It was official. Despite Tia wanted desperately to pay attention, she somehow found herself scrambling for what these runes meant and expanding her mind. Actually she was lost. And frankly, this so-called chant sounded like gibberish to her. And what was up with all the shape-shifting? Was it because of Quigley being an animagus? Somehow Tia felt there was a connection, even if she wasn't sold on using runes to shape-shift. That just seemed far-fetched.

But as her classmates started to shift into unrecognizable beings and creatures, Tia just chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. May as well get started, she decided, focusing on her chosen individual. The first to pop into her head.

"fehu fehu fehu, fu fa fi fe fo, kenaz kenaz kenaz, kun kan kin ken kon, ehwo ehwo ehwo, othul othal othil othel othol" the fourth year chanted after Botros. Would she be transparent? Weird. This was weird. She didn't feel any different at all, but when she looked well, she looked ordinary, so did it work?

Facing the wall still, Ezra adjusted his new fancy rune belt. He had gone over what he remembered of the rune chant and was now ready to say it. Hopefully the right way.

Ahem. "Fehu fehu fehu, fu fa fi fe fo..." Then the one with the 'K', "kenaz kenaz kenaz, kun kan kin ken kon, ehwo ehwo ehwo.......othul othal othil othel othol!" As he said it, he envisioned growing taller...turning into a LADY...and the hair, the RED hair.

Once more. "Fehu fehu fehu, fu fa fi fe fo, kenaz kenaz kenaz, kun kan kin ken kon, ehwo ehwo ehwo, othul othal othil othel othol!"

He felt different was he different? The Gryffindor hopped around and crossed his arms and looked at the people in the circle with a smirk, TOTALLY HAVING ALL THE POWER NOW.

BOW DOWN TO YOUR HEADMISTRESS!

Norah tap tap tapped her foot all impatiently and grown-up like, 'cause Mari was old so it was kind of relevant right? Come ON people, she was a PREFECT, wasn't that supposed to mean she was the coolest? That was probably in the job description. So, partner, where you at?

Oh, HAIII person! She beamed at whoever he was, but then made her face all neutral again 'cause beaming was gonna make it OBVIOUS who she was underneath all the coolness that was Marigold. But they were staring at her, whoever it was. Was her prefect awesometasticalness that overwhelming? Norah blinked right back at them a few times, 'cause she wasn't completely sure what was going on, before giving the most dignified-est of all the smiles ever. Like a real prefect, HA. "Okay, should I just start now? WAIT! No, that wasn't my first question." POOP, that wasn't dignified at ALL. Maybe they hadn't heard that. Yes, definitely. Norah willed with all her Mari Prefect Powers that they hadn't heard that. TAKE TWO. "That sounds awesome! I mean, uh, alright. Delighting--DELIGHTFUL." Being a prefect was harder than it LOOKED okay. Words were weirdos. She eyed and eyed the guy in front of her, who might've been a girl underneath because runes were crazy, trying to think of the perfectest question to ask. She only had three, y'know, and that was NOT very many. She wrinkled her nose, but stopped quickly 'cause Mari was probably too cool for that type of thing, as she tried to think of why the dude looked so familiar. OOOH! It was the Gryffindor guy! She recognized him from the chocolate frog card! Well, and History of Magic. But mostly the chocolate. So, it was probably a Gryffindor under there, right? RIIIGHT? MAN, she should be a detective.

Norah thought for another second before opening her mouth to ask question number one. She didn't know many gryffindors except for the ones in her year and a couple of fifth years so if the person under there wasn't in one of those years than she really didn't have much of a chance of guessing anyways. So, the Mari Prefect Powers were put to work again to make sure whoever under there was in one a those. But asking if they were in either of those years would almost be like asking two questions in one, and that'd be CHEATING. Cheating was for meanie poops and she wasn't one of those, so no. "Is your year an odd number but not the first or last year of Hogwarts?" BOOOM.

Yup, this illusion thing was totally not her style. Like how did she know it even worked? Trust. She just had to trust. The runes did glow like they were supposed to, so that was good, but this was definitely not what she imagined being an animagi would be like; she imagined changing into something for real, not an illusion would be much cooler.

Facing her classmates, Tia scanned for two things; someone who wasn't already partnered and someone who ---------- HOLY PASTA! Was that the -----WHY? She knew that woman. Because you'd have to be completely blind to not know her.

"Excuse me, are you a teacher?" Just confirmation questions. Of course what Tia didn't realize was how soft and delicate her voice sounded; much more so than normal.

Ezra was kind of busy throwing smirks and glares at the other people with his new blue eyes and even flipped his hair over his shoulder all official like. He had almost missed a woman speaking to him from across the circle. Ezra didn't recognize her, not just because obviously she was a student in disguise but he didn't recognize the disguise either.

Was he a teacher? "Yes, technically." HE RAN THIS SCHOOL LADY! Glare...wink.

His turn to ask her a question. "What house were you in in Hogwarts?" Assuming she had attended.

What? Whoever was pretending to be Marigold McAlistor was doing a really strange job... Though, Zander Adair as Godric Gryffindor was doing a pretty strange job too. Ahem. He was trying though, okay? It was just weird after that awkward moment he had with the other prefect earlier on in the term. Except WAIT this wasn't really the prefect. So yeah. But it felt real and-- Okay. He had to stop going on about this. It was only awkward if he made it awkward.

And he was making it awkward.

... Wasn't he?

Anyways. Maybe if he could actually figure out who this person really was, it'd put an end to all of the awkward? Yeah. Maybe. Well, it was worth a try anyways. He allowed pretendMarigold some time to formulate her words because Merlin, it was like she felt just as awkward as he did. DID FAKEMARIGOLD KNOW?!??! Did she know that it was an ACCIDENT?? Because that was very important. Very.

.... Uh. Whut. He tilted his head in slight confusion as she asked her question... It sounded like she wanted some kind of specific answer because what in Merlin's name did not a first year and not a last year but an odd numbered year and... ???? "...Uhhh... Yeah?" Fifth Year. That was an odd number that wasn't the first or last. Right? Her question was strange. But now this meant it was his turn, yeah? But... What exactly to ask? Uh. Well Marigold was Hufflepuff prefect, yeah? "Are you uh... In the same house as uh... You know, Marigold?" Awkawkawk. He didn't like this. Not one bit.

Okay, totally weird. Is that how this person disillusioned as their great headmistress perceived her? Yes, Tia had caught those random smirks and glares which was contradictory to her conceived notions about the Headmistress. Perhaps it was all part of the plan to deter her from figuring out who she was supposed to be.

Ah well, she had two more questions to confirm it. Technically she was a teacher. "So, by technically, you don't teach a specific subject, but you have taught Herbology in the past?" She knew her history.

What house, well, wasn't that obvious? "Where wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," if the boy lady didn't know what house followed that motto, he truly was blind.

Okay, so not a type of heron. Amur scratched that off her list and tilted her head this way and that. Her ears almost twitched as she heard the Professor repeat their instructions, which sounded very much like new instructions, because well, she had misinterpreted the original ones. Her cheeks colored as her ears flushed, and she wondered if her St. Nicholas figure now looked truly jolly. Wooops!

Her eyes went back to the bird. First this, then that. Because she was getting warm on this one, and she really did want to know what type of bird he was. Plus, she wanted to stall to try and figure out questions to ask about who the person behind the illusion actually was. She didn't know a lot of people.

"Uhm...are you some sort of Mongolian Eagle?" Totes not sure on this one, buddy. Totes not sure. "Oh no, wait!" Red and orange feathers, nests on mountains, China. "Phoenix! Are you a phoenix?!" Why that hadn't dawned on her before, she wasn't sure. It was the lack of fire, she decided. No fire, no instant recognition.

Now his turn. Would he be able to get it with his last question? She felt bad. All her answers had been half answers that hadn't really pointed him in one direction or another. And this question was no different. "By some, I am considered as such." How to help.... "By other's I'm more of a commercial figure..."

Yes? White beard? Rosy red cheeks and ears? Hearty laugh. She tried it again, putting her hands on her belly and trying to make it as full of a body laugh as she could.

Why'd the Gryffindor guy look so uncomfortable? Weren't they supposed to be brave 'n stuff? Maybe there wasn't even a real Gryffindor under there. NO, that was her only lead, it had to be. She said so. Prefect said so.

Norah smiled a bit 'cause OH YEAH, she actually had a chance of guessing this one. So, he was a third or fifth year, according to her highly advanced calculations which WERE highly advanced, okay, numbers were weirdos just like words. Why were they being all mumbly? Did she do something wrong and have a half Norah half Mari head or something. She really couldn't think of any reason other than that, unless whoever it was had some sort of weird connection to her. MAYBE SHE HAD A SECRET TWIN SIBLING UNDER THERE. But yes, okay, time to answer the question now. The mumbly weird question, uh huh. That one. "Yep! I'm a Hufflepuff too!" Did she sound too excited about that? 'Cause that'd make it too easy to guess, and then it'd be no fun. The third year put a hand on her hip and stuck it out to one side. Totes casual over here, yep.

She kept standing there all off balance on account of the fact that APPARENTLY sticking your hip out and standing up at the same time was very hard work. Question time, though, woooh! Hmm, questioquestionquestion. If they were a prefect like SHE was in this class, they could be a fifth year and not a third year, right? But if they weren't a prefect then she really wouldn't have gotten anywhere. Did they get a prize for guessing right? Norah reeeallly couldn't think of any other question, though, and she was getting real close to falling over so she decided to go with it anyways. But 'Are you a prefect' would just be a BORING question, and who likes boring things? There had to be a more interesting thing that only prefects can do, right? OOH! "Have you ever been in the prefects' bathroom?" DIDJA SEE THAT? DIDJA SEE HER BEING CLEVER? Heheheheh.

Okay, so Hufflepuff. She mad that much evident. And a real excitable Hufflepuff too. Wait a minute... What if she was REALLY Marigold McAlistor?! Because Marigold was a Hufflepuff and oh Merlin. He was doing it again. The wide eyed thing. Why was this so embarrassing? "I uh, so are you uh... Are you younger than Marigold?" Because if she was then that meant that maybe she wasn't friends with Marigold. Which meant that maybe she didn't know and maybe he wouldn't have to be all that--

O___________________________O

WHUT. Had he ever been in the Prefects' bathroom?!?? WHAT KIND OF QUESTION WAS THAT?? She knew. She totally knew. And he was getting all wide-eyed again. And without a moment of hesitation, IT was an accident!! I swear!" Oh Merlin. What had he done?! Letting the realization, of the fact that he had essentially just reacted on account of pure instinct, sink in... The Gryffindor lowered his head in utter embarrassment. "I mean-uh-I've-yeah, I've been."

She totally knew.

Gabe had written his desired name down, tucked it into his pocket...and then pushed his desk...as was instructed. It was a rather lengthy name, too...and had taken several moments, since an obscene amount of notes had been composed throughout the class thus far.

He usually wasn't one to complain about writing cramps...but it was getting ridiculous. Yet, Gabe couldn't just stop being diligent. NEWTs were after next term. They would decide his fate after Hogwarts, bless. As absolutely annoying as THAT was. A simply series of tests wouldn't aptly exhibit his intelligence...but employers looked at that sort of thing. Or, that's what he'd been told. Whether it was the truth or not remained to be seen.


Collecting one of the belts, Gabe carefully put it on and turned around. Glancing downward and focusing on the engraved runes, he began chanting what'd been written on the board. It wasn't difficult to sound out or remember. This was also made easier by not one person paying him the slightest bit of attention. So, there was that, also.

It took several minutes...but the runes eventually began to glow.....and that meant he'd changed face? They were told they wouldn't be able to look, but it was hard to say if he looked any different than he usually did. Hopefully so, as Gabe didn't want to mess this up. He loved Runes and it wouldn't set well with him to let Professor Botros down.

...

So, he needed to seek someone else out. Ask them questions. Three...and then guess. Whoooo would it be?

Was this person okay? Because they didn't look very okay. Unless that was just how the Gryffindor guy talked, but he lived a bazillion years ago so how would anybody even know that? Norah gave them an apologetic smile, because it probably wasn't their fault they wasn't good at making sentences. Not everyone's good at that, y'know. "I am younger. But I'm old okay I'm a real live teenager." That so wasn't giving anything away, okay, everybody wanted to be a real live teenager. Probably.

.....Blink blink. Bliiiiink. BLIIIIIINK. Had she somehow hit them in the head without noticing or had they just randomly lost their marbles? She looked down at her glowy rune belt and then back up at the Gryffindor dude-and-whomever-it-really-was, because was she going to lose her marbles too? She didn't HAVE that many marbles, she NEEDED them, okay."What was an accident?" WAIT NO THAT WAS A QUESTION. "THAT DOESN'T COUNT AS A QUESTION RIGHT??" DARN! That was another question. Ahem. Totally mature, remember? Norah straightened up and put on her prefectiest smile again because that always seemed like the right thing to so. She needed another question. Right. Um um um if he'd been in the bathroom he was probably a prefect, right? A Gryffindor prefect? That meant it'd have to be Puck With the Cool Plaits or Yoo-Rainus Sparkle Non-Appreciator Zander. Hmmmm. She EYED the Gryffindor dude some more. Maybe the person was acting all weird because they were really Puck and she was trying to trick her! YES, that was it. DETECTIVE NORAH OVER HERE, WOOT! She pointed a finger right at Gryffindor dude's chest and called, "Are you PUCK?" She waggled her eyebrows all knowingly because of course it was Puck. Duh. She was a GENIUS.

Toby was still surveying the rest of the class, finding it pretty interesting looking at all the other kids in here who weren't his usual classmates anymore (except in a couple of cases). And was that West Odessa across the room? Toby did a double take and stared for just a moment, briefly confused at seeing him at school again and quite forgetting the task at hand for just a moment. Okay. Yes. Disguises.

So he needed to find someone whose real identity he needed to guess, and a lot of students were already pairing off. Being easily distracted was a curse.

Toby, still appearing as a dog to everyone else, looked around for a potential partner nearby. He found one very quickly, though of course didn't know who it actually was (though if he was honest, Toby didn't know who the disguise was of either). The Hufflepuff immediately stepped forward, wondering quite how it looked in dog form.

"Hi," he said to the as yet unidenitfied fellow student. "Can I guess who you really are? And you can guess me too." Partners?

TIME TO TURN INTO A PHOENIX!

Half smiling and half smirking, Grayson turned around, putting on the belt as he went. And, given the fact that he was already wearing another belt for his school trousers, the dude looked like a bit of a dork which wasn't a sight he approved of too much. Where was the cool factor in looking weird?

Nowhere, that's where.

Belt secure and with his back towards the centre of the circle, Grayson started chanting the galdr. "Fehu fehu fehu......... fu fa fi fe fo....... kenaz kenaz kenaz........ kun kan kin ken kon.......... ehwo ehwo ehwo......... othul othal othil othel othol........" Thank Merlin they didn't have to chant the full rune and thank Merlin AGAIN that they didn't have to hold hands or whatever. As much as he liked that genture -- which was gonna remain a secret, thank you very much -- the dude didn't want to hold onto someone else's sweaty palms. No thank you.

Chant chant chanting, yo

Grayson glanced down a his belt and the runes engraved on them while he continued the chanting, watching as they slowly but surely started glowing in the way that runes do. He didn't stop the chanting until he was dead sure that they were glowing fully, which ended up becoming a little hard to do.

You know what was harder? Knowing if he was a phoenix yet or not. To him, he looked like he usually did but it was gonna be hard to tell whether he really was a bird unless he tried to flap his arms and fly and risk looking like a freaking idiot.

Yeah. Whatever. It was time to find someone to annoy talk to.

Cutty-in-West's-clothing spotted the animals right away. His anger though at being denied the opportunity to turn into one had dissipated in his own illusion. He gravitated toward one of the fire birds and looked it up and down with West's eyes looking quite impressed.

"Caleb? Is that yer? Yer would turn into a phoenix!", he said to the one.

SMIIIIIIIIIIIIRK.

He'd barely turned into a phoenix for more than five minutes and he was already being checked out. MAN, he WOULD be one to be checked out. Beautiful faces only turned into beautiful creatures, it was practically the laws of nature. But that didn't mean that he wasn't happy with this action right here. It gave him a major ego boost, after a--

................. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

Caleb? CALEB?! Out of all the people this one could have mentioned, he had to go and say Caleb NEWELL?!

DEADPAN.

Grayson raised an eyebrow at West, because that's who this one looked like. West Odessa. Dude who liked to set the atmosphere and whatnot. The bird make a fake buzzer sound before saying, "That's one lifeline gone! The answer is not Caleb Newell. Try again or you shall suffer the consequences." And he spread his arms out wide which he HOPED looked like a bird that was spreading its wings.

Sassy birdy looks for YOU, fake!West.

You know who'd say something like that...Ruby! Someone with Slytherin sass.

If it were Agatha she might have just started pecking at him there and then. Or not. It depended on how much she hated Caleb or if she hated Caleb at all. But it wasn't Agatha. Or Ruby. Or Caleb apparently.

It spread it's wings, showing off the lovely scarletness of them. Fake!West thought it was preening. Merlin. He knew who this was. "Merlin! Rehman when didyer get so sassy on me? I've half a mind to retract the special prefects only offers."

BAHAHAHAHA... this was hilarious XD He was actually starting to wonder if it was a dude beneath the older dude face, cause that would be super funny once identities were revealed.

But they had a deal, excellent, awesome. So... guessing.

Zeke - in the form of Ashely - raised a hand to his mouth as he emitted a small laugh which was actually rather giggly if he did say so himself. "That was going to be my question," he admitted, amused that PERSON impersonating OLDER MAN beat him to it. Serious answer for a serious question though... "Outside, I like being outside." He wasn't much for being indoors. Nope. "Anywhere really," in case DUDE wanted particular answers.

HIS TURN!...

"Which House are you in?" he asked, wanting to narrow down the field somehow.

LOOOOOOOL.

Adi was MUCH better than Caleb, thank you very much. Grayson would much rather be the Puffer if it was a contest between the two Prefects. Caleb was't bad but Adi was cool, you know? This time, instead of deadpanning, he smirked and straightened himself up a little -- Merlin knew what THAT looked like in bird form.

"Nah but you should offer that special treatment to me too." Just saying. "I hope you realise that you're on your last lifeline."

As for him.......... Grayson squinted. This was the bad thing about not caring about 95% of the Hogwarts population. If he DID care, he would find it easier to guess who was dressed up as West Odessa and WHY they wanted to make him suffer like this. Swear to Merlin, if he got a neckache, it was gonna be because of this one right here.

"Your accent." It was different. It was unique. There was something about the way this guy pronounced his words that sounded different to a lot of people's--

"You're not Agatha Hapgood, are you?" Please say o.

"Yeah, I'm spending 'em wisely doin' yer head in, though." Cause that's what one did when one had a little Grayson Whitlock wrapped in merciful avian illusion. "Merlin, booht yer precious when you're all fired oop!"

If the image of the Dead Kneazle carrying on with a fire bird wasn't strange enough, it was about to get stranger. Fake!West took a step closer to the bird and reached a finger out to stroke and tickle beneath the beak. Grayson was pretty even in his animal form.

"Nar. If I was Agatha Hapgood I wouldn't be havin' this mooch fun. Try again." Did Grayson know what a hoot he was being right now?

Wait.

WAIT.

JUST HOLD THE FREAKING PHONE.

"You know who I am?!" HOW?! Here Grayson was thinking that he was being all stealthy and whatnot but fake!West had to go ahead and play games with him. Sneaky bugger, whoever he was. Unless he was only PRETENDING to know who he was so Grayson could go ahead and reveal himself without the guy making another wrong guess.

Sneaky.

"Who am I, then?" Go on, person, prove yourse--

.................. WOAH there.

SMIRK. Someone liked to get a little up close and personal. Not that the sixth year minded, which was shown in the way he was closing his eyes and cooing at fake!West.

Oh, this wasn't Agatha. "Thank MERLIN!" He could not have handled THAT. But if it wasn't Agatha and it was someone who clearly liked to flirt and who knew West, then......... "Phoenix?!" Because, you know, Ruby wouldn't want to turn into her own freaking cousin.

"Iunno." The Illusionary Tripodz gave a shrug here. "Probably joost the handsomest boy that ever Slytherined at this skewel." Casual fact.

"And Merlin, Whitty. Yer so obvious." That's what happens though when you happened to have chosen someone that was pretty familiar to you. You ran the risk of knowing him or her to a recognizable standard. Not that Cutty thought that Grayson was trying to cover up his personality much. He liked himself too much for that.

"Now kiss me yer fool!" Said the immature childboyhead with a snort and a laugh. Was he kidding? Let us all hope so.

The most handsomest boy that ever Slytherined at this school.

SMIIIIIIIIIIIIIRK.

Yeah, freaking YEAH, he was the most handsomest boy to Slytherin. Talk about knowing how to boost his ego. Grayson didn't know what a smirky phoenix looked like but he didn't care. Right about now, his concern rested with the fact that HE was the most HANDSOMEST boy to ever Slytherin. "You sure know how to compliment a guy." Birdy!wink for you, Ode--

................... Whitty.

WHITTY.

BINGO.

Why? Because there was only ONE person who called him that and because of that one nickname, Grayson knew exactly who was behind the fake!West illusion. "Cutty Mordaunt, you're one sly, sly Slytherin." And his face had lit up and all at the mention of the nickname AND the realisation. "Didn't know you were such a big fan of West Odessa." If that was the case, had he met Ruby? He should.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOL.

"Isn't this a bit too much of a public setting for you?" He remembered their kiss and how very much private it was. Just saying.

Grayson was calling him a sly slytherin and Cutty wasn't denying it.


He wasn't confirming it either, but for sure he wasn't denying it. He believed in to each their own and letting people stand where they may on things. No consensus! Chaos! Anarchy!

"The Professor wouldn't let me keep me own head. What was I supposed to do?" Whether he realized it or not, Cutty had learned a great deal from Odessa. He learned where to hide out. Where to store a box of goods. And the importance of holding your ground in an argument even if you were stark raving naked.

Although, in terms of love he still used the 'if the song on the wizarding wireless reminded you of that person then you were in love' litmus test handed down to him from Headboy Summers.

"Are yer ashamed of me, Whitty?" He said, even bothering to throw a little crack in his voice. "Is that what this is? Yer ashaamed of me and dun want anyone to know about tuss?" West's face took on a sort of raised eyebrow surprise. "Merlin yer joost like Beverly! Denyin' me at every corner!"

Did all girls giggle? Her sister was forever giggling, and AJ never once did. Sure, she would laugh, but holding a hand to her mouth while giggling... NOPE. It just seemed foreign to her. A girl's question for the professor made her wonder the answer. Oh... so they were supposed to be guessing who was behind the illusion. Whoops. AJ had been about to guess who the girl was standing before her. At least she hadn't led on with that in her question so she was just going to play this off. Nothing to see here.

Now that she knew what she was to be guessing AJ's mind went back to the giggling. That was a girl thing so that meant that whoever was behind this disguise was a girl. Boys just didn't giggle. Unless... he was trying to throw her off her game because HE wanted the prize at the end of the lesson. Is that it, mister? Oh, AJ was on to you. He/she was eyed.

Outside. "Good answer. I love the outdoors." Nuuuu. She was giving away secrets and answering questions that didn't need to be answered. Don't go giving things away, Valentine. It was her turn to answer. "I'm in the best house ever." Okay, she couldn't leave it at that. "Gryffindor."
But, once she had said the greatest house there really shouldn't have been any question one which one that was.

What to ask next? AJ tapped her chin as she thought about it. "Who is your best friend?" That could be super helpful.