Gaston had just come from his office when he saw the two poltergeists hovering over the moving staircase. He inwardly groaned. This couldn't be good! But it was only when he got closer that he saw just how bad it was! The stairs had turned into a slide and were covered with what looked like wax. Several students appeared to have fallen to the landing below and... the Frenchman's tender heart sank at the sight of Mr. Reed lying in a crumpled heap on the landing below.

He was afraid something like this might happen! Those two homicidal maniacs' pranks had gone too far this time! Harassing him was one thing, but injuring - possibly killing - a student... Oh Merlin, he didn't even want to think about that possibility! Gaston stood frozen to the spot, white-faced and shaking for a few moments. He had to take several deep breaths and bite his lip to stop it from trembling. His students needed him to stay calm!

He looked back at the scene, assuming a calm facade. Now only his eyes betrayed his emotions... shock, anger, panic, sadness. His first instinct was to rush to assist Mr. Reed and comfort Mr. Montezor, who looked every bit as frightened as the Charms professor himself felt, but that wasn't a good idea. The stairs were still a waxy slide, and he didn't want to cause another accident! And besides, it looked like his colleagues had already seen to it.

Still standing at the top of the stairs, Gaston nodded resolutely at the sound of Raphael's voice. "Right. I'll get this wax off," he said. Next he addressed the Transfiguration professor. "Felicity, could you turn this slide back into stairs?" He would've tried it himself, but he trusted her skills more than his own! His hand clenched around his wand. For one brief moment, he considered pointing it at those two psychopathic poltergeists, but the students' safety was more important than his own anger right now. "Is anyone else injured?" Gaston called down to Mr. Montezor, Mr. Bellaire, Miss Delgado, and Miss Franks-Mundie.

Now there was still the matter of getting Mr. Reed to the healer, though Gaston was unsure whether or not he was in any condition to be transported. An idea suddenly occurred to him! "MISTER SALANDER!" he shouted after the young Gryffindor who he'd seen whizzing by only moments before on... whatever that contraption was. "Could could you please ride that... thing-" His eyes dropped to the vehicle in question. "-to the hospital wing and fetch Healer Miller? Tell her to come quickly!"

In the meantime, someone had to keep other students away until the stairs were safe to use again. The Charms professor took it upon himself to position himself at the entrance to the staircase, his arms akimbo. Hopefully that would be enough to deter anyone else from entering and getting injured!

Owen wanted to weep in relief when Professor Carraro arrived at the scene. THANK MERLIN an adult was there. Because Owen wasn't sure how long he could keep calm himself. He sighed as he watched the bandages form on the Ravenclaw's head and would have glared at the two poltergeists if he wasn't afraid to take off his eyes at the younger boy in fear that something worse will happen.

Then Professor Riveroll was there. Owen wanted to run and hug the motherly figure but restrained himself, opening and closing his fists to ease his trembling. "It was an accident, P-Professor... Deep breaaaath. "I slipped and crashed against...him." ...And flattened him to near death. "It's my fault." It was. DAMMIT...if he had just been careful and more aware of his surroundings.

Damn, damn, damn.

Before he could dwell more on self-blame, however, another Professor arrived. This time Professor Marchand was getting rid of the wax and coordinating with the other Professors on how to handle things. Owen wanted to hug every single one of them for being so efficient.

His hip was a bit sore but he chose not to disclose it. The younger Ravenclaw's status was of utmost priority.

Hurry, please, Tenacius.

DUDE!! THIS!! IS!! AWESOME!!!!!

Tenacius was zooooooooming down the slide, accelerating faster and faster with each flip and turn of the stairs. He's even done a bit of Evel Knievel by swooping off one end of the moving staircase and landing onto the next one. Yes he can hear the commotion.... but with the wind in his hair and his heart pumping in his ears it was hard to make anything out of that.... Besides how often can he enjoy stairs surfing eh eh?

But somebody yelled out for him. By name. He slammed purposely against the wall of the portraits to slow himself down, then looked to the direction of where the voice was-- gotta make sure they were yelling for him and NOT that his Dad suddenly showed up out of the blue.

... Ok so apparently the commotion was a serious thing, because the Charms man was telling him to go get the Healer. Blue-green eyes gazed at the group of people hunching down and the other Professors turning the slide back to the way it was.

Aww nuts, there goes his fun house.

But right, onto more URGENT matters "I'll be right on it Mr Marchand!" he yelled out from the stairs below, flipped his cruiser around and zoomed for the Hospital Wing....

Still in deep stupor, Jace had no idea the trouble he had caused. Professors have gathered, there was a panicked Owen...and he even get to bother Ace who was having fun with the waxy slide. Really, if he'd been conscious of the books' loan period, then he wouldn't be there lying helpless.

In his dream, however, the present conversation cannot be heard. He was still treading the seemingly endless path with beautiful cherry blossoms above him. He knew the path would lead him to the dojo where he trains with his fellow kendokas, but was surprised to see the gates of Mahoutokoro.

As if that wasn't weird enough for the boy, his mother was there too standing by the gate as if waiting for someone.

Oh no...was...was he in trouble?!

Peeves squealed with glee as the students started slipping and sliding. Then the Snakette started yelling at him, but he ignored her. Until the spells started flying!"Nice try, Franks-MUNDANE!!!" he taunted, dancing out of reach of her spells. "OOOOOOOO! MISSED ME, MISSED ME, NOW YA GOTTA KISS ME!!!"

The professorheads showed up, and the chaos he'd worked so hard on was dying down. HE COULDN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!

He dive-bombed Professors SCARraro and RiverTROLL. "HEY, YOU OLD GEEZERS!!!" he crowed, blowing a loud raspberry at them. He grabbed the Maths Man's wand. What did it matter that he couldn't do any spells with it? When it was so great for poking!

"YOU DO THE HOKEY POKEY TIL THE KIDDIES SCREAM AND SHOUT, THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!!!" he sang, jabbing the boy Lion and girl Badger with the wand.

Peeves floated away, cackling wildly. Then a snooty foreign voice caught his attention. He spun around midair to face the stuffy old Charms man. "Aww, you're no fun!" he pouted. Now he was going to make him pay for spoiling his good time!

He flew around the professor's head in circles, singing, "MANKY, MAKWISH MARCHAND! MANKY, MAWKISH MARCHAND!!!" But he wasn't done yet! He stopped and grabbed his tie and pulled - HARD! Hopefully he'd fall down the stairs - or choke. That worked too! "HAVE A NICE TRIP, YOU PRISSY FRENCH POODLE!!!"

Thank Merlin both girls were alright, despite the best efforts of the poltergeists. One less thing to worry about, maybe they could move beyond this without incident. Nat was already casting spells and it looked like they were working. The situation seemed perfectly under control...

....until the stairs turned into slides.

What happened next..........he wasn't so sure. Blaise had managed to grab hold of the bannister and the top of Kat's robes to prevent her from getting far but then....Owen came out of nowhere and had probably killed Jace and suddenly there were Professor's littering the staircases. Suspicious timing, if you asked him.

Blaise swatted at Peeves when he began poking him with the wand, doing very little to mask his annoyance. If only he'd left for the Great Hall sooner, this could have all been avoided. "Cut it out!"

The Gryffindor slipped into silence, his anger abated by whatever fresh hell this now was. To be sure, his quill was having a field day, floating along beside him scribbling away furiously as it did, but Blaise himself wasn't sure what to make of it. WHY did this sort of rubbish always happen in this castle? For the most part, he watched them fuss over the Ravenclaw, his gaze only rising when Tenacious was asked to go get the Healer. Honestly, he just....didn't want to be here. It was all the same to him whether Peeves and Miffy wanted to pull pranks. He didn't particularly care about the chaos this caused, he just...didn't want any part in it. "Nah, we're fine." Blaise replied, when a Professor finally thought to inquire about the rest of them. He might have said more, but the boy rather liked the idea of technically not being here.

At least this way, none of the Professors would try giving him instructions as they had done with his housemate. Chances were, he wasn't interested in helping at all. He just....didn't care. Could they fix the staircases now? He'd still very much like to get to dinner.

There was rushing. Very serious rushing on her part. Where there was an injured unconscious child, possibly more then one. This was no time to play or move slowly. So yes, rushing on the red headed healers part was happening albeit she was being very careful.

Making her way down the corridors, bag held tightly in her hand she approached the staircase. Or wha-?

What in Merlin's beard happened here?!

Seeing a slide rather then stairs she was NOT at all pleased. Joy could see the young boy laying on the floor at the bottom of the staircase and several professors and other youngsters as well. Normally one would just change this back into stairs but transfiguration wasn't her top thing, and getting to the child was more important. So she did the most silly thing a women her age could do. She allowed herself to slide down the slide, yes she did! Right on down to the landing.

Getting to her feet at the bottom without so much as a sound about it all she focused on the task at hand. "Can someone tell me what happened here please?" Anything at all? Mainly this child's mishap? Joy went ahead and used her want to remove the bandaging that was on his head and a spell to stop the bleeding before reapplying a fresh bandage. This was done effectively and silently while she listened. Anything they could tell her right about now would be of great help!

Why even teach a spell if it wasn't going to work? She knew she did it correctly and she knew she sent enough at them, but looking at Peeves he wasn't shocked at all and unlike the classroom when he was tricked to come he didn't seem even scared of it like he was in class. Funny how things change. Her wand still out she went to hit him again, because she wasn't done taking out her anger on him yet, when her foot slipped again and down she went clear to the bottom.

She looked around once down there at everything. Looking towards Blaise and Kat to see if they made it the rest of the way safely she then looked at the chaos that showed up. Confused and sore she just stared quietly for a bit. [How was someone going to get the healer when the stairs were waxing and slippery? She was on the third floor and they were now at the bottom. As Nat was about to suggest a Patronous would be faster and well easier the Gryffindor kid seemed to have suction feet because off he went.

"Why don't you ask the dynamic idiots up there." Pointing towards Peeves and Miffy. They were the reason for all the problems at the moment and should be banned from the school. There had to be away to send them into exile or something. "If you don't need us I need to be getting to class." Plus she didn't really want to be there anymore. Her head hurt and her arm was sore, but nothing she really needed the healer for.

*GIGGLE*

Beaming lovey-dovey eyed at Peeves when he floated up to her Miffy responded "I just wanted to make waxy stair preparations for you my darling Peesviepooo."

As Peeves made himself busy singing and pouring wax and taunting the students and staffers Miffy had floated higher up towards the ceiling to overlook the chaos that ensued when the stairs started to move.
Floating downwards to join in the fun she blew raspberry seeds right at Professors SCARARRO and Professor River TROLL heads before she neared the only slytherin girl present (Natalia) and shoved her heavily forwards pouting crossly "Aww you no fun..No calling us idiots. We just bring the FUN!"

Floating out of reach Miffy stole (Blaise) the lion boy's self-writing quill before she gave him a big shove forwards to see if he'd slip on the waxy slide too as she sang "Wax, waxy wax we make the students slide on their bums to see if they will come undone. Wax waxy wax its the beat of the new school song..."

*GIGGLE*

Gaston looked sympathetically at the Hufflepuff boy as he overheard him tell Felicity what had happened... and that it was his fault. His heart went out to the poor kid! He wanted to rush to his side and assure him everything would be alright... but the stairs were still a wax-covered death trap and he would not be responsible for another accident! "Mr. Montezor, none of this was your fault," he said firmly, realizing only too late the harsh edge to his tone. "The only ones to blame for this are those two psychotic poltergeists!" He shot an angry glare at Peeves and Miffy. He understood how the kid felt, for he blamed himself too. If only he'd arrived a few minutes earlier, he might've saved Mr. Reed!

The Charms professor sighed. There had to be more he could do to comfort the boy! "A lot of people would've just abandoned Mr. Reed there, but you did everything you could to help him. If not for your quick thinking, he might be..." His voice trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to say the word dead, so instead he said, "a lot worse off." An idea occurred to him, and he added, "I'm giving five points to Hufflepuff for your outstanding moral fiber."

The Frenchman shook his head disapprovingly as Mr. Salander slammed into the portrait wall. He supposed it was only fair to give this boy house points as well. "Thank you, Mr. Salander," he said, stepping aside as he whizzed by on... whatever that thing was. "Five points to Gryffindor for you, too!" He hoped he hadn't just caused any more injuries by telling the boy to ride that thing through the corridors!

Gaston raised his wand to remove the wax from the stairs-turned-slide, but he was distracted when Peeves grabbed Raphael's wand and started poking Mr. Bellaire and Miss Delgado with it. He was not having that! Instead he pointed his wand at the poltergeist. "Expelliarm-AAAGH!" Before he could finish the spell, Peeves yanked at his tie, causing him to choke and gag.

He was holding onto the railing for dear life, fighting with all his strength to keep Peeves from dragging him down the waxed slide, but he saw it was no use. "STAND... BACK!" he just managed to choke out before he fell. He frantically rolled to the side, trying to flatten himself against the wall so as not to crash into anyone else. With a loud THUD, he hit the landing below, colliding with the wall.

Gaston staggered back to his feet. His lip was torn and bleeding; there was a small cut across his forehead and a red ring around his neck from where Peeves had grabbed him by his tie. His eyes, wide and panic-stricken, scanned the crowd for signs of further injury. "i-I'm sorry! Did I hurt a-anyone?" he stammered. "Oh, Merlin... I'm so sorry!" If anyone had been injured because he wasn't strong enough to fight off Peeves, he'd never forgive himself!

Now he was sure those poltergeists were actively trying to murder him! First Miffy attacked him with knives in the kitchens, now Peeves just tried to strangle him! But the worst part was that they'd used him as a weapon to hurt his students! And speak of the devil (or in this case, devils!)... out of the corner of his eye, he saw Miffy shoving Miss Franks-Mundie and Mr. Bellaire. The thought crossed his mind to grab them both, but then he'd only slide away with them. Instead he aimed a stickfast hex at the students' feet, hoping that would be enough to keep them from sliding.

THAT WAS IT!!! Gaston rounded on Miffy, his eyes flashing like bluebell flames. He aimed his wand into the air, intending to cast a stinging jinx at the female poltergeist, but he suddenly groaned, nearly dropping his wand as he clutched at his side where he'd slammed into the wall. He was so distracted by the poltergeists and his injury that he hadn't noticed Healer Miller had showed up. "Poltergeists waxed the stairs... caused Mr. Montezor to slip and crash into Mr. Reed," he filled her in, adding to Miss Franks-Mundie's account of events. He wished he could say more, but now every breath was causing him more pain!

The Healer had shown up...........and put herself in the same situation as everyone else instead of FIXING IT. Merlin's soggy beard, they'd never get out of here at this rate! Three Professors and a Healer and he bet they'd still be stuck here long after dinner was through. Sure whoever was already down in the Great Hall would be stuck down there but at least they'd be FULL.

Blaise felt like he'd only just gotten rid of one pesky poltergeist--who'd now taken to choking the Charms Professor--when he was suddenly accosted by ANOTHER!

"Hey!" The boy gave loud protest as Miffy grabbed his quill. HIS quill. His favourite quill. Raw indignation twisted his features even as she moved to shove at him. Blaise lost his grip of Kat and indeed the banister he'd been clinging to however something stopped him in his tracks before he could fall too far.

Brown eyes locked on the Poltergeist. "GIVE. IT. BACK!" The Gryffindor had attended the school long enough to know that certain things took precedence. If he didn't fight for his quill, no one would. "It's just a piece of stationary", "You can buy another", "There are real lives at stake Mr. Bellaire, we can't concern ourselves about a quill". Just the thought sent him into the kind of anger he hadn't allowed himself to feel in the longest while. His expression grew dark. He knew well enough that jumping at her was out of the picture with his legs currently stuck the way they were and he wasn't a fool to think she'd give it back. Not willing to take further chances, the boy pocketed the notepad she hadn't managed to swipe before drawing the wand he'd been practising with a solid hour ago. At the time, he'd considered putting it back but in the end had chosen to take it to dinner first.

"Accio quill!" It was HIS. The boy could derive very little pleasure from the sight of his quill bolting toward him because of the anger that still burned inside him. All he could do was pocket it as well before reholstering his wand. The nerve of them, they'd even forced him into using magic. WHEN were they going to get out of here? He'd had enough of them.

Joy was doing the best that she could with the items she had brought with her. The most important thing right now was stopping the bleeding from Mr. Reed's head which she had done. With a nice clean bandage in place she quickly began rummaging through her bag once more all the while focusing on what was taking place around her.

She was just about to wake the young boy up where their was more shouting. There was a crashing noise causing her to look up just in time to see....oh dear Merlin! "Are you alright?!" Joy exclaimed in shock. Gaston had just tumbled down the steps! What was going on here. This wasn't right. She could already see that he two was no injured. "No, no we're alright but I will be taking a look at any injuries that need healing the moment I'm finished here with Mr. Reed." No room for arguments on the matter.

She should've known. The laughter and all the noise from those Poltergeists. Pranks were one thing but now they were seriously harming people. With a slight frown she aimed her wand at the steps and quietly began to change them back into what they were...stairs. Not a slide. Stairs. She was not the best at this but it should do the job well enough for now. "Miss Franks-Mundie and Mr. Bellaire you're both free to head to dinner if neither of you is injured. Anyone else that needs my help please let me know and I will take care of you." Right after Jace.

Pointing her wand at Mr. Reed she cast a simple waking charm. It was time to bring him back to them and get him healed up properly.

That was a good cue to get the hell out of there and Nat wasn't going to stand around to be told to do anything else. "Right, Blaise lets go." The boy wasn't going to be sticking around, would he? Plus was it dinner time already? She looked at her watch, because she had no clue it was time for dinner. The entire thing made her just want to go back to her dorm and not come out.


"Kat you coming?" She was being pretty quiet, but Nat wanted to make sure the third year was alright and ready to head out of there as well. Giving one last look she turned and headed away from the chaos, but not before being shoved forward. "What the... She spun quickly with her wand out, "Skurge"


ugh


She was done, peace out. Everyone for themselves.

The sixth year turned and headed away.

Running. Jace was running in panic in his dream, but weirdly enough, he doesn’t seem to be moving at all. It infuriated the half-Japanese and it made his head hurt, but, he was very determined to get to the other side of the path. Merlin. Why...why wasn’t he moving?!

Sharp pain shot through his head, and all Jace could remember was falling down on all fours in his dream, and things went black. Back in the castle, the injured Ravenclaw could now hear the noise from his surroundings, but couldn’t make any sense of it. There was shouting...angry, and upset voices. Jace wanted to know what was happening, but the pain in his forehead was overwhelming. He could also feel that something was wrong with his left arm.

Groaning and wincing, Jace turned to the side, and assumed the fetal position as he subconsciously cradled his broken arm. “It can’t be broken...please...” he muttered in pain, spoken in Japanese. “My head...” he could feel his blood pumping all the way up and he could hear his now racing heartbeat in his ears.

Someone should put him back to sleep. The pain was too much!

Owen didn't know what to do while Peeves and Miffy continued their onslaught of chaos over his other peers and the Professors. What he did know was that he just had to protect the unconscious Ravenclaw, because whether Professor Marchand gave him points and said that what happened wasn't his fault, Owen still felt very responsible.

When the Healer arrived, he only nodded as Professor Marchand explained the situation...after his choking encounter with Peeves. "Are you okay, sir?" He remembered to ask.

It was rather noisy here now, what with Peeves and Miffy cackling away, Blaise trying to get back his quill, Nat and Kat voicing out their complains...that Owen expected the Headmaster himself was going to show up. Maybe he should. To put an end to the poltegeists pranks once and for all. But he didn't and the Healer was now sending the others off to dinner.

Owen stayed, watching closely as the Healer cast a waking charm on the Ravenclaw. And wake up he did, but....he was talking weird and...was that Japanese? OH NO...Did he become possessed by a Japanese spirit from hitting his head?!

She knew it wouldn't take long for the spell to wake the young boy but it was more then enough time for Joy to direct her attention onto Owen for a moment. "You took a tumble as well, yes, Mr. Montezor? Are you injured at all?" It was best to know now that way she would have at least some idea of what she was dealing with here. She knew for sure that at least two people were now.

Hearing a very soft mumbling sounds the Healer turned her attention back onto Mr. Reed who appeared to have woken up. The language he was speaking wasn't one she could speak sadly and she glanced at those still close to her. "Would either of you happen to know what he is saying?" If not that was alright. "Mr. Reed, can you hear me? Do you recall what happened at all?" she asked softly running her wand over the boy checking him for any other injuries besides the one to his head and arm. Not coming up with any quickly pulls out a vial from her bag and holds it in front of Jace's hand (his good one). "If you can take this it will get rid of the pain." Or any other aches he might have even after she heals him up. Which was exactly what she planed on doing right now.

Silent healing charms were spoken as the tip of her wand was touch to his head and then arm respectively. The healing process was going to be gradual but should be enough to allow him to be able to make his way to the hospital wing. "We'll be taking a trip to the hospital wing Mr. Reed, I'd like to keep you there for a bit today." She would be there to help him get there should he need it at all.

"Anyone else that needs looking after can come along." That meant you Gaston as well as anyone else who had gotten harmed.


(OOC: To save a little time with posting in the hospital waiting room you can just post them here)

The loud buzz from his surroundings became audible enough for the injured boy to understand. Given that he’s finally awake, he couldn’t help but feel disoriented still. His head felt like it was going to explode into pieces, and his arm felt like it was going to fall off any minute. Jace winced as questions were asked, and the first thing he did was to tap his injured arm a few times. At the moment, his limbs are more important than his head.

Jace opened his eyes and the first person he saw was the healer. His vision doubled at first...and when he saw Owen, his sight became clear. What had happened? Jace wasn’t too sure. He was on the stairs, on the way to the library. The next thing he knew, Owen’s face was upon him and he blacked out. The Ravenclaw wanted to speak, but the pain was just too much. Absent-mindedly, he held on to the vial that was given to him, and chugged it immediately without second thoughts. He sputtered and coughed as he did so, but was thankful about its quick effect. The pain was still there, but this time it was more bearable.

The Ravenclaw breathed in and out to manage the throbbing pain he felt in his head, and slowly sat up with the help of his good arm. He leaned on the wall to catch his breath, and was a bit alarmed with what he saw. Three professors had come to his aide, and one of them had a bad cut on his lip. Jace quietly glance around, and was ever grateful not to see Professor Hirsch among them. He’d lost dignity in front of the man early on, and he didn’t want a repeat of that so soon.

However, Jace realized that the school’s professors move as one unit. Of course they’d tell his Head of House about this. There was no way he wouldn’t know. Not wanting to waste any more time, the Ravenclaw hung his head slowly, as he used the wall to help him get up. Jace slowly but surely limped his way towards the Hospital Wing. If Hirsch is to receive this news, at least he would look more respectable on a hospital bed.

Gaston heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that he hadn't injured anyone besides himself when Peeves made him fall down the stairs... or at least he would've if his side didn't hurt every time he drew breath. And speaking of which, did that floating nightmare still have Raphael's wand? He thought he did, but then he realized Peeves would've had to have tossed it aside to be able to yank his tie hard enough to drag him down the stairs. "A-accio wand," he said, pointing his own wand in the direction he last saw Raphael's; it flew into his open hand and he gave it back to its owner.

Seeing Joy transfigure the slide back into stairs reminded him that he still hadn't yet removed the wax! And now there was no one guarding the top of the stairs to keep anyone else from falling. Merlin's beard! How could he have forgotten something so important?! Granted, he had been distracted by Peeves terrorizing the students and trying to kill him, but that was still no excuse. His heart skipped a beat as he realized someone could've died because of his inaction! Without another moment's hesitation, he aimed his wand at the staricase, and the wax vanished.

The Charms professor's eyes darted frantically in search of the poltergeists, but he didn't see them. Still, he wasn't taking any chances and unknotted his tie, just in case they came back and got any ideas. It was only when he was sure that there was no further imminent threat to the students that it registered that both Joy and Mr. Montezor had asked him if he was alright. "Yes..." he said, though the pain in his eyes and in his voice belied him. "take care of them first..." His eyes fix toward the two young boys. He wouldn't even think of accepting Joy's help until he knew his students would be okay!

Gaston nodded in agreement as Joy dismissed Miss Franks-Mundie and Mr. Bellaire, removing the stickfast hex he'd placed on them with a quick flick of his wand, but no matter how injured he was, he wasn't going anywhere! He offered Mr. Montezor a small encouraging smile and moved to stand beside him, should the need for emotional support arise, but a sudden sharp pain caused him to clutch at his side. He staggered back and had to grab hold of the railing just to keep himself upright. He didn't know what happened, but if he had to guess, he would say he probably broke a rib (or several) when he slammed into the wall. Still, better him than a student!

All Gaston could do was watch helplessly as Joy tended to Mr. Reed. He shrugged when she asked if he knew what the boy was saying; he hadn't the faintest idea! French he could translate, but not Japanese. Whatever the language was, it was evident through the young Ravenclaw's voice just how much pain he was in, and it broke his heart! The poor kid was waking up now; it looked like the worst was finally over! "Glad you're awake, Mr. Reed," he said, giving the boy a small smile, though he still watched him with sad eyes as he accompanied him and the healer up the stairs to the hospital wing.

NEWTS. Were. A. Nightmare. Frankie was glad to be done with them.

The expression that was present on his face as he made his way up the moving staircases was a combination of exhaustion and relief. He was free of those long nights of studying the six subjects he was taking. Now he was able to relax, enjoy the last few days of being a student at Hogwarts. And then he would worry about the results and anxiously wait until the owl delivered his scores. Those scores were a matter of life or death. It was what determined if he was academically eligible for the YATI programme.

Pressing those thoughts from his mind so he could relish in surviving the hardest set of exams he was ever going to take, the Head Boy continued his journey up the stairs rather smoothly. It was as if the stairs sensed how tired he really was, that he didn't have time to wait around for them to move in his favour. Until he reached the fourth level of stairs, which decided to move mere moments upon his arrival.

Internally he was groaning, not waiting to wait the few minutes for the stairs to return. He just wanted to nap a bit, nightmares of NEWTs no more, before stuffing his face in the Great Hall.

Internal groaning was happening. She was tired but there was no time for sleeping. Books were to be returned to the library, friends to speak with, a boyfriend to see, photos to take. It didn't matter that NEWTs were over, Hady was still busy. Less busy now that all the studying was done but still busy.

One or more of these things was currently on happening actually. In her hand was her camera which she was using to take photos of all the places in the castle she liked. Which with her being her was almost everywhere. This meant lots of photos, lots of walking, stopping and talking to anyone she passed.

Hady's timing must have been perfect for just as she reached the landing a very special blonde was stepping off the stairs. A smile formed on her lips as she joined him. "Hey, you. Where are you off to?"

His eyes drooped while he eyed the staircase slowly inch away from him, connecting itself with another staircase. It was times like these apparition was allowed on the grounds of the school. He could have just popped himself in his own bed by now, instead of having to walk up flights of stairs that decided to torture an exhausted soon-to-be graduate by moving on him. If only there had been a secret passage from this floor to the seventh floor. He would've gladly taken that detour.

But, no, he had to wait. At this rate, he was contemplating curling up on the floor and taking a nice snooze. But a familiar voice sounded that distracted him from how tired he was and the slow-moving staircases.

"Hey, Hads," the blond said, suppressing a yawn with a smile. "Just waiting on the staircase. In need of a nap." Frankie steadily nodded his head. The late night of studying and completing the last of his theatrical and practical exams was draining.

"What's up with the camera?" Hopefully she didn't want to snap a shot of him right now. He wasn't exactly camera-ready.

Hazel eyes took in Frankie's lack of playfulness, teasing and how tired he looked. The fact that he mentioned needing a nap making her laugh softly. "You look like you could use one. That last exam wear you out?" She was exhausted for the same reason so really she expected him to say so. The NEWTs name was no lie. It was exhausting and there was nothing better then having completed them.

What was up with the camera? Like he didn't know. "Memories Frankie, memories." With an innocent grin she raised the camera to her face, looked through the lens and snapped the photo. Camera-ready or not it was photos like these that she liked most. The ones not expected and capturing the true person. Nothing fancy. The boyfriend in all his sleepily glory. Very much adorable and now she'd have that captured.

Lowering the camera again the Slytherin smiled sweetly at him. "Ready for summer?" Summer talk was better then talk or NEWTs or goodbyes.

Moving Staircases..

Ugh they were the bane of her existence. Well one of the banes really.. Along with normal staircases, cracks in the pavement, uneven stones, rough terrain, sand, inclines, declines, tree roots, roller blades, rocks and sticks..

But moving staircases were high on the list.

Azura had stepped onto one on the bottom floor, intent on making the long climb up it to Ravenclaw Tower. She was about half way up the stairs and wishing for the millionth time that she was a Hufflepuff when the stairs started to move!

"Fwoopers!!" Azura bit her lip as she moved to hold onto the bannister, but she missed and pitched forward and smacked her face on the stairs...

Owwwwwwww...

Azura waited until the stairs had stilled before moving upwards and scrambling carefully up the rest of the stairs and groaned as she put a hand to her head.. Rats..

Off to the healer it was.. She kept a careful hand over her nose as she walked forward a bit slowly and unsteadily..

Moving staircases one.. Azura's nose zero..

All of a sudden, hundreds of owls from the owlery darted out from the seventh floor corridor and frantically swooped their way down the moving staircases. What in Merlin's beard were they doing here?

Soon after, a GIGGLE sounded, which made the birds scatter. A snowy and tawny owl collided into each other. An old grey owl nearly flew into one of the portraits hanging on the wall. A group of smart eagle owls dashed onto another floor. The rest of the owls were desperately looking for an escape from whatever it was that had spooked them.

GIGGLE.

As the giggling grew louder and louder, several of the owls lost control of their bowels. Bombs away! It was now raining owl droppings!

GIGGLE.

While the owls continued to hoot, collide, poop, and fly around in search of a place they could be safe, the giggling grew fainter until it could be heard no more ... for now.

Tenacius had just jumped onto a moving stair on his way back to the common room when he heard what seemed like an echo-y giggle amongst a ferocious wind....

"What the--???????"

Suddenly his vision was filled with HUNDREDS of BIRDS. It was like something from the old Muggle movies he grew up watching as a kid, and he could only just ride the stairs and stare at the cacophony that unraveled before him....

SPLAT!

Oh no. What was that? He touched his forehead with his hand and stared at it. "What is th-- POOP! OMG THIS THIS POOP!" Bird droppings alert! Danger Will Robinson danger!

"AAAHHH!" the Gryffindor Ace started to turn and run down the stairs, pulling the back of his sweater up in a feeble attempt to protect his head because NOBODY knows DISASTER like someone with CURLY hair.

And as you have it, that much bird droppings on the ground is bound to end up in--

-- SLIP!

Uh oh.