frequently. Was that mushy? Was he a sap? Probably.

She had just about immediately decided that she needed to sketch the view from this tree house. It wasn't nearly as high as Ravenclaw tower, but it was a different vantage point and a whole different scenery too. It definitely needed to be added into her book of Hogwarts sketches. Even though there was currently no one else around, Pi stood very close to Lincoln and was quiet for a long moment, taking everything in.

They were sort of Hogwarts kids, sort of, but she would have to agree with the fact that it was maybe just too late for them to really be so. She rested her head on his shoulder and maybe snuggled a little. It was rather chilly out, considering the time of year and all, but they still had to be here for a while. This tree house was almost like the one at home. Almost. She offered Lincoln a smile, though. "The best." Their dates.