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The Pathways Banner credit: MunchyBubbles A set of paths link the Courtyard to almost every area of the Grounds. Walking upon these stone covered paths, lined with all sorts of trees is a lovely way to clear your mind after a long day of classes. This is a quiet area of the Grounds with the soft sound of leaves rustling in the wind or lightly crunching below your feet. |
Was she lost? No, maybe, okay, yes, yes Chloe had gotten herself lost. She thought she was headed to the lake, but now she was on this path full of flowers that she was sure her father would love and that had distracted her and now she was just looking around not even knowing which way she was standing. How did one know which way to go around here? The lake couldn't be that far away, or at least she didn't think it was. Maybe she should just go back to her common room and not leave the castle again. This was becoming problematic and gave reasons why she needed Gunnar in the same house. If they were in the same house she could have forced him to come with her the entire way so she wouldn't be able to get distracted or get lost. Also, where was Xar? |
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So it was as he trudged back up towards the castle that he spotted the first year...who looked like a skittish unicorn foal, if he did say so himself. He recalled her sorting...but not her name. He had, er, sorta forgotten the moment the Hat hadn't sorted her into Hufflepuff because it was sorta superfluous information. Something he regretted now. "Hey," he greeted, raising his hand in a half wave as he got closer. |
REESE/Jodi {and open} The best think of it being the weekend was that uniforms weren’t really necessary now. That was what Beth was taking advantage of as she donned her really likely hideous sweater that should have stayed on the ground as a rug and the rest of what could only be described as her vintage hipster trash outfit. Clearly, the girl had a thing for those little velvet neck chockers even though they made most people feel like they were choking. Yet here she was wearing it, and her trusty floral headphones, as she danced and meandered around the pathways. |
Beth! Reese was walking along the pathways when he saw a girl he was sure was his friend up ahead.. He was about to call out to her when he saw the colorful headphones she was wearing.. He chuckled to himself as she danced and twirled.. Luckily, she finally took them off and he ran to catch up as he called out. "Oi!.. Beth!.. Wait up!" He was in his usual comfy corduroy trousers and pull over sweater. Pretty simple.. Not a fancy boy at all, his hair it's normal mop of fiery curls. |
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Oi Beth…there weren’t many Beth’s at this school were there? Anabeth turned around and couldn’t help but smile when she spotted Reese’s cozy self…gosh, he looked like Paddington bear almost right? All he needed was a blue rain coat and wellies…oh and the red hat but still, he was like Paddington – ooooooh maybe that could be his nickname? She thought with a grin. |
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"Reesey"?! Oh!.. No no no!.. That wasn't going to fly.. " It's Reese.. Not Reesey thanks.. He warned, though he still had a smile on his face when he said it. " Ya looked like ya were havin' fun there.. Yeah.." he added while he shirked away from the hair ruffle as best he could. " I was really surprised with that placement, but.. It is what it is.. ", he shrugged. |
Yay starter posts! SPOILER!!: Hello you two Xaria was NOT lost... Nope... She was just... Exploring.... Aimelessly.. mhm. That's it....okay she was lost. This place was GINORMOUS!!! The first year lion didn't have any idea how she'd ever learn her way around anyway and she wanted to go home still.. or find Gunnar or Chloe and cry to them. No one else was ever Allowed to see her cry. She lifted her long brown hair up on top of her head and began to toe it up in a ponytail when she saw the short familiar blonde person. HER person. The one she hadn't been able to see since the sorting. "Chloe?!" how did she know she'd find her over here by the plants?! And who was that tall boy? He was too tall to be Gunnar. She approached them at a soft run as she finished tieing up her hair. "Are you lost too, Chloe?" because she TOTALLY was .. oops. |
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Beth simply let out a long, hard, dramatic sigh when Reese nixed the new nickname idea. Fine Reesey she simply thought at him as she practically stared at his face. ”Fiiiiine, no fun nicknames. I’ll get one for you one of thses days, I promise.” her promise was gold, he just didn’t know that yet. |
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" We'll see 'bout that.. ", Reese replied in regards to being fitted with a suitable nickname by the second part of the trickster duo he'd acquainted himself with on the train and had since built up a bit of a rapport. He couldn't help rolling his eyes at the whole " Not a mean bone in your body" comment... If only she or anyone else knew the things he's thought of doing... The experiments he wanted to try and the research that it would one day involve... They'd lock him away and throw away the key! " I'm not yur typical friendly badger, Beth... This badger bites.. I like the carnivorous plant analogy though.. ", he said as he began to walk slowly. " What were ya listenin' to?.. Anythin' good?" |
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There were very pretty flowers all around, so Chloe didn't mind being lost around here. She wondered if her father had planted any of them or even seen the same plants, then she remembered the Jacobs flower that her mom and dad said they planted in the greenhouse. She had been so distracted she didn't know a person that was coming up near her until she heard a voice, but when she turned expecting someone she didn't expect a mud kid monster. "AHHHHHHHHH" She jumped back and tripped falling to the ground. Staring for a minute she then realized that maybe it was a student in mud, not a monster, but this was Hogwarts and she heard some of the stories from when her parents were here so she didn't just get up, she stayed on the ground staring at the mud boy. "Who are you?" Was he there to hurt her? "XAR!!" She heard her friends voice and not a minute too soon, if this mud monster was going to eat her then at least she'd be eaten with her best friend. |
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this badger bites that just got a grin from her, it wasn’t a grin really. It was a full on beam. ”hey, maybe the hats a nutter? We haven’t asked it…for all we know it could be a bit diseased and insnane after all this time” she chuckled grinning over to him. Really, she rather liked the time she spent with Reese, he would easily (in her opinion) make a good third member to their trickster…trio? It would be a trio then. |
SPOILER!!: girlies! ................................... FUDGESTICKS! Obliviously accustomed to this kind of look, it did not register with Derf why the younger Ravenclaw had freaked out and FALLEN. But his instincts kicked in and he was hurrying oover to her side to help her up...when she screamed. "It's all right it's all right!" he chirped, trying to be reassuring as he moved his hands to wipe down on his face so it was less mud and more Derf as the second girl arrived. "I'm Derf. Hufflepuff. Fifth year." And, like always, he never mentioned being a prefect as part of his identification. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you...." And now he was fishing into his pockets looking for his wand, which was a bit of a task in and of itself considering the extension charms in place. Though he did wipe his robes a bit and flick some dirt and leaves off so they could see Hufflepuff crest more easily. Ans a bit of a glimmer from his badge. "Lemme just...get my wand so I can clean up a bit better..." |
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Merlin, she had a nice smile!.. Should do it more often.., Reese thought to himself as he saw her huge bright smile. He liked the hint of mischief that her voice and inflection held.. And he was in complete agreement with the hypothesis about that musty ole Sorting Hat was indeed diseased beyond all hope.. " they should get a new Hat to take over.. they had to of written the incantations that were used when that manky old hat was made." , he said rather bluntly in fact. Truthfully, Reese enjoyed spending time with Beth too and was even more intrigued with how she and her neighbor-friend had the same mischevious personality as he did.. AND he'd jump at the chance to be the third part of their prankster club... He'd round out the trio nicely. Reese waited and watched as she tapped and twisted the headphones and they morphed into speakers... That was pretty groovy! The curly red-headed baby badger listened to what she was listening to and without even realizing it he began to dance.. And this boy could dance!.. He'd taken lessons with his sister Rylee until she had come to Hogwarts and left him behind.. That was when he had given it up.. He didn't have his dance partner anymore and that's when the darkness began to settle over his moods and he withdrew from most everyone. So, the fact that he was letting a little bit of himself out for her to see was a big thing! |
It wasn’t that Beth didn’t like smiling, she did, when she felt motivated to…and really, friends like Reese were great motivation. ”maybe…but isn’t it ancient like older than the Bloody Barron old?” she asked with a slight shrug of the shoulder. Still, this was fun to her – spending time with him and just being friends with someone roughly her own age. |
Beth! " YEah.. But what should that have to with it?.. If ya got the right incantation, ya should be able to place those same charms and spells on any old hat... At least if ya think about it logically anyhow..., Reese answered confidentally. The fact was... He had been thinking on exactly what they were talking about since that ugly, smelly excuse for an enchanted hat. She was by far one of his best friends he had made since leaving his eldest sister's house to come to school. It was true that before he had stepped foot in the historical castle that he didn't have not one friend beyond his sister Rylee.. Everyone knew her.. But she was the day to his night when it came to being a people person.. He chose a very small circle of friends whereas she should've been the Hufflepuff and he a Slytherin.. That's how he had pictured himself.. Cool and calculated.. But nope.. That Hat had gone and ruined everything. " Ya did?!.. ", he said with a grin. " How'd ya do?..Of course I will.. Even when ya play Hufflepuff.. I'll be in the stands with a green face for sure.. ".. No hesitation.. Not one bit.. She was his friend and if she needed or wanted his support then she had it.. |
Reeeeese Beth just grinned over to him and nudged Reese with her shoulder. ”oooobviously the spell might have like…disintegrated?...and isn’t a Hogwarts thing like didn’t Godric Gryffindor make it?” she shrugged and then smiled over to him again. Reese was fun, really, she enjoyed the time she spent with the firechild. |
Beth! He didn't care about some wizard that lived a couple thousand years ago.. Or His hat.. His hat was old and senile and needed to be retired.. Upgraded... Thrown in a fireplace and cremated! " I don't care!.. I HATE that hat! If I could find a new way to efficiently sort the students I would!", he exclaimed as he stopped the dancing . Had she just accused him of being nice?! Ohh No... No,no no no!.. Nope! This will NOT do. Not at all. Reese looked at her and narrowed his eyes a bit.. " I'm only really doin' it because I shoulda been in Slytherin.. As a protest..", he added with a small smile. Really she had sorta hurt his feelings.. Mainly, because he thought she wanted his support in the stands for her.. Not her whole house.. She was right though... And this was really why he didn't make it a point to be social.. He was a wise-cracker to hide his sensitivity. This school and it's inhabitants could easily chew him up and spit him out if he wasn't more careful.. Maybe he needed to raise his walls once more?.. |
my love :3 Beth looked over to him and nodded, ”well, from now on I’ll call you undercover slytherin…or snakeboy if that makes you feel better?” she offered with a grin, maybe he could find a new way to sort people – that would be neat. ”I’d support that, really, a telepathic hat is a bogus sorting. Method” she explained with a sigh as she noticed he wasn’t dancing. |
LOVE!!! *grabby hands* " Undercover Snakeboy sounds better.. Call me that.. ", he said with a smirky grin. Naturally, he'd have to be a pain in the rear end if she was intent on giving him a nickname. Reese nodded and set his curls to bouncing around his pale freckled face." Nothin'.. I know... and I bet you're the best one that tried for it too.. I hope ya get it." he said with a smile.. Maybe it wasn't a full one, but he didn't have a habit of handing them out for free either. It wasn't that he wanted to talk about himself.. There wasn't much about him to talk about really.. He didn't like people, preferred to be around creatures, and he was here to learn as much as he could so he could pass their tests and get on with what he really wants to do someday. |
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So he was a boy, not a mud monster. Chloe started breathing easier again and trying to act braver than she really showed earlier. "Oh man I'm glad you said something I was about to hit you with a spell." SHe knew hardly any spells so maybe she would have sprayed him with water, but not much else. "Sorry for yelling, but you were really dirty. Do you like being that dirty?" What could he possibly do that was that muddy and could she possibly do it too? Oh man, OH MAN, OH GOSH!! She saw the badge now that he was cleaning up and now she was actually afraid she might get in trouble, screaming from a prefect how did she not know. "You are a prefect? Gosh Xar he's a prefect." Why was her friend so quiet now, she needed some backup! "I'm Chloe and I was just well looking at flowers and stuff." She wouldn't admit she was lost, but she wasn't going to let him just leave without showing her the way either. |
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Undercover snakeboy…”okay, I’ll do it undercover snakeboy” she grinned over to him nudging him as she did so. Reese was fun, that was one of the main takeaways she had come with the first night of school. |
For anyone who wants to bug him! xD He didn't really care that he wasn't wearing his robes. He had his tie on. And his jacket was black, like the robes. So there. Kicking the dirt with this feet, he began wandering the pathways. Didn't have a destination in mind. The walking helped clear his head. It was something he could focus on that didn't require actual interaction and socializing. Maybe he should've been a tree. |
Callie/Quinn! (Anyone else can join too!) Rylee strolled down that pathways with her violin case in hand. She was by no means all that good at playing yet but it had only been a few short weeks since she had gotten the gift as an early birthday present. Practice was the only thing that was going to make her any good and what better time to practice than right now, outside in the fresh air. Walking further down the path until she was sure to be out of the way of others so as not to completely disturb anyone, she settled down on a bench. Laying her case down beside her on the bench along with her bag she opened the case removing her violin and bow. Getting herself comfortable, Rylee inhaled the scent of flowers blooming and listened to the birds singing in the trees. This really was a peaceful spot to practice. Positioning the violin up on her shoulder and resting her chin upon it lightly she started on one of the few notes she actually knew how to play. |
Execution Post 2 :: Flying Long-Term Assignment It was already a good few weeks into her plan and Anna was feeling GREAT with all of that training. She had to admit that having an actual plan and sticking to it was very helpful and she could definitely tell the difference in her performance already! She'd consider continuing to plan and create schedules for all of her trainings from now on. It was just a matter of how long she would keep that up if there was no one to keep accountable to. WELL THEN. The Gryffindor was still going to make the most of it. That would probably help her realise how good it actually was for her. All of this was going through her head as she did some dynamic warm-ups in the courtyard. As soon as she started running, though, she found herself in the pathways in just a matter of seconds. Heeeeh! See, her speed was already getting better and better. She should take note of that. Awkward, though, because she was running and there wasn't anywhere for her to write. THAT was why she could never be bothered. Was it likely she'd remember this after her run? Not really. Oh well. Again: she'd make the most of it for now, at least. She was doing endurance running that afternoon, and wasn't about to go sprinting. Maybe near the end of the run she would do a few sprints just to keep her legs used to running faster when they were tired. Yeah, that sounded like a plan! |
The pathways this time of the year a delight to see. The vibrant green grass shines in the sunlight, flowers are in full bloom, and there are even little creatures running about now that the harshness of winter is long gone. If you're in need of a study break or want to procrastinate, a stroll through the pathways is definitely in order. After making your way to the heart of the pathways, something shiny catches your eye. A gold coin lies on the ground. If you look at it closely, you will notice that it is quite old. You may begin to wonder how the coin wound up there, but no clear answer is available. What is clear, though, is that this isn't the only coin strewn about. Another few coins can be seen in the distance, nestled in the grass off the pathway. Beyond that, next to a burrow near the edge of the forest, lies another pair of coins. Dare you follow the trail and do some collecting? Or do you think it is best to leave the coins be? |
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She once again looked up to see if another student was around, but a glitter of gold just off the path caught her eye once more. "Oh, there are more. How strange." Her curiosity, as usual, got the better of her, and she started off towards the coins, following them towards the edge of the forest, collecting all she found... |
Did the Gnomesies hear foot steps outside of their burrow???? NO. NO. NO. This they could not have! The biggest, fattest, bravest little Gnome poked its head outside of it's burrow just far enough that you couldn't see it, but it could see you! They were free Gnomes! Why was this hoooooooooman trying to wreck his home? They weren't in any hooooooooooman garden! The bravest Gnome was going to teach this hooooooooooooooooooooman some manners! This hooman was not taking his pretties! When the girly hooooooman (Emmalyn) wasn't looking, the brave little potato head jumped out of his burrow with a war cry, that sounded more like a burp, and start to kick at her left foot before biting her ankle. THAT WOULD SHOW THAT HOOOOMAN! |
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With her pocket full of gold coins forgotten, she tried with all her mite to free her left leg from the gnome as her hands continued to search her pockets for her wand. At last her fingers wrapped around the handle and she pulled her wand free from her robes. "Stop it! Please stop! You are hurting me!" Tears were streaming down her face as she desperately tried to think of what to do to get the gnome off her leg. A spell finally came to mind and she pointed her wand at the gnome and shouted "FLIPENDO!" then immediately pointed her wand to the sky to cast green sparks to hopefully call for help. She had no idea where the gnome had come from and was fearful there would be more. |
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...admittedly, he was a little surprised to see a flustered Emmalyn Walsh on his arrival. The usually shy Hufflepuff was not someone he would have thought to choose the edge of the forest to explore. It took a moment to realise what was the cause of her floundering, and Noble raised his wand. "Irretio!" He circled his wrist and flicked his wand up at the gnome, casting the ensnarement charm. He'd rather not risk hitting the Hufflepuff that was already scared of him with anything too much worse. |
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The next few moments were a blur. He spoke much quicker than she could comprehend and suddenly vines and other greenery started wrapping themselves around the area of the gnome. She shook her foot with all her might and broke free just before the vines were able to take hold of her as well. With her heart still pounding, she stumbled a few steps back and stared, wide eyed, at Professor Noble. What in Merlin's beard had just happened? Her ankle was throbbing where the gnome had bitten her and she looked down to see blood soaking through her sock. "No" she whispered as her legs went wobbly and the ground seemed to suddenly shift to the right. She was on the ground before she could utter another word. Fully dazed from the ordeal, she could do no more than stare at the fuzzy edged objects before her and wait for the panic to subside. |
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OH NO. NO. NO. The brave little Gnome blew a raspberry at the girl and began kicking and biting her again. She was NOTTTTTT taking his GOLDIES!!!!! Quote:
The little guy started thrashing about and screaming, "Gerroff me," and many curse words that would not be appropriate for anyone to hear, let alone a little girl. Quote:
HE STILL WANTED HIS GOLDIES BACK! HE FOUND THEM FIRST! |
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Quinn let herself be drawn to the music, curious to see who it was playing. She rounded the turn in the pathways and stopped. Of course it would be the person she was dreading seeing the most. Wasn't that the epitome of her luck? "Em...Hi, Rylee." She shifted awkwardly, unable to bring herself to look Reese's sister in the eye. The older Gryffindor probably hated her. "It sounds, em...it sounds great. How long have you been playing?" |
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After about a minute of being dazed on the ground, Emmalyn's panic level finally subsided enough for her to focus on what was happening. She could see Professor Noble, which oddly eased her panic even more, and the gnome? (she needed to take a good look at her COMC book to be certain) was now entangled in vines. Seeing that she wasn't any longer in immediate danger, she slowly sat up and inspected her bitten ankle. Her initial assessment, before collapsing to the ground, was she had been left with no more than a bloody stump. However, upon further inspection, her ankle was only littered with tiny puncture wounds. None of which seemed life threatening and most likely required no more than a band-aid. "Professor Noble, sir, that creature attacked me." She pointed to the Gnome, who seemed to be getting a big kick out of her being on the ground. "Wait, YOU saved me? You came. I sent the sparks up and you came." A small smile spread across her still bewildered face. It went against everything she thought to be true of Professor Noble. She had been almost certain the man hated her and only put up with her in class because he had to. It was only when she started to get up off the ground that she remembered her pocket full of coins. She wondered if she should tell him about the coins, or wait until she got back to the castle and tell her Head of House. |
It took a few moments to close the distance to Emmalyn, his gaze primarily on the gnome and the vine he'd conjured, wand raised in case he needed to add reinforcements. It seemed that his spell had landed well enough though, and he turned his attention to the Hufflepuff now, having somewhat missed her collapsing in the meantime. She'd already calmed down as he approached and crouched down beside her. "The common garden gnome, Gernumbli gardensi," he replied with a nod. "Usually only a pest, but the ones around Hogwarts seem quite territorial." He eyed the gnome flailing against the vines a moment, a growing urge to silence it. He guessed it had the Hogwarts older student population to thank for teaching it that kind of grotesque language. He pursed his lips, toying with the idea, before opting against it as Emmalyn spoke again. He turned to look at her properly now, a hint of amusement playing on his lips. "You sound surprised." And she looked it too. She needn't be though, he had a duty of care to his students. He was a father too, even if his little girl wasn't so little anymore. "I was headed to see Professor Baldvinsson when I saw your sparks...seems like I came at just the right time. They're stubborn little blighters if you don't know her to deal with them properly. Rude too." He shot the gnome a stern look at the laughter erupting from it at the young Hufflepuff's misfortune. "How's your ankle looking?" He didn't have any medical supplies on him, but it wasn't too far to either Haruldur's or Paul's offices if needs be. "I'm guessing you haven't covered de-gnoming yet in Care of Magical Creatures?" |
Quinn! Over and over again she played the same note, until she was absolutely positive she was playing it correctly each and every time. Then onto the next note she went. It was extremely repetitive but this was how she was going to learn to play. Start small and work through it. Just like dancing and quidditch. If she couldn’t focus on just one note she wouldn’t be able to play a full song. It was about the time she had reached the third note that someone greeted her by name. The voice only was enough to make her want to get up and walk away. Quinn. Of all the people that could have happened upon her and her terrible violin playing it had to be her. What had she done to the universe to deserve this? For several moments Rylee said nothing. Her mind racing, trying to find a way out of talking. She could ignore her or tell her to go away but this was Reese’s girlfriend. All she needed now was more reason to drive her brother away sooner. And it was just Quinn that she was upset with lately… it was everything. “Hello, Quinn,” Rylee finally managed by way of greeting. Her blue eyes focused solely on the violin in her hands. “Mm… it doesn’t but it’s better than it has been.” No sense in lying about how her playing sounded. “A few weeks.” Not very long at all. Gosh this was awkward. Probably even worse than their first encounter on the train and every other time after that until they had figured things out and became friends. That was before though, now she had no idea what they were. |
Rylee Oh, there was no doubt in Quinn's mind now. Rylee Prichard hated her. She could feel the ice under Rylee's short, all to cordial replies, so cold it would probably rival the Northern Norwegian winter Quinn would be experiencing the next six years. At first Quinn didn't respond, she just stood there, mouth gaping as she tried to figure out whatever magic words she could say to fix this...but there weren't any, were there? "I'm sorry," she whispered finally, collapsing dejectedly onto a nearby stump. It stung. It really stung. Despite the fact the two started off not liking each other, Rylee had become a good friend to her, and Quinn had messed it up already. "You hate me..." It wasn't a question. "I get it. I do. And I'm really sorry. I just....I don't know how to make things right. I never do..." |
Quinn! The silence that hung in the air between them though brief felt like forever. Rylee disliked silence. It was boring and boring just didn't suit her. There was clearly friction between her and Quinn. She herself was part of the reason and she knew that. She wasn't trying to come off as mean, that wasn't how she was, anyone knew that but she didn't know what to say. Rylee very carefully laid her violin and bow back into it's purple case. She didn't much feel up to playing anymore. Nor did she really want an apology from the younger girl. Sorry wasn't going to work... but maybe it was a start. In her eyes it was Quinn's fault, if she didn't leave than neither would Reese. It was that simple, only it wasn't. Nothing was going to change her brothers mind once he had decided something.. not even her and she wasn't going to beg, cry or make a scene. Not today. What was done was done. "Nothing will make it right. You're going to do what's best for you and he's going to follow because that's how he is." The protector, the sweet badger that he was. "He's made up his mind and no one can change it." Only time would make things better. "I don't hate you... I never hate anyone." Dislike yes. Hate no. Did she dislike Quinn. Yes, at one time she truly did but that had been because the girl had disliked her. She didn't feel that way anymore, over time they had become friends and that's partly why she felt so annoyed by it all. "I'm not angry. The anger didn't last long." She was being honest. When she had first been told she had been furious. Seconds later that changed and she had been in tears. It was like her first year was going to be repeating itself all over again soon and not because it wasn't time for one of them to attend Hogwarts, but because one had chosen to go somewhere else. It was something she was going to have to get used to. |
Rylee Rylee's words were like a dagger twisting in her gut. Quinn looked away and wiped away the tears welling in her eyes. There was nothing to say to counter Rylee's words, and they both knew it. Everything said had been the truth. Except the part about not hating her. Oh, Quinn knew Rylee didn't "hate," but it was obvious that Rylee felt as close to it as possible where Quinn was now concerned, and that was the equivalent of hate for Rylee. She had to feel that way. How could she not? Quinn had promised her she wasn't going to take Reese away from her, and now she's essentially broken that promise. "I never asked him to come with you know? He choose that and..." She sighed, knowing that wasn't going to help. Why did it always have to be this way? Why was it that for everyone else to be happy, Quinn had to be miserable. Deep down the old wish she'd never been born was beginning to stir again. Everything would, it seemed once again, be better had she simply not existed in the first place to mess things up. That was part of it though, part of her decision. She needed to escape, everything, and start over somewhere new, free from herself, and her life, and everything she screwed up. Quinn sat there, letting the silence linger as she struggled to find words to explain everything. "You're right. I'm sorry. I should have just kept my mouth shut and run away without saying anything, like I originally planned..." But she hadn't and now because of it, she'd broken a promise and Rylee was right to hat...to feel the way she did about Quinn. She stood suddenly, not waiting for a response, and turned to leave. |
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Emmalyn smiled back at the professors statement. She really had been surprised that it was he who saved her. "I'm sorry I distracted you from your meeting with Professor Baldvinsson, but I'm truly grateful you came to my rescue." She hopped up and tested her weight on her left leg. "It seems to be only minor flesh wounds, not bad ones at all. A good wash and some bandages will have it healed up in no time." She tried to keep the cringe out of her smile as she thought about the stinging that was soon to come when she had to wash all the little puncture wounds. She stood a moment, contemplating what to do next. For the first time in almost two years, she felt like she could trust Professor Noble, and she was having trouble processing it. "Sir?" She paused as she looked into his eyes. "Sir, I have to tell you. I found these." She fished a handful of gold coins out of her pocket. "They were next to the path and lead me all the way out here." She tried to read his face and determine if he would be upset with her for picking up an unknown object off the grounds. They were obviously not dropped by a student. |
Quinn! Rylee hadn’t meant to hurt Quinn with her honesty but she wasn’t about to lie to the girl either. Nothing good would come from lying nor would anything good come from her trying to ignore the situation. As much as she wanted to push it from her mind and act like it wasn’t going to happen that only lasted so long. Each day that passed bringing them closer to the end of the term was one day closer to the start of next term. There was no going back and no way to change it. “I know. He told me. We spoke about it.” They had spoken for hours each saying what they had needed to say. Everything had gotten out into the open and though she understood why Reese felt the need to follow Quinn it didn’t make it any easier. Words were hard. Feelings were harder. Rylee never had any trouble expressing her own happiness or excitement but when it came to being angry or upset, those were emotions she had trouble with. People weren’t used to seeing her that way, therefore she tried her hardest to hide it anytime she did. Which in turn made it tough to talk about and words generally failed her making it seem like she as being rude or much more angry than she really was. This silence needed to stop, it made her feel so uneasy. It once again felt like an eternity until Quinn spoke up. The younger girls words making her cringe. “No you shouldn’t have. That would have hurt a lot of people… my brother included. He most definitely would have went with you and something could have happened to the two of you.” Did she not understand how dangerous running away was?! And then Quinn was walking away. What the heck?! Rylee sighed running a hand through her long ginger locks. A part of her wanted to let Quinn leave but another stronger part of her wanted to get up, grab her and pull her into a tight hug. Something had to be done before things got worse and none of this would be able to be fixed. “Quinn? Sit down... “ she called to her letting out a breath. “Walking away doesn’t help. It only makes things worse.” So did keeping things bottled up inside and not talking about them. This was a lesson she was still learning herself. There had to be something they could do to make this easier on them all. |
SPOILER!!: Pesky HOOOOMANS! "MEAAAAAAAAN HOOOOOOMAAAAAAAAAANSSSSSSSSSS!" Screamed the flailing bravest potato head. As the too meany hoomans spoke he thrashed around his vine cage trying to find a way out. He was pretty close to his burrow....maybe he could dig? The little potato dumpling started digging as best as he could, and soon enough he dug himself a hole. With a cackle he popped his head up out of the hole, screamed some very profane things, blew a raspberry and retreated to his burrow. GOLDIES WAS NOT WORTH CAGINGS! |
"Oh, I'm sure Professor Baldvinsson won't mind." The Icelandic man was always late, the opposite to his own need for punctuality, so he rather suspected that Haraldur wouldn't have even noticed his absence. He watched her look over the wounds, standing up himself as she tested her weight on it. All was looking promising, and he assumed she'd be on her way shortly. "Are you alright to go back to the castle yourself?" he asked. He would accompany if needed, but he figured that might not be something she wanted. As for the aftercare...it seemed like she had a sensible head on those shoulders. "Gnome saliva isn't poisonous, but do go seeing Healer Macmillan if you notice anything out of the ordinary over the next few days." Noble grumbled as movement caught his attention, and the gnome burrowed downwards and escaped. However, he felt no need to go after it. He doubted it'd be coming back any time soon, and quite frankly, it wasn't the first living thing at this castle to call him mean. Far from it. He started to reholster his wand, before turning back to Emmalyn at that 'Sir'. "Yes?" His brow furrowed, which turned into a full frown as he saw those coins. Coins like those from the hoard. There was no way they could be out here. The museum had put strong safe guards on the exhibition by the Great Hall. "By the path?" Noble levitated one from her hand for a closer look. "A trail of them, you said? Where exactly did it start?" |
It was a relief to hear him confirm that the gnomes were not poisonous. "Yes, I'm fine to get back to the castle and I'll have it looked at if anything looks off." She was sure it would be just fine, but the reminder that she could visit the healer put her mind even more at ease. Her head spun towards the direction of the gnome and her jaw dropped at the words coming from its mouth. She had heard most of the words before, but the little gnome had a few new ones that made her blush. She wondered how the creature had learned such words from living on Hogwarts grounds. Thankfully, or not, Professor Noble refocused her attention by asking about the coins. "Yes, by the path." She answered as one of the coins lifted from her hand for him to inspect. "The trail started about fifty meters that way." Her right hand pointed up towards the paths, near the smallest tree by the path. "I followed the coins down to here, picking up one every few meters or so." Her eyes traveled along the path she took to where they were, looking to see if she had missed any along the way. "They seemed to stop right before the forest. Well, I think they stopped. I couldn't see any more and I wasn't about to step foot in there to take a closer look." |
The skeletal figures move surprisingly fast, away from the fire and crowd of people, using the pathways of the school grounds to navigate further. Long corpse like fingers slowly curl around branches to move past them. The horde of bony creatures drag themselves through the vegetation with their already torn attire further shredding on the bushes. Some have their mouths gaping open, chins dropped down to their bony chest, all with white lifeless eyes and all moving in the same direction as they push on, seemingly unstoppable. The silhouettes of what appears to be ancient Viking helmets are gradually more difficult to notice due to the night air settling around them. A revolting stench linger around them as they move forward, away from the fire, light and resistance by the lake and towards the cold, dark safety of the pathways. And then onwards... Onwards... |
He had needed some time to himself and his thoughts, though TIME was hard to come by these days with everything he had stacked on his plate. While all the distractions were a blessing in that he didn't have to THINK too much...it also wasn't allowing him TO think and thus the vicious spiral of Hufflepuff angst continued. So the fifth year was sitting off to the side, idly twirling the coin he had collected from the under the lake adventure all the way at the start of term between his fingers and sort of just....zoning out. Quote:
That is....until the stench reached his nostrils. Oblivious to the chaos that had ensued down at the lake - the distance and foliage enough to block out the noise and light from the flames - Derf leaped to his feet and stood in the middle of the path, his coin now clenched between his fist as he peered into the darkness. He knew this smell to a certain degree thanks to a certain Ravenclaw and her approved studies that, well, he still couldn't believe had been approved and WHY Hogwarts staff would approve Necromancy to be studied within it's walls...but he and Jessa had come to a mutual understanding of silence on the subject. He knew she wasn't hurting anyone or being malicious, the studying being a focus more on the cycle of life and death, so that was that. But this smell...it was stronger than anything he had encountered before. This wasn't just one dead kneazle coming... And then he heard the clanking of metal and his hand dove into his pocket for his wand, thrusting it out in front of him and - thankfully - his reflexes kicking in to take on a defensive sort of dueling stance as he remained on the balls of his feet, ready to move and act... ..........he couldn't POSSIBLY have been right when he had gone about his cave spiraling and conspiracy theory...could he? This was just, you know, one of Jessa's experiments getting way way WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of hand...yes? YES!? |
Quinn stopped and turned back to look at Rylee just a moment. "Nothing would have happened to Reese if I didn't tell him I was running away. Only me." Reese would have gotten over it eventually, and he and Rylee would be together and Rylee wouldn't hate her. She glanced back down the path in the direction she had started, then sighed and sat down. "Look, I'm sorry, okay. It's just when things get..." Quinn's voice trailed off in a strangled noise. She was no longer looking at Rylee, but behind her. "In....In..." It was a little bit of fear keeping the word from getting out, but more the shock and surprise of seeing the undead invade the school. "Rylee, move! Inferi!" In a flash, her wand was in her hand, but....what spells are effective against inferi? |
"... wouldn't mind playing as Beater myself actually, if I wasn't a Seeker," Abra was saying to Bel, as he walked side by side with her on their way through the pathways. It was getting fairly dark, so he was naturally getting a little twitchy, but it wasn't so bad what with having a friend for company. One hand in his pocket, the other hand had a beater's bat hanging by its strap from his wrist, and he was twirling it around as they walked. "Though, nothing really matches the rush of catching the snitch, you know?" Twirl, twirl, twirrrrl the bat. Actually, maybe it was a better idea to not go flinging the beaters bat around in the air while it was this dark, in case he accidentally caught Bel with it. As a captain it was probably wise to show that he could handle the Quidditch equipment without, you know, injuring other people during the simple act of returning it to the-... ... What was that smell? That was the only thought Abra had enough time for before hearing the nearby shout of something like... 'Inferi'... uhhh. Someone else a little way along the pathway stood in a duelling stance, wand outstretched. UhhhhHHH. Human-like skeletal silhouettes hurrying towards them through the dark. UHHHHHHHHH. "No." That was a squeak. A definite squeak. They had walked right into something.......... bad. |
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"I probably would think about it too. I know I'm strong enough." She'd be all like 'see these guns' as evidence if Bel wasn't currently balancing a bat of her own on her fingertip and making necessary funny faces and physical back and forth adjustments in order to keep it on its end. "Mostly I just wanna be good enough at all the positions so I can help my team as best as I can, y'kn--hey, is there a corpse flower around here?" For real, had Myers got hold of another one that was now in bloom because there was a definite stench going on. She'd been talking enough that other people's shouts hadn't made it into her ears, but she DID stop when Abra did (having to swipe at the bat to catch it when her momentum no longer kept it upright). No? No what? No.... not a corpse flower? No she wasn't strong enough to be a beater? No she.... her gaze followed where Abra's was. ...... .........? "...... is this.... is this... this isn't like... y'know, a Brit thing is it?" Some kind of... costumes? Or something? For an event? Or... uh.. oh hey! Derfael! Wasn't a Derfael thing, she was pretty sure, she knew D well enough by now that... um. Yeah she DID know better. Even as she asked, her Aussie accent was a tone of absolute disbelief at what she was seeing. Her mind hadn't really caught up with... what was... going on with... those weren't... surely they weren't.... Bel looked around for Professor Hirsch. This was probably a DADA exercise or something right? Because actual uncontrolled free-roaming dangerously loose inferi wasn't... a thing that happened, was it? Because you know what? Guess who had two thumbs, was a Hufflepuff, but also didn't have her wand right now? This girl! She DID have a beaters bat though, and those were strong enough to thwack iron balls so.... Bel brandished it, and shot a look at Abra. Uh.... .... batter |
Cause we were headed here from the lake. 1-800-callyourcaptain? Skylar's pace was quick along the grounds due to the adrenaline combined with own long legs, but apparently it was nothing for those bony skeletal figures. What was their athletic training because it was SERIOUSLY impressive how fast they could move? And suddenly the inferi semes to be right in front of her and her co-captains she could make out on their other side. "wands out!!!" Skylar managed to choke out, wondering if the zombie creatures would go around or... ?. |
Julie Bellaire was considered a calm, collected source among her peers and by her teachers. She had been called mature, level-headed and intelligent more times than she could count- so why- why in merlin's name was she running toward danger rather than away? She was no messiah-complex Gryffindor, no bleeding heart Hufflepuff and no know-it-all Ravenclaw hell bent on recognition- no, it was worst than all of those. She was a slytherin, a Slytherin whose loyalty had sent her dashing through the castle in search of loved before they were ripped apart. She had already been accosted, her attire (a special dress made for her Big Day™ and a pair of absolutely impossible to run in Gucci Slingbacks which she had abandoned) was dirty and ripped but she had emerged unscathed and was running back toward the castle from the other side when she saw the group. Merlin, there was so many of them. Unearthly pale and horribly fast- they were heading for a group of three- two holding Beaters bats from what she could see in the dim night and there was another- Blonde and tall and- It was Derfael, definitely Derfael. She sped up, wand out as her feet moved with all the quickness years of running had gifted her. The slytherin willed her legs faster, her mind racing- The shock had worn off now and only the terror was left behind, white hot and fueling her on- stupidly- Mairwen and Blaise would have been nothing but disappointed but she couldn't sit by, and she couldn't turn the other why, not when- Oh merlin, that was Abra, and Bel with the beater bats. She was close enough to see that now, but not enough to start firing spells-her aim was good but then she'd never casted while running like her life depended on it and couldn't risk missing and hitting one of her friends. Faster. She thought, almost pleading. Faster. |
because I have a moment Derf was tempted to cast Lumos, to help illuminate the pathway a bit more...but he was also anxious about that giving away his precise location. Moonlight or not, he had a TINY bit of coverage where he was. And somewhere in the distance he heard a voice shouting a word that confirmed his fears. But he hardly had time to linger on that when he heard more voices. His voice, and suddenly the Hufflepuff was spinning around on the spot and foolishly turning his back to the approaching horde. He was suddenly brought back to being that helpless first year, watching Simon and Abey pulled away by the Monster into the Portal, thinking they were as good as dead. And while Abey had asked him not to think of him as one of his fragile creatures, seeing the state his...well...his something was in right now made that rather impossible. This time, this time he wouldn't let Abey down. This time he would do everything he could to keep him safe. Which of course meant he did something stupid to start. "NO! TURN BACK!" he shouted, seeing not only Abey but Bel come into focus now as well. "IT'S NOT SAFE!" Stating the obvious much there, Derfael? And by this point he really should have just cast Lumos. His shouting was counterproductive to any sort of self preservation measures he had been previously taking. And maybe, just maybe he was hoping to draw more attention to himself....so his friends could get away. "INFERI!" Suddenly it all made sense. That BOOK had been missing for years now, the one on the Darkest of Dark Arts and that INCLUDED inferi and necromancy, surely. IT ALL HAD TO BE CONNECTED! IT WAS THAT AMERICAN SCHOOL USING THE SAME TACTICS AS THE 2014 WORLD CUP AND TRYING TO INTIMIDATE THEM WITH INFERI! THE TREASURE IN THE LAKE WAS A TRIGGER AND BUYING TIME AND THEY HAD ACTIVATED THE BIND RUNES BY REMOVING IT FROM THE LAKE AND THIS WAS THE GRAND MATER PLAN ALL ALONG! Okay, that was an outlandish claim but he was beyond distraught right now. IN ANY CASE! HE WAS GOING TO WRITE ANOTHER VERY HARSH AND COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS LETTER "Make torches out of your bats!" he suggested a few seconds later as he scrambled closer to them. BLAZE IT! As much as it HURT to say that because...burning quidditch supplies and all. He barely heard the call from Skylar on the other side of the herd - though he couldn't really SEE her either and the gleam from the moonlight reflecting off some of the helmets made making out shapes generally difficult by default. But he did have his wand out already, at least, so she could say he was following instructions. And then Julie was running in their direction as well, and he was tempted to shout at her to turn back too. He wasn't sure how many of the inferi there were and there was only a handful of them, students, so what could they hope to accomplish really? He was dodgey with his own spell work, let alone under pressure like this. "Maybe we can slow them down....a flaming barricade or something..." ...and then retreat to the safety of the castle. They were surrounded by...burnable things, after all. |
Walking the grounds and their many pathways after dark was a habit born from Celestia's days as a Gryffindor student here. She was always determined to seek adventure, and she had never been able to truly think closed up in the castle. With the end of term approaching fast, Celestia had a great deal of thoughts swirling around in her mind. Honestly, the loops that her thoughts followed were almost enough to make her start believing in wrackspurts. She had been aimlessly wandering the grounds for at least a couple of hours by now and so she had no knowledge of the horrible events transpiring at the lake. In fact, the night seemed as ordinary as any could at Hogwarts -- until she smelled the decay. Good Merlin, had something died around here? It was completely, totally irrational -- surely creatures died on these grounds all the time -- but a sense of fear slid down her back, giving her the sensation that someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of her robes. Celestia took two more normal strides before she was running, running as fast as she could towards that smell -- just to be sure, just to soothe her own paranoia... She was still a little ways away from the group of students (Derf, Abra, Bel) when she heard one of the boys scream out the word "inferi". No. That wasn't possible. He couldn't be right; how in Merlin's name could Inferi get onto the grounds? As Celestia closed the distance between herself and the small group of students, however, the smell seemed to thicken the air. Soon she was right beside them, struggling not to pant too much, and feeling her eyes widen to the size of large dinner plates as she took in the rotting flesh; the Inferi seemed to have come straight out of one of her nightmares of old. The professor allowed her eyes to quickly rove over the scene, and she was able to see Julie approaching the group. She couldn't see Skylar from this vantage point, and hadn't arrived in time to hear the girl's shout. Celestia drew her wand and moved to stand in front of Derf, Abra, and Bel. These evil things were not going to get these kids on her watch! "Wands at the ready, all of you!" she told them steadily. "Be ready to cast Incendio if they get by me..." She wondered if she would do better to send the students off to hide -- but where would they hide out in the open like this? The forest was never safe, and the castle... Surely the Inferi hadn't reached the castle. The Transfiguration professor crouched in a defensive stance, still in front of the group of students, and prepared to conjure as much fire as she could muster once the Inferi were close enough. |
Humans. The gaunt creatures slows for a moment as big, white eyes take in the scene. For a few seconds there is silence as they come to a stop. Then slowly they move sideways, spreading out as more of them join behind them. Wands are pointed towards them, but no further threat yet. One of the creatures tilt its head, the neck letting out a disgusting cracking sound. The next time they move: it’s sudden, fast and it’s towards the group. They quickly approach from all angles, surrounding the foolish humans who chose to resist them. Long bony arms are stretching out as they close in. Everything and everyone standing in their way will be disposed of. Now. |
Quinn, Inferi! & anyone else around that's close enough c: Quote:
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Once again there was another 'I'm sorry' being given. She knew she was and was more than ready to wave it off again when the look on Quinn's face showed something wasn't right. Why was she stammering like that? Rylee blinked in confusion. "In- what? What's the matter?" Move? Why was she being told to move?! The second years brain focused on that for a split second longer than necessary before Quinn's shouting of 'Inferi' broke through her thoughts. Wait. WHAT?! "Inferi?" Looking over her shoulder wondering for half a second if somehow this could be a joke, Rylee was on her feet in an instant. Her eyes widened in shock and fear at the undead decending upon them. Pulling her wand from her robes she moved to stand just in front of Quinn, friends or not it didn't matter. She was older and protecting Quinn was what she was going to do even if she herself was terrified. Everything seemed to be happening at once. Her violin was left in it's case on the bench, her wand raised and aimed at the Inferi, hand shaking slightly as she tried to think of spells that would work. What would work?! What was strong enough?! "Fire! Quinn cast incendo! Inferi hate warmth!" Yes! She had read about this before somewhere when reading about different creatures and dark creatures and the like. After what happened with the Grindylow she had wanted to learn how to defend herself. Wand hand still shaking she took a small step back. "Incendo!" she cast as confidently as possibly aiming at the Inferi coming their way. Though she could hear shouts coming from somewhere down the Pathway she wasn't able to see who else was around or if they were being surrounded as well and honestly her focus had to be in the here and now. |
It was all happening very fast. Too fast. One moment, he and Bel had been meandering their way in the general direction of the broomshed to return their bats and the next: an Inferi horde. Coming straight at them. "N-no," he squeaked out again, this time in response to Bel's question. While not a Brit himself, he was fairly sure this situation was closer to genuine mortal peril than it was quirky British behaviour. He shot a glance across at Bel, swallowed a lump in his throat, and raised his own beaters bat, holding it tightly in a white-knuckle grip as he drew his wand with his other hand. There was more yelling, this time from the figure nearby, and naturally Abra finally recognised who it was. There was, however, no time for awkward Derf feelings or angst or any of it. Now he just wanted to hug him, make sure he was unharmed, but there wasn't time for that either. Actually, there wasn't any time for anything at all, because a lot was happening, and very, very quickly. Derf talking, the sounds of footfalls - Julie's, but Abra was still stood transfixed, and so did not see her - yells from all directions, another figure - Professor Grimsbane - putting herself between them and the undead army. And then, only moments after he himself had come to a standstill, he saw the Inferi stop dead (pun incredibly unintended), the moonlight striking down through the trees and dappling them in a way that made them look even more grotesque. Abra, heart hammering wildly in his chest, hardly dared to breathe as he stared at the Inferi and the Inferi stared at them... ... and then- "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He couldn't help it, a scream escaped his lips without his exact say-so, as the horde rushed at them, terrifyingly fast. Abra could see them even in his periphery, advancing from all angles; he spun around in an about-face and brandished both wand and bat at the outstretched arms closing in around them. "Incendio!" |
Batter up Wands at the ready? Set the beater bats on fire? How about none of the above because Bel didn't actually have her wand with her? She registered familiar faces; friends, peers, professor, little kids, and not so familiar faces; inferi, but Bel wasn't really processing much else. People were talking all at once, and also, there were inferi. She did heft the bat though, as Inferi can at them, and swung hard at the head of the first one to come in range of her. Inferi heads were probably more like rotten melons than iron bludgers, right? |
The Hufflepuff did not even register that the Transfiguration professor had joined them for in the next moment the inferi were moving...SURROUNDING them. His feet moving on their own accord, Derf flung himself towards his friends just as Abey started firing off Incendio and just barely managed to avoid the swing of his bat too. Sorry professor...they weren't going to wait to cast Incendio. Not that Derf had even heard the instruction to begin with. "INCENDIO!" he commanded, shooting off a jet of flame to the approaching corpses in front of him as he spun so his back was half pressed to Abey's and quickly glanced around to make sure Bel was close by in a loose back-to-back formation so they could defend one another. "JULIE!" Derf shouted, seeing the creatures encroaching around her and reaching his hand out for her to yank her closer to the group. His veins were bulging in his arms and neck as tension filled his body. Breathing rapid and shallow which caused him to feel a bit lightheaded. Teeth grit like a rabid dog (throwback to you, Mr. Charms professor!) with trembling hands as he gripped his wand tightly and sent off another Incendio towards more approaching bodies. His heart, the way it thumped in his chest like a wild stallion, thankfully drowned out the heinous noises - the creaking limbs, the screeches, the breaking of bones - as everything around him seemed to be moving in fast forward yet at a standstill at the same time. |
Celestia's heart seemed to be pounding at almost triple its normal rate; she could feel the thumping in her throat as the icy sensation that had started down her back seemed to spread throughout her body. The seconds seemed to both slog along at a terribly slow pace and yet time was passing too quickly. She thought that she could hear girls' voices shouting (Rylee and Quinn) nearby, but she couldn't tell how close the girls actually were to the rest of the group. She fervently hoped that they were far enough to simply run away. For Celestia had already regretted not shouting at the students behind her to run themselves as the Inferi spread out and surrounded their little group faster than she had expected. The professor didn't waste another second on her thoughts, but neither did she cast her spells aloud. She simply brandished her wand at the nearest two Inferi like a whip and a stream of flames spread from her wand tip in the shape of a rope that she attempted to coil around both of the Inferi at once. Her intention was to bind them together so that they'd burn together. Abra's scream caused Celestia to do something rather foolish; she whipped around, briefly facing only the students, to see if he'd been injured or if some new horror had come up on his side of the group. By the time she was turned in his direction, however, the Gryffindor was already casting Incendio and Celestia could release the breath that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. She spun back around to face the front and cast a nonverbal Incendio at more approaching Inferi. Good Merlin, there were so many of them! She was at a loss for how to get them out of this, except to keep burning the wretched things and hope that the fire would attract help from her coworkers. Surely this was the only place on the grounds that the Inferi had assembled. Celestia turned her back to the Inferi once again as Derfael shouted out Julie's name -- but she didn't look hurt, the Hufflepuff seemed to already be drawing the girl closer to the rest of the group. Good. As she was assessing this situation, though, her eyes landed on Bel's beater bat and she noted the lack of a wand in the Hufflepuff girl's hands. Cursing Merlin's pants under her breath, Celestia swiveled to face the Inferi still marching toward her and fire off several more Incendio's in their direction. At the same time, she groped in her robes with her left hand for something she could use until finally, her sweaty hand grasped a hair pin. The professor wasted no time in pulling it out and Transfiguring it into a flaming torch like the ones that adorned the walls of Hogwarts Castle. Celestia carefully turned her body sideways so that her wand arm was still spewing flames in the Inferi's direction, while the newly formed torch was outstretched in her other arm -- she was careful to avoid letting the flames snare students' robes or hair from behind as she called loudly, "Bel! Take this!" She was allowing her attention to waver dangerously, but there was really no choice. These students were her responsibility and it would be a miracle if one of them survived without any fire at all. She refused to consider the possibility that they wouldn't survive this night even with fire as she held the torch out to Bel. |
They were everywhere. an actual horde of wicked, hungry teeth, clawing, rotting fingers and lightning quick limbs- all the better to- She gagged, the stench of death and decay overwhelming her as the Inferi tightened their ranks at an alarming rate, closing them in like pigs to a- no- Her eyes shot to Abra as his scream rent the air sending a chill harsh as an arctic wind through her, she hurried on, trying to focus on her dirt covered feet hitting the ground again and again and not the monsters just behind her- she daren't look- That would be all it took0 one look- one second of distraction and it would all be over. Game Over, the end. Like Hell she was dying here. "Derf-" She cried out in relief, her hand clasping tight around his as she practically flung herself into their midst. Julie's calves burned, begging for a rest even as she sharply turned on her heel to face their threat. "INCENDIO." Julie shouted out, her instincts taking over- Blood boiling, she lips curved in a grimace of twisted fear and anger. Knuckles white, the Slytherin's grip was tight around her wand, but tighter still around Derfael's hand, apparently her hand had no intention of leaving his anytime soon. They needed more people- they were outnumbered by a figure Julie didn't want to count. Where was everyone? Where was the headmistress and how in merlin's name had the Inferi gotten past the wards- "There's too many of them-" She called out to Grimsbane, not taking her eyes off the creatures before them. "We need help." and now, like right now. "Send a patronus- sparks- SOMETHING-" now before things got worst- because it could get worst. Were she not completely terrified and in full on survival mood Julie might have felt some admiration for Bel's calm aura- but she was, as mentioned before, too terrified to notice. |
because I forgot to have her do this in my last post The Inferi's numbers were practically suffocating. Celestia knew that but the reality had taken a while to sink in. Only Julie's voice penetrated the fog of fear and guilt invading her brain. Sparks were useless; these flames would be sure to attract anyone near enough to see sparks. But a Patronus... Yes, why hadn't she sent hers out immediately? Inwardly berating herself for her own stupidity, Celestia wasted no more time. As soon as she sent another rope of fire speeding towards yet more Inferi in front of her, she took a deep breath -- and almost choked on the stench coming from the nasty things. Fortunately, it had been a long time since Celestia had needed her voice to cast this spell: Expecto Patronum!, she thought desperately as she envisioned a happy end-of-term feast becoming a reality. A silver, ghostly Jack Terrier dog shot out of Celestia's wand and raced for the castle as though it had wings. The professor hoped that someone would answer it NOW, all the while still holding out her burning torch to Bel. |
Here, have a somewhat sensible Gryffindor Anna had been busy looking for a certain someone in the lower levels of the Castle so they could sort out when their next training session would be - actually walking around the massive building and not sending a note or owl was a lot better for fitness, did they know? - when she heard a horror-filled scream coming from the grounds. She frowned and whipped her head around at the general direction the sound had come from and as she started heading that way a dog-ghost appeared. She shook her head because she didn't think there were dog ghosts at Hogwarts - or anywhere else, for that matter - and blinked at the thing, realising it was a Patronus. Well, duh. Of course it was. And the message sounded just as horrified as the scream she had heard just a few seconds ago. The third year wondered for a fraction of a second if any of this was real, but her impulsive nature got the best of her and she had pulled out her wand and was running outside before she could think twice. The screams and shouting were getting louder as she rushed towards the pathways and suddenly the stench reached her before she could see what was happening. She slowed down for a moment, honestly thinking she was going to vomit, but now the heat of so many fire spells being cast made her heart race as if she had just ran a thousand miles. Good Merlin, it was all real and it was far from looking like it was some DADA lesson. She finally got close enough to see Inferi - ACTUAL INFERI, WHAT - surrounding a group of people who were mostly shooting Incendio at them. "Merlin..!" She said under her breath, gripping her wand tight as several thoughts crossed her mind. Surely no one would die, they were at Hogwarts. Right? Right??? Dying was something old people did, not young people like them. They could fight those things, surely!?? Pointing her wand towards the group, Anna had to stop herself from casting Incendio from the outside of the circle. If her spell hit any of the living people that would be terrible and the last thing she wanted was to accidentally hurt someone while trying to help. Biting her lip, she moved to the side trying to find a better angle to shoot spells directly at the awful creatures and them alone. The fact some of the Inferi were so close to her peers was unsettling, and before she could find the perfect angle - if there was such a thing in that situation - Anna found herself sending Knockback Jinxes at the Inferi closest to the group. |
The Inferi keep advancing toward the humans, their rotting skeletal hands inching ever closer to grabbing flesh. Fire spells fly at them as they draw near; a few of the creatures standing in the wrong place at the wrong time are set ablaze. They flail about, writhing in pain on the ground as the flames consume them. Soon, the fire spreads to the grass around them. The rest of them keep on coming. Several Inferi surround the adult human, grabbing her from behind. Once they take her out, disposing of the children will be too easy! The other creatures round on the smaller humans, grabbing arms, legs, and any other body arts they can get their cold clammy hands on to drag them down. The wandless girl's bat collides with the side of one creature's head, shattering bone and esposing the innards beneath. The walking corpse feels no pain from the blow, only anger. It blinks, its white lifeless eyes turning to her as it grabs her by the neck. Any last words, humans? |
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FOR the record, smashed inferi heads were disgusting. DISGUSTING. But it was nothing compared to the feeling of dead fingers around her neck, just as she was reaching for that torch, too. So instead of grabbing the torch from the professor she had no choice but to grab the arm of the inferi and try to pull its relentless grip away from her throat. Thankfully she'd not lost her grip on the beaters bat when it had splintered through the inferi's head. Desperately, she brought the bat down on the inferi's other arm as hard as she could, every bit of strength she had, though that grip... on her throat... she couldn't even muster a scream. |
Charlie was more than excited to get out that day, considering that he'd kept his promise to do all of his homework and reward himself with a plate of freshly baked cookies, and a relaxed fly through around Hogwarts. But just like any good plan, there was always some sort of setback bound to happen. For Charlie, he ran out of polish for his broom. His beloved broom. One of the brooms in their team that brought them victory (!!!). With his broom on his shoulder, he'd checked out the Common Room for his team to see if they can spare him their leftover polish. He wasn't surprised when none of them were lounging about inside. He then went for the Great Hall, only to be met by a (cute) Patronus along the way asking for... SAY WHAT NOW?! Charlie could feel his stomach turn, as he approached the nearest window and pressed his face against it. No...it...just...was not possible. HOW?! From the inside, young and older students filtered in and out of the hallways with either sheer determination or pure panic. Charlie somehow felt trapped as he watched them helplessly, not having the slightest idea on what to do. He wasn't really good academically and all he knew really was how to fly on a broom and look good while doing it. Heh. And then came the screams. That made the Hufflepuff jump back from the window and look around him wildly. He knew he had to do something. Something...with his broom? More shouting was heard, and it was the last trigger he needed to finally move and think of a plan: if he can't fight on the ground, he will have to fly above them to have the higher ground. Literally. And what better way to set those smelly creatures ablaze? Liquid chemical or potion that is highly flammable. The only muggle thing he could think of was rubbing alcohol, but just like your typical magical school, that wasn't readily available. Charlie switched to his no-maj ways, and headed straight for the Broom Cupboard with his own broom and looked for the liquid cleaning supplies and solutions. Charlie was sure it was the right kind of chemicals he was looking for to get the job done. Once he collected them in an empty pail, Charlie got his broom and had the pail full of flammable supplies hang on the handle, and flew out of the Castle in haste. Charlie didn't know what to expect really, but he felt his Badger rage grow twice inside his chest when he saw his friends and professor surrounded by the Inferi. "NOT MY FRIENDS YOU FWOOPING CREATURES!" Charlie could see the beat up Inferi that was now holding Bel, and he did a quick swing of his broom, thwacking the Inferi's head so hard with the intent of fully dislodging it. That wasn't going to do much, maybe, but he wanted Bel to keep on hammering that arm. As much as he wanted to put it out with fire, his Captain will only be subjected to more danger if he did. Pulling up way above the Inferi's reach, Charlie began to douse their enemies with the liquid he brought from the Castle and threw the empty bottles at their heads. "NOW! FIRE! GO GO GO!" Come on, folks! Let's burn them all! |
They were surrounded. Inferi were everywhere. Abra couldn't be entirely sure exactly how many people were in the group he had found himself in, or who exactly was there, and he definitely didn't have a clue of who was out beyond the wall Inferi. He was sort of, you know, too busy swinging his bat and waving his wand to really think about anything else, acting on autopilot and really taking advantage of that fight-or-flight response. "Incendio!" Except that, actually, there was one thing that kept pushing its way into the forefront of his mind, and that was that - for the second time in his life - he now felt absolutely certain that this was it. This was the end. There was no getting out of this situation, and they were surely about to die. He didn't let up his casting or his hitting, but the thought was persistent and familiar, and it scared him worse than anything. He didn't want to die, and he wouldn't go down without fighting, but this... this was surely it. They were overwhelmed. Hands. Dead, slimy, festering hands, grabbing at them, trying to pull them down. If he wasn't running totally on adrenaline, he would have probably puked from both fear and disgust. Whatever was happening with those behind him, Abra didn't know, and he didn't dare turn his back on the Inferi in front of him long enough to find out. As such, he completely missed Professor Grimsbane's situation, and only managed to catch sight of Bel's predicament by the light of one of his fire spells purely because she was stood right beside him. Panic flooded through him like ice in his veins, and he raised his wand at the Inferius, automatically yelling, "INCENDIO!" even as Bel herself smacked at its arm and someone or something hit it from... above? No time. No time to look, no time to think, no time to do anything but fight. |
The irony of all this was that he was going to lose a limb to Julie and her grip. Though the adrenaline pumping through his veins hardly even made him aware of the dull throb her hand around his was producing. And, honestly, even if he could feel it right now he wouldn't tell her to stop. So instead his fingers The thing about his galloping heart drowning out all other noise was that Derf did not even hear the sound of his chocolate frog collecting companion join the fray - or notice that he had approached from the air because his bright blues were far to fixated on what was happening right in front of him. Nor had he noticed the appearance of a younger Gryffindor. What he DID notice, since he was standing right next to her, was an inferi make a grab for Bel's throat. "GERUFHAR!" he grunted, willing to throw HIMSELF at the inferius to knock it off balance - but that would mean dragging Julie with him and he had enough sense not to do that - but instead flourished his wand at that arm Bel was hacking at. "Diffindo!" he commanded - surely between Bel's hacking, Abey's Incendio, and a Severing Charm... But then Derf's attention was drawn towards Professor Grimsbane and the inferi GRABBING her. Not one inferius...but INFERI. "PROFESSOR!" Derf screamed, his hand clenched around Julie's and somewhat frozen in place beside Abey and Bel. They were going to watch her get torn apart....right in front of their eyes...and he couldn't cast Incendio at the inferi without risking hitting the Transfiguration professor...and maybe killing her himself? So instead, Derf just froze - almost brought back to that toddler version of himself who had stood by and helplessly watch his mum's flesh eater massacre the family dog right before his naive bright blue eyes. "No...no...no no no nononononono...." |
A blur- of light, and bodies, silvery terrier and hideous teeth, Screams and shouts, and the heat of growing flames- Julie screamed, just narrowly escaping the grasp of an Inferius much too close for her liking. She brandished her wand like a whip, her mouth a tight, unmoving line as a shot of blue flame headed for her attacker. If you had told the slytherin six months ago she would be on the grounds fighting a horde of the undead she would have laughed you off, because yeah- sure, a lot happened here but nothing happened to her. She was lucky, too lucky to have been apart of any major disaster and yet- And yet here she was, right in the thick of it. She wanted to cry- to scream until her lungs shriveled up and jumped out of her throat- and she wanted her brother- and bentley- but most of all she wanted to wake up on her seventeenth birthday marveling at how realistic and mental her dream had been. They needed something bigger- a bigger spell, a bigger group- fiendfyre- no- her mind crashed right there and then as her eyes alighted on the terror unfolding before her. it was thanks to anna's spellwork- the flashing light of the knockback jinx had distracted her and sending her attention to- Grimsbane surrounded, being dragged full body by a vicious group of corpses-and- Bel- "NO-" She yelled out, torn for over which direction to take- Bel- or Grimsbane- Both situations were direr- both were seconds away from death's door- But then, from out of the clear blue sky reinforcements in the shape of a boy on a broom with a bucket (she would think about that fact later) and dived in just in the knick of it- Things were too perilous for a cheer, but with relief and adrenaline running through her veins Julie released Derf's comforting hand and made a rush for the Professor. "Arresto Momentum-" she shouted, putting every bit of her will power and magical strength into the spell as she aimed for the crowd who'd seized the Professor. She daren't risk a more offensive approach- least she hurt Grimsbane in the process of saving the older witch. Julie only prayed it would take full effect long enough to wrench her from the corpse's grasp. at the very least, Derfael's fingers were now safe. |
The fires, the never-ending stench of rot that clogged her nose, and the screams that would be sure to haunt her dreams for years to come (if she survived this) had thrown Celestia into a state of confusion. Like for many of her students, her world had narrowed to attempting to set as many Inferi on fire as possible. She needed to get these kids somewhere safe. They were being overrun, this was too much for their small group; she had to do something NOW. She could hear voices shouting out incantations from outside of their little group, but that had honestly become background noise because she needed to figure out how to surround them all with flame without burning any kids when she wasn't even sure what everyone's positions were and--- As the rotting arms of an Inferius grabbed her from behind with a shockingly hard grip, Celestia couldn't help letting out a small yelp of shock and fear. Only seconds later, she was completely surrounded and from the students' screaming, someone else in their group was in trouble too. The torch that Celestia still clutched in her outstretched hand flew at the Inferius's face that was standing directly across from her, but most of her attention went to firing off Knockback jinxes at the Inferi around her. The problem was that she wasn't quite thinking straight. All she could think about was the putrid scent and the horrific sights that had suddenly become her world. She wasn't even aiming her wand too well because she was fighting, kicking, and generally struggling against the Inferius that held her -- though she'd kick any of the other Inferi who came within range of her foot. She knew that these struggles were futile, but even as visions of her own death flashed before her eyes, Celestia's terror didn't ratchet up into blind, all-consuming panic until she heard Derfael's shout. Was he shouting because she was surrounded, or was he shouting out a desperate plea for her help? The fact that the first scenario was most likely didn't penetrate the fog of panic that had suddenly filled the professor's mind. Some sort of animalistic instincts took over as she redoubled her efforts to get away. She didn't even notice Julie's shouted incantation, or Charlie's shouts from above; they simply didn't register in her mind. She had to get away. She HAD to. She didn't want to die like this. She didn't want ANYONE to die like this. |
If Charlie was going to be really honest, he'd simply flee out of the scene and cry in a corner. But thankfully, that Badger rage inside him continued to grow as his friends and schoolmates struggled to free themselves. He knew he had to think faster and smarter as he hovered above the group. He'd seen Grimsbane's attempt at knocking back an Inferi, and that gave him an idea. Charlie circled around the group, and aimed at the creatures who attempted to grab on one of the students, and pushed them back with a knockback jinx and a banishing spell. "FLIPENDO! DEPULSO!" his mind switched to Quidditch mode where he thought of his spell as his quaffle, and the Inferi as his goal post. He knew that was the only way to align his spell perfectly. Another fly around was made, aiming at the creatures who haven't managed to grab a victim yet, and severed their arms. That was the only way he could think of to stop the Inferis from immobilizing his friends. "DIFFINDO!" Charlie was relentless at this point, flying around the group, out of the Inferi's reach and peppered them with the knockback jinx, and severed their limbs along the way. That should somehow stall the hoard to allow his friends to manage those that got into their tight circle. |
Anna was distracted from her Knockback Jinx casting when someone zoomed from the Castle towards the group surrounded by Inferi in a broom. That was a brilliant idea and she wished she had HER broom there with her so she could get closer to the chaos without being in danger. The person was flying so fast and so high up that she couldn't exactly tell who it was, though the flight technique proved it was probably a fellow Quidditch player and she couldn't help but feel proud of the sport and what fellow players could do with their abilities. If only she knew other of her fellow players were some of the ones fighting for their lives at the moment, but she was still pretty far away to see who exactly those in the group were. The Gryffindor realised her Jinxes weren't being as effective as she'd hoped, so she held her breath and actually debated whether acting Gryffindor-like and dashing off towards the group was the best decision at that moment. It seemed like a lost cause. The group was definitely being overtaken and some of the living seemed to be going down or pretty near so. Still holding her breath, the third year hesitated for a second before running their way. Ugh, death wish, ugh ugh ugh. But it was the right thing to do, she knew it in her bones. Ollie was definitely out there fighting too, and had Matt been there he would be in the thick of it as well, she was sure. She couldn't stay out just because she was afraid. Knowing her brothers, they probably wouldn't be afraid were they in her shoes - She was a Meriwether TOO and would make their name proud TOO! The adrenaline rush in her was so intense that when she was a lot closer to the chaos all she could do was raise her wand RIGHT AT THE CLOSEST INFERI AND NOT TOWARDS ANY OF THE LIVING PEOPLE and struggle to catch her breath because of the awful smell. She was still outside the circle and had ZERO intentions on getting in the actual midst of it, but still. SHE WAS THERE. MERLIN. "EXPULSO!" She yelled the first spell that came to her mind that would cause the Dark Creatures to stay AWAY from her and, with any luck, push many of them back as far and hard as possible. Hopefully cause some of the Inferi to explore as well, that would be useful. Gross, but useful. |
The wandless girl's pulling does nothing to loosen the rotting corpse's grip on her neck. With a sicking CRUNCH, the bat shatters bone, and the lower half of its other arm falls limply to the ground. The angry creature's good arm clutches tighter and tighter, intending to choke the life out of the human until... What the-? The inferius's head is knocked clean off by something whizzing by, falling with a dull thud, but its gripping arm is still intact, for now. Without its sight, the creature cannot hope to avoid the severing charm thrown at it; its remaining arm finally relaxes its grip on the wandless one as it detaches. Now headless and mostly armless, the Inferius staggers blindly, narrowly missing the fire spells aimed. It swings its bony stump of an arm in the direction of human voices. It's not giving up the fight that easily! Several Inferi jump and grab at the boy on the broom, but he's too high to reach. Their sharp, decaying teeth gnash in frustration. They shake as a strange liquid is poured over them, splashing drops onto the humans. The group surrounding the adult move in too fast to be hit by the small human's (Julie) spell. One of the adult's kicks lands on an Inferius's spine, chopping it in half. The top half remains attached to her, arms wrapped firmly around her neck. Its head turns with a crackle of bone, white lifeless eyes staring into hers, and lets out a ferocious cry. Some of the knockback jinxes fired hit their target, blasting a few Inferi backward in a tangle of bones... but only for a moment. The creatures blink in a daze as they hobble forward again, some missing arms and legs but angrier than ever. Seeing an easy target, several of them round on the frozen boy (Derf) and tackle him to the ground. Surely this one won't put up too much of a fight... |
All at once, the combined effort of everyone - or almost everyone, as his own fire spells somehow managed to miss their mark - helped to take down the Inferius that had its grip on Bel. Abra wanted nothing more than to check she was okay after that ordeal, but the BIG ordeal - the whole swarm thing - was still going on, and it was all he could do to try and keep the rest of the horde from coming any closer. "Incendio! INCENDIO!" There was something splashing him, he realised, but Abra wasn't entirely sure if it was water or some kind of... corpse fluid. The very idea actually made him gag, halfway through a spell, a spell that he never actually finished. "Incen-..." Never finished, because Derf's shout had alerted Abra, and he span on the spot to see Professor Grimsbane's predicament at last. Eyes wide, he raised his wand and was about to join Julie in her attempts to help the Transfiguration professor, when sudden movement in Derf's vicinity drew his attention to the Hufflepuff again. "DERF!" Abra screamed, his voice breaking as he desperately screeched his best friend's name. At once, he turned his wand on the Inferi around Derfael, and yelled, "RELASHIO!" before throwing caution to the wind. He dove forward, grabbing at Inferi and firing more Revulsion Jinxes, fully intending to try and physically haul them off of his Hufflepuff before he could be overwhelmed. |
everything suddenly felt- Slow. The sounds surrounding her, the spells shooting by, and the movements of her friends- It was like someone had hit the pause button. Julie screamed, furious as her spell completely missed the horde of inferi around Grimsbane. No no no no no no no- It was Abra's scream which brought her back, pulling her from her B.S.O.D moment and making the witch whip her head to a sight which chilled her to the bone. "Broomstick- Help Derfael-" She cried out to the boy with the bucket as she jabbed her wand f frantically, sending a huge rain of arrows to the Inferi still attacking the Transfiguration Professor. "Bel- Quick, come here-" Julie shouted, reaching her hand out for the hufflepuff- Guilt and fear gnawing at her from the inside out. It was her fault- she shouldn't have left him- But Grimsbane- But she shouldn't have let go. Damn it all to hell, but he had just been standing there. Frozen, and she hadn't had time to think it through. H would be okay, he had to be. he Had to be. She sent incendio, after incendio at the crowd around them, unwilling to let the creatures take more ground even as they lost what precious little they had. Quicksand- Vines- They needed something to impede the creatures movements,. Her mind raced through options as qucikly as it could- Glisseo, no- Escarpa no, NO, they didn't need scarves- "Glacius Tria!" She shouted with all her might, pointing at the feet of the Inferi who held tight to the professor. This time, she was much closer- possibly dangerously so but it would have to hit at least a few of them from this range- as the spell shot forth, Julie made a silent plea to any and all Gods who would listen. Please- please- |
Her surroundings were becoming nothing more than a blurred din of noise as she struggled to physically connect with as many Inferi body parts as she could. Celestia couldn't tell what was going on, really. She heard the kids shouting but the noise sounded as though it was coming from far away. She blinked some [s]tears[/i] nervous sweat out of her eyes, but that didn't seem to help much with the black spots that were blocking out chunks of what she should be seeing. Everything in her body felt cold, and she only hoped to Circe that all of the kids were still okay. Bel didn't even have a wand... The professor's thoughts seemed to be coming to her in a strange order, making her situation more and more confusing. Dimly -- in the back of her mind -- she knew that this was NOT a good sign, that she needed to do something. She was the adult here for Circe's sake! But she couldn't maneuver her wand too well with those corpses draped all over her. If only she could conjure fire wandlessly... She could live with some burns if it would get her free. Celestia released her grip on the Inferius that had such a stranglehold on her neck with her wand arm; her left arm was still pulling and struggling to get the thing off. The next step in this plan was harder to carry out. She needed some kind of spell that would go around herself and make the Inferi let go... But what was it? The incantation danced on the tip of her tongue and seemed just out of reach to her frustrated, swirling thoughts. Finally, finally, one of her kicks -- for she was still struggling like a maniac, almost instinctively -- connected with the Inferius that held her neck. She heard a sickening crack as its lower half fell away, and for a moment, hope penetrated her foggy mind like the sun on a cloudy day. But she had forgotten: Inferi could be hardy creatures and weren't deterred by lost body parts. The loss of its lower half was probably no more than an annoyance to the filthy creature. This was confirmed in the worst way as the Inferius kept up its stranglehold on her neck -- only now she was what was keeping it in the air rather than its own legs. As the pressure of its hands seemed to increase, pain clouded Celestia's thoughts even further. She could feel blood dribbling down her neck in a sticky river. The thought that she was probably injured other places on her body and simply running on adrenaline flitted across her mind briefly, but it made no sense to the professor. And then... Then Celestia heard another sickening crack, and suddenly the Inferius was looking directly into her eyes. Any remaining rational thoughts that had been swirling around her mind emptied out at the sight; her blood ran cold as the soulless, empty eyes bored into her brown eyes, and Celestia returned to using both hands to try and detach the thing's arms. Any thoughts of plans or spells had drifted away to make room for a fresh surge of panic. The thing let out a ferocious cry -- Celestia hadn't even known they could make noise, and she wished that she was still living with that ignorance -- and the witch managed a small, barely audible snarl back at the creature as she bared her teeth. |
specifically Charlie, Julie, Grimsbane, and Inferi (but also Abra and Derf) Quote:
The crunch of breaking the inferi's arm was satisfying and disgusting at the same time, though the last arm still gripping her was still choking Bel right up until someone diffindoed it. Bel gasped for air and wrenched the disgusting bone away and tossed it as far as she could, took a deep breath, and still making choking noises, swung the bat again in a wide arc. "Charlie! Charlie get more brooms!" That would help. If they could get OUT of here, out and then maybe fight from the air. Quote:
.... Grimsbane! Abra was going for Derf, Bel registered this out of the corner of her vision, but the professor needed help. Whether Julie would be tugged along or not, Bel threw herself back in the fray, swinging the bat as wildly as she could. Part of her knew that the professor was their best chance at getting through this. So they needed her. She swung again, hard as she could, at the inferi facing Grimsbane down. |
Jinx after jinx, Charlie kept his barrage of spells and knocked out as much Inferis as he could to give them an opening to run. He'd been focused on his task when a couple of Inferis tried to get hold of him. With a good amount of Chaser training under his belt, he, of course, managed to steer clear away from them...and then some. Charlie saw a very small opening to attack when the foul creatures showed their annoyance. As they bared their rotting teeth, the Hufflepuff's eyes went ablaze with pure anger and retaliated back with a powerful fire spell. "INCENDIO!" The next thing that caught his attention was a number of Inferis who got hold of Derf. No...not his chocolate frog buddy! Perplexed by what he saw, Charlie barely registered what the Slytherin girl told him, but was quick to device a plan right then and there. He had thought of using the bucket with him, but for it to be useful against an Inferi, he would need a bunch of spells to make it a proper weapon. The next thing Charlie knew, he was already on the move and levitated a couple of boulders nearby. Making sure that their fellow Quidditch player, Abraham was well out of the way, Charlie swung his wand arm as forcefully as he could and willed the boulders to ram against the Inferi pile that was on Derf. "DEPULSO!" Charlie would've watched the Inferis go down like pinballs, but when Bel called out to him, the Hufflepuff nodded and flew towards the direction of the Quidditch Pitch with sheer determination. The undead creatures were just too many for them. Flying out of the scene was their best chance to be able to regroup with the rest of the school. Merlin. All of this trouble just for a tub of broomstick polish. |
trying to catch up ... ish o.o aiming at the inferi holding Grimsbane... There were jinxes and spells flying, as more students seemed to be coming from the other direction and did Bel just ...? Skylar stared wide-eyed, impressed with the Hufflepuff Captain and Seeker's swing, because clearly she'd make a fair beater should she ever decide to give someone else a chance at the snitch. And the inferi seemed to not be slowing down in the slightest. But ooh, broom. Why of course! Before she had the moment to summon her broom though she found herself rolling out of the way of the line of fire between the spells and inferi, unfazed by the bruises and grass stains. "Professor ..." she called weakly, as one of the creatures was grabbing at her. Oh no. Oh no. It felt as though her stomach contents were going to empty onto the ground, moreso than portkey travel. "Lumos Maximus," she said, with such fury, casting at the inferi that had its hold on the transfiguration professor, because casting a fire charm seemed FAR too risky and she hoped the light would be enough |
Inferi! Heading down the pathway to everyone else with Quinn! Rylee's fight or flight instincts kicked in real fast. Should they try to make a run for it or fight? What were the odds of out running Inferi that were very quickly closing in on them. Whether they stood their ground and fought or turned and fled how far would a second year and first year get by themselves? With trembling hands and frightened blue eyes she cast a quick glance at Quinn. "We need to get away... I can hear shouting from down the pathway, we need to get to whoever's there..." She was unable to make out who the voices were but from all the screaming happening there had to be several people over there. Strength in numbers... and they didn't have the numbers on their side right now. It was just a matter of how. How were they going to get away. "Incendo!" Rylee cast again over and over at any Inferi that came anywhere near herself and Quinn. The smell was enough to make her sick as if the fear itself wasn't enough. Thin bony fingers were to close for her liking and she backed right up into Quinn grabbing the girls hand. "The moment you can, run. Keep casting Incendo at them and run. We need help..." There was a plan now. Run. Cast incendo and run. Completely un-Rylee like but even she was smart enough to know when to run. The Gryffindor wasted no time in running down the pathway the first chance she got, her hand still holding tightly onto Quinn's bringing the younger girl with her. Every chance she got to cast a spell (incendo or flipendo) in hopes of slowing the inferi down she did. What was that?! Rylee's eyes widened in fear, her head pounding in her ears as she came to a very sudden stop. There right up ahead was a crowd of inferi attacking her friends! It didn't matter if she was close enough to see who was who. All she knew was she had to do something! But...what? |
Between the whacking and fire spells flying about, the Inferi's numbers are gradually dwindling. Arms, legs, and other body parts litter the pathways, some of them still moving, but there are still more than enough of the creatures left to take on the humans. Some pile on top of one boy (Derf), growling menacingly. A decayed hand reaches up to grab the boy's neck, squeezing tighter and tighter until... something collides with it. The boy diving at the creatures (Abra) crahses into them. One Inferius snarls at him as it goes down, and its leg detaches right in the boy's hand. A couple others are blasted back by his spell, but they don't stay down for long. Bones crackle as they get back to their feet, this time turning to the other boy (Abra) instead. Still, a few of the creatures remain on top of the boy (Derf). As one of them pins his arms, a strange rumbling sound is heard. A couple of boulders come barreling toward the Inferi, knocking a few of them down with a CRUNCH! But the boulders aren't stopping. They pick up speed, rolling closer and closer to the boy himself (Derf). Better think fast, human! The adult human isn't faring much better. The legless Inferius continues its stranglehold on her until... WHACK! The girl's (Bel) bat crunches against bone. The creature's head flies off and lands on the ground, its white cloudy eyes still darting. The hands loosen grip and fall at her feet along with the rest of its torso. More Inferi quickly move in to take its place. One creature is held in place as a spell hits its feet, but it isn't deterred. It flings itself at the woman, leaving its frozen legs behind. Another is blinded by the girl's (Skylar) light spell and staggers back with an angry cry, clawing wildly in front of itself. Surely it will make contact with human flesh... |
A total rush of adrenaline was what was keeping Abra going, from the situation in general and Derf's specific predicament. He wasn't even freaking out from handling literal dead bodies, pulling them away from Derf and trying to unpin him from the ground, or from the fact that he was literally facing off with dark magic. Survival instinct had taken over and didn't really allow for too much thought aside from trying to get out of there alive, even though the fact that these felt like dying moments had already settled somewhere in his soul. Then it all happened in the space of a few seconds. All of a sudden, the tables had turned, and instead of rescuing Derf, Abra found himself face to face with the same Inferi that he had been blasting away. All the breath seemed to go out of him as he stared into their blank eyes, before raising his wand and his beaters bat ready to try and take some down. Except... it wasn't a beaters bat. Abra felt that dangling down his arm, hanging by the strap around his wrist; he'd dropped it while trying to rescue his friend. It wasn't until he looked that he fully registered that he was, in fact, holding a leg. An Inferius leg. A dead leg. The moment he stood staring at the leg in his hand lasted about half a second too long. There was a blinding flash of light, and then a blinding flash of pain, as he was caught across his shoulder and back by a flailing, clawing Inferius hand. "Aghhhh!" He was in pain, he was blinking light spots out of his eyes, and he was now facing off with more dead things that he could barely see, let alone fight. In desperation, Abra swung the leg in their general direction - sending more pain shooting through his shoulder - not wanting to send off a fire spell lest he accidentally aim it at friend, rather than foe. |
Everything around him was in a haze, moving in slow motion, and it was almost like having an out of body experience. Feeling devastatingly naked and helpless, all the spells being shouted and fired off left and right were nothing more than background noise to his baited breathing and hammering heart. His stomach churned and it was as though his insides had liquefied. A seemingly far off growl barely reached his ears and he stood as still as he had when struck by Petrificus Totalus. Mere seconds dragged on like an eternity...and the growl only grew louder... ...and by the time the 16-year-old's eyes refocused, the mangled and twisted face constructed from pale putrid flesh and jagged teeth was one top of him. No...not one face...but several faces. And then his world was suddenly spinning, falling backwards, and he didn't even have the lung capacity in the moment to scream. And then the air was knocked out of him completely as his back hit the ground with a heavy thud and the back of his head bounced off a rock. Then a crushing weight was on him and a searing pain in his chest followed by the flow of something hot and sticky oozing down his front and soaking his shirt. Letting out a sudden gasp as his lungs burned, desperate for air, his blurry vision was drawn back into focus as he saw multiple inferi descending upon him...pinning him to the ground, tearing at his clothes and flesh. He wanted his mum. He wanted his dad. Why wasn't his dad here? Why wasn't anyone here to save them? Where was the Ministry? Where was hope? ....and then there was his voice. His Gryffindor's voice cutting through the chilling snarls and cracking of ancient joints. "A---b---bey..." grits out as he stretches his fingers as if seeking the other boy out. But then there is a flash of that very Gryffindor hurtling himself at the inferi, protecting him and seeing that not only gave an ache of pride...but rejuvenated the fight within Derf. He would linger on the beauty that had been this role reversal later - because he WOULD, because they were getting out of this alive. All of them. TOGETHER. Somehow holding on to his wand during the whole thing, perhaps his subconscious need to hold on to SOMETHING driving that home, he gave a loud grunt and then then felt inferi hands around his throat and his wrists - more searing white pain. And to top it all off, there were BOULDERS heading his way. It was desperate times and while his moral compass with such transfiguration spells was still pointing towards it being WRONG, he had reasoned enough with himself in light of OWL studies to forgive himself for inanimate objects into a creature. It hadn't been a creature to begin with and it still wasn't an ACTUAL free range creature after the spell took hold. So it was with a straight down...diagonal up-left...and straight right that Derf's wand shot off a series of blue spells towards the boulders, transfiguring them into large burly Bullmastiffs with one goal in mind: protect the living and tear apart the undead. The hand around his neck, tightening and bruising, it was becoming more and more difficult to breath...and his vision was darkening. |
Only a few of the once vast horde of Inferi attacking the humans remain. Their fallen comrades scatter the pathways, leaving only charred carcasses and piles of body parts (some of which still moving) behind. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in anger. The holdouts continue their attack with renewed fury. The creatures take advantage of one boy's (Abra) moment of distraction to claw him across the back, but the injury is only a taste of what they can do. The disembodied leg hits one of the corpses in the abdomen. The force is enough to rip the creature in half, and it crashes into its comrades, causing them all to fall in a tangle of detached limbs and bones. Another group is about to finish off the other boy (Derf) as the boulders hurtle ever closer to them. The boy's spell hits, but the transfigutation is incomplete, resulting in a pair of deformed rock-dogs as ghastly as the Inferi themselves. The doglike creatures snarl as they ram the Inferi, knocking them aside. The corpses blink in confusion and struggle back to their feet, but before they can launch another attack... Every pair of white, lifeless eyes, including those of the detached skulls on the ground, turn toward the castle, as if some invisible presence is calling them. Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, the Inferi slink away, finally admitting defeat. |
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Her fears were not unfounded, as she was still surrounded by Inferi on all sides. Pain had become as familiar as breathing to her tonight; Celestia even began to vaguely think that she must have built up some sort of tolerance for the myriad gashes that littered her arms, neck, and back by now. She was very, very wrong. Another Inferius torso came flying at her, and Celestia couldn't stop a scream from escaping her lips as the creature dug into her shoulders in order to keep itself upright. She didn't know or care what had happened to its legs. Her wand arm was shaking and her wand itself was not pointed anywhere useful at the moment. Useless. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Inferius that had been blinded by Skylar's spell began to claw wildly in front of itself; she was the only thing in front of it. Not all of its slashes connected with her flesh, but her left arm soon became a shredded mess and warm, sticky blood flowed freely. The world swam before Celestia's eyes in various shades of red. The thought that she was going to die -- could already be dying -- flashed through the thirty-one year old's mind and for a moment she could only see an image of her parents, smiling and waving at her from their front porch as she prepared to depart for Hogwarts after Christmas. The professor couldn't have told you how much time passed between these injuries being inflicted and the moment when the Inferi suddenly released her and began to shamble back along the pathways. Her world was comprised of several types of pain that she hadn't known had existed before tonight and a despair that seemed to go bone-deep. However, her vision was no longer red as the second legless corpse had fallen away from her and crawled off with its fellows. Slowly, other colors reentered the world as some of the pain and pressure from the Inferi's various grips lessened by some degree. She was still covered in gashes that oozed blood all over her body, her left arm was mangled, and bone could be seen poking out of her left shoulder -- but she could mostly see the world around her, though it looked strangely fuzzy. She couldn't remember why that was good. After some indeterminable amount of time, Celestia seemed to realize dimly that she was not being held or scraped by claws anymore. The professor forced herself to lift her feet and stumble forward -- only to immediately trip over some body part strewn on the pathways in front of her. Luckily, she didn't fall on any corpse parts. Her mind was on some sort of confused auto-pilot. She made a short, sweeping motion with her wand and the parts scattered in front of her simply Vanished as though they had never been. Her wand arm had several gashes that oozed yet more blood from where the Inferi had taken hold of it -- but compared to the agony that was her left arm, that pain was nothing. Vanishing was as natural as breathing to Celestia; it always had been. Still, darkness lingered at the corners of her eyes and threatened to encroach on the world. She. Had. To. Stay. Conscious. She couldn't remember WHY she needed to be conscious so badly, so she simply crawled forward on the ground as best she could, leaving a slimy trail of blood that leaked onto the grass behind her. The professor didn't stop until she had come up next to one of her students (Derf), lying prone on the ground. Her eyes were full of black spots and her vision went in and out of focus, which only added to her confusion. Her left hand reached out -- of its own volition, it seemed to Celestia -- towards the boy's wrist. Check for a pulse, a voice in the back of her head whispered. Yes. She'd do that. She could feel beating under the boy's skin. But there were still two monsters standing near to the boy and she stared at them in incomprehension for several minutes. That far-off voice in the back of her head slowly jumped in to help her again; she had seen this mistake many, many times in class. And the thoughts echoing from the back of her head in the form of a voice reminded her that she knew what to do. Agony spiked down her wand arm as she forced the wand into the proper motions -- and completed the transformation that Derf had begun. Two burly Bullmastiffs stood where the rock-creatures had been seconds before. She had this feeling that they needed the dogs' help, though she couldn't have said for what. |
A few seconds was all Abra needed for his vision to clear and re-adjust again, but those few seconds might have meant the difference between life and death. He didn't really have a choice in the matter, however, especially not as, after swinging the leg, he overbalanced and had to take a moment to stagger to the side so as not to go down to the ground. That, he thought reasonably, would only end badly. But the leg had connected with something. Abra had felt it meet a body, heard the smash and clatter of what must have been a whole bunch of Inferi going down, and a second later his vision cleared and he saw the aftermath of the swing for himself. There was no time to celebrate, however, because there were more to fight. Or....... not? Abra was staring wildly around, his eyes falling again on the Inferi around Derf. He was ready for a second go at trying to help his friend, when suddenly... it was over? The Inferi just... slunk away, back from where they'd come. To do what, he didn't know. He couldn't be sure that it was all actually over, that nothing else would be coming, but this, right here and right now, had finished. As though suddenly realising he was holding it, Abra dropped the leg. He stared around at the carnage of the scene, the students still standing, a bloodied Professor Grimsbane, and Derf, still on the ground. Derf, not getting up. As it began to dawn on him that the immediate danger had passed, the rush of adrenaline also started to fade, and Abra started to actually process exactly what had happened, exactly what was still happening. Pain flared across his back and shoulder, and though he felt something dripping down the back of his shirt, he didn't reach back to try and assess the wound. He stood there in shock, covered in scratches and bruises and his one significant injury, and started to shake, turning at once into a complete trembling wreck, unable to do anything but stand and stare. |
It was at that precise moment that a silver fennec fox ran down the Pathways until it came to a stop near the group. Hirsch's voice boomed out for everyone to hear, "The Inferi have retreated back to the Lake with their treasure. We have news from Merchefianess Arethusa that they've returned to their caves and aren't moving. It looks like we're safe." Hopefully. "Make sure everyone gets to the Hospital Wing to get looked at or to get some Calming Draught or some kind of potion to help them sleep peacefully tonight." Merlin knows, they needed it. "Afterwards, please make your way to your common rooms. Well done on putting up a brave fight, everyone." Once the message was over, the fox disappeared in a silvery whisp of smoke. |
*slight rearranging* someone get him to the hospital wing pls xD The hand around his throat was only tightening, crushing his windpipe, and Derf had used what precious air he had stored in his lungs to utter the incantation to turn the boulders into dogs, so his chest was burning from the outside and inside. Shirt stained with his own blood and oxygen all but depleted within, his vision remained focused just enough to see his transfiguration effort only half succeed - which he wasn't terribly surprised about that since he really hardly ever succeeded in fully transfiguring anything - but what made him wish that the inferi had just ripped his heart out of his chest earlier was seeing the intent of his spell.....completely fail. Rather than latching their ferocious jaws on undead limbs and tear them from the rotting torsos...all they did was hurtle themselves at the Dark creatures... .....and then they merely stood right back up. He had failed.He head was beginning to spin and ability to see darkening. His entire mouth felt numb and there were sharp jolts of electrifying pain shooting from both his wrists up to the tips of his fingers and elbow. Breathing becoming more and more shallow, his eyes closed and at that precise moment (finally some #goodluckDerf?) the inferius' hands around his neck steadied and even released, filling his lungs with sweet oxygen. Or as sweet as it could be considering the smell of death in the air. His waning vision just barely registered the ethereal silvery glow of the Vulpes zerda and voice of the Defense professor (yes, even in times of crisis he could still recall scientific names) nor could he feel his professor's hand on his wrist - which would very much reveal a pulse...and that his wrist was very much broken. Both of them had been at the hands of the inferi.Again.Failed to protect anyone. It was an odd sort of thing, falling asleep at a time like this. Blunt trauma to the back of the head from it hitting a rock when he had been tackled to the ground had caused a terrible throbbing to his head...but that was going away now. All of it was. Nothing hurt and everything was calm. Peaceful. |
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Until the coin that was in her pocket was ripped from her pocket. The inferi scattering all back to the lake. It all just seemed to happen so quickly ... everything ... literally everything was a blur and Skylar hadn't noticed the trail of blood from Professor Grimsbane in her daze ... which the seventh year slipped right into a pile a stray bones, sending one flying (likely in the direction of Julie, oops?). And she was just splayed out, feet in a piled of bones, bruised bum, confused and dazed, even as the voice of Hirsch broke through telling them to head to the Hospital Wing. Give her a minute, please. |
another pass out, sorry guys Beating under the boy's wrist. Good. Celestia could tell that something was still so wrong with the wrist itself, so she dropped it quickly. She felt like events were taking place from a distance that kept stretching and stretching in length. Hirsch's Patronus blinded the professor when it arrived, and she blinked several times to return her vision to the filmy state that it had been in before. Useless. Her strength had long fled her limbs, and she could only pick out two words of what the Patronus was saying: "hospital wing." Yes. Yes...the kids needed to go there. She didn't understand why this boy (Derf) was on the ground or why another boy and girl (Abra and Skylar) looked as hurt and/or confused as she felt. There were other kids around, she knew; she could see shapes of their bodies, but they weren't standing close enough to her for her to pick out any details. Hospital wing. Yes. But this boy on the ground couldn't go like that. The professor waved her wand, biting back yet another scream, and conjured stretchers out of nowhere that hovered above the ground. They would stay in the world until she was awake again to make them go away. Why wouldn't she be awake? Celestia tried to figure that out, but it only gave her a headache on top of everything else. Her wand arm fell limply to her side as she still sat beside the injured boy who looked as peaceful as though he were merely sleeping. The thing is, she had conjured 10 stretchers when she had only meant to conjure one. Why had she done that? Everything was so strange tonight. The world didn't make sense anymore, and Celestia could feel the smooth, comforting darkness of unconsciousness beckoning to her as blackness spread across her vision. There was some reason that she hadn't wanted that, but Celestia could hardly remember what that reason was now. She swayed on the ground slightly before falling onto her side to lie on the ground right next to the boy. Darkness was indeed peaceful. |
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It would have felt like a terrible nightmare if it wasn't for the stinging and aching of her throat from the choking she had escaped from only moments before, if it wasn't for the myriad extra slices and cuts that she had taken from the inferi who were attacking her and also the ones that were swarming the professor. Swarming. That was another word that she hadn't really truly known until this night. And they kept going. But somehow... somehow it felt like they were making headway. Sometimes literally, given heads were actually being knocked away. Her arms ached from swinging the bat and hitting the inferi, but she didn't stop. She kept swinging. More and more. As much as she could. Quote:
And then.... Then they were going. The few that were left anyway. The body parts of the ones they had destroyed still littered the pathways, entirely gruesome and still stinking. Quote:
This was not the best of times. Where was Charlie with those brooms? Bel choked back another sob, her throat on fire, and took a deep breath. Was this on her? They really DID need help. But getting all the way up to the hospital wing.... two unconscious so far, broken bones, scratches, and who knew what else? Grimsbane had sent a patronus, hadn't she? She didn't have her wand but she WAS good under pressure. And there were some younger kids there too, thank goodness they hadn't been caught in the crossfire like the rest of them. Or at least, not that Bel could see. Who knew though, who knew. Grimsbane had conjured stretchers, but honestly Bel wasn't so sure that the rest of them were capable of getting them on there and getting them back to the school without help. Maybe if Charlie managed to find brooms. What if she'd sent him off and he'd gotten hurt and caught and he was all alone though?? She couldn't think about that. The best thing was to stabilize Derf and Grimsbane. She knew that. Everything she knew about first aid was somehow clicking into place all on its own. "Rylee, run and get help!" If she could. Bel knelt down next to Derf and with as much care as possible, moved him into the recovery position. The last thing they needed was for the unconscious people to choke. "Abra, help me-"sob "-with him? Julie, Skylar, c-can you move Professor Grimsbane into the rec-c-covery position too? Like this. So she doesn't ch-choke. Carefully." Bel herself was starting to shake. Just little tremors. Just little ones. She was especially careful with Derf's wrists. They didn't look in good shape, though one seemed worse to her than the other. Suddenly she realised she had the bat, it might have had all sorts of inferi gore on it, but it was strong and straight and sturdy. It'd do for a quick triage situation to immobilize at least one of his broken limbs. Trying to get her breathing under control, Bel pulled her shoelaces out of her sneakers and used those to carefully make a splint, securing Derf's wrist so that it was supported and at the least wouldn't get worse before a healer could deal with it. Hopefully that would be soon. As for the other wrist, Bel had no choice but to go for a discarded piece of inferi arm bone, not seeing anything else in reach. Trying not to retch, she snapped off the hand and used the arm bone to.... well, to secure Derf's. Gross but effective. |
Going to get help! Everything happened so quickly. Spells were being fired left and right and beaters bats were being swung around. Screams were echoing from every direction and there was blood... lots of it. Each second that passed felt like an eternity. The swarm of Inferi that stood between Quinn, herself and the others seemed never-ending. Her fear of hurting someone by shooting off spells was overpowered by the need to help them all. Rylee did her best in helping fend off the Inferi from where she stood on the path, willing them to go away. And just like that... it happened. As if a huge magnet dropped down upon them and pulled the living dead away. Stunned by the suddenness in which it all seemed to just...end.. Rylee very hesitantly lowered her wand, her hand still shaking like a leaf in a mid-fall storm. Blue eyes slowly wandered over the damage that had been done, no doubt filling with tears. Professor Grimsbane, Derf, Abra, Skylar... Someone shouting her name was enough to snap her into attention. Help, right. They needed help. That patronus telling them all to get to the hospital wing wasn't very helpful when a few of them here couldn't move if they wanted to. She would have to be the one to get them help. Being only able to nod in response to Bel's shouting the young Gryffindor took off down the pathways towards the castle as quickly as she could, one hand still firmly gripping her wand just in case and the other holding onto Quinn's hand. She was taking her back to the castle with her. She would be back with help! |
The good news was that Abra was not hysterical. The bad news was that that part was likely to come later. The other bad news was that he was still shaking, still standing and staring, and was starting to feel a little bit like a spectator in these events rather than someone actually taking part in them. Maybe that had sort of been the case all along, he couldn't remember. He couldn't... quite... remember... How long he'd been standing there like that, Abra wouldn't have been able to say. All he knew was that, at some point, Bel spoken to him. Huh? Abra blinked, looking down at her and at Derf, still feeling rather like he wasn't really there at all. Professor Grimsbane, he now saw, was also out of action; had he looked a little further afield, he might also have noticed Skylar was in something of a predicament as well. The fact that little Rylee had run off for help had totally escaped his attention at the moment it had happened, even though Bel had shouted to her. Perhaps, at any other time, in any other circumstances, the sight of Derf in his situation might have stirred up painful memories of the last time they had spoke, but Abra was struggling to think or even feel much of anything at all apart from some residual fear, and no small amount of nausea. But Bel had sprung into action, tending to Derf and bringing Abra's attention to her. Help with him... help with Derf... right. Right... Still shaking like a leaf, Abra dropped to his knees on the ground beside his two Hufflepuff friends, the sudden jolt sending a reminder of pain across his back. Absently, he reached back over his shoulder to feel for the damage, and when he brought his trembling hand away, it was bloodied. Filing this information away in his head, he wiped his hand off on his shirt, and looked at the unconscious Derf, then at Bel. "What... d-do I...?" he said through chattering teeth, his voice hollow and not quite his own. He still held his wand in his left hand, but the beaters bat had disappeared in those last seconds of chaos. |
Charlie Kane finally...finally made it back to the pathways. What he saw on the way back did things to his brain while carrying as many brooms from the Pitch as he could. From high above he saw the mess of dismembered Inferi parts, burning trees, bushes, and grass. In a span of minutes, their school...his school was turned upside down just like that...and he felt like...they weren't enough to put up a fight. On board his broom was school brooms bunched up together and tied at the back of his own broom with his belt, school tie, and shoelaces...leaving him with no choice but to toss his shoes aside and leave the Pitch without it. A couple more brooms were tucked under one arm, while the other maneuvered the handle, directing it towards the direction of the pathways with haste. As he neared the place, Charlie could feel his insides turn. Was he too late??? The Inferi was gone, but he could see two figures on the ground...and...Merlin...Nonononono. Charlie lurched forward, and landed unceremoniously on the ground with the other brooms, and was on all fours as he approached the group. He could feel the blood rise and fall quickly from his head down to his toes...and felt like passing out too, out of panic and shock. Charlie balled his cold hands and willed his insides to calm the fwooper down. He had to think...he had to help everyone. It was the very least he could do because so far, the word 'failure' was plastered on his forehead. "I...I got the brooms, Captain..." Charlie could feel his chest tighten, and was fighting back trauma. He knew he had to think straight. For his friends. Charlie took a deep breath (which was a bad idea considering the stench), coughed his lungs out, wiped away the tears that formed in his eyes and did slow breathing instead. He kneeled barefoot beside Grimsbane and covered his face. "This is insane..." |
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