Potions hadn't been his best OWL - Józef had barely scraped an 'Acceptable', and a lot of that had been down to Jade's help. But there were some potions that he knew would come in handy, especially if he wanted to continue trainng and hopefully play Quidditch professionally. Painkillers, bruise pastes and the like would definitely help him, and given he'd strained his ankle a little that morning, he couldn't think of anything better to do than head to the Potions lab and get practicing.

Babs was on her way to the potions lab, as per usual. It's where anyone was able to find her for any type of potion they made need. Right now, she needed some bruise paste herself for accidentally kicking her football and hitting her shin into her trunk. Babs needed to stop practicing in her dorm and just go outside. On her way there, she spotted a familiar face and had the slightest smile on her lips. "I hope the broom is coming in handy," Babs called out to Jozef.

After the Headmasters announcement in the first week, it seemed that staying fit was in his best interest for more than just pursuing Quidditch after he graduated - if they were to go up against Slytherin in some sporting activities, well he was ready to DESTROY them.

Caught up in thoughts of just what these sporting activities would be, Jó didn't immediately register who was talking to him. But when he did, a wide grin crossed his face. "Babs, hey," he said, falling into step with her. "The broom is - amazing." He spoke as though he was admitting something, and scratched the back of his head.

"What can I do for you? I owe you."

Oh.

He was still on that?

It had been close to about two months since she had bought the broom for him and Babs still didn't expect him to return the favor. The girl hadn't even thought of something he could do for her. She usually got things done herself because if you wanted something done right, do it yourself. "Oh, good. I was thinking about getting my brother one too but I'm assuming they're like one of a kind? So maybe the next model that comes out," If it were anytime soon, but Babs assumed it wasn't. Sorry, Landon.

"You're still on that? First, tell me something you won't do, yeah?" That way she can narrow it down.

Oh, yes - he was ABSOLUTELY still on that.

It wasn't every day someone you weren't very close with bought you a ridiculously extravagant gift. Heck, it wasn't every day people who loved you gave you such a gift - it must have cost an absolute fortune, despite her haggling for a discount.

So yes, he was still on that. "It's not entirely one of a kind, but they were limited edition," Jó admitted, a little guilt stirring him as he thought of her brother missing out. Not enough guilt that he was going to offer Babs the broom back, though.

Something he wouldn't do? "I won't purposefully injure myself, or make myself sick."

That was a start?

UGH.

This was something that happened months ago. Please, let it go. Either way. "Makes sense. Maybe I'll write to my dad and ask if he can get Landon one. He's been needing a new broom, and I think he wants to try out for the u17's over summer," So yeah, her little brother definitely needed a new broom. Babs could easily convince their dad to get him one. It was much easier than trying to convince her mother and they weren't exactly on good terms lately.

"Okay, so I can't test my potions on you. I'll have to figure something else out," She nodded, knowing she had to brainstorm some more.

"What position does he play?" Józef couldn't help but ask. After all, Quidditch was his life, he was bound to be interested. Even if Babs didn't like it and prefered to kick around a ball on some grass. Weird. "It's a great model. Professional standard."

Maybe that was why he'd struggled to accept it so much. There was already enough pressure for him to play professionally after he graduated, given that he was bad at everything else. Having the broom to rival his idols....

Well, it didn't matter right then. "Do you only make potions with negative effects?"

The voice that could be heard from inside the chamber was persistent.

"Hello?" It beckoned again. "Hello? Follow my voice." Wherever it was coming from, it sounded as if it was moving further away. There was no mistaking it. It was a call to come along.

"Can you hear me?"

The voice echoed down the corridor, calling to anyone who might be out here as well. Where was it coming from?

Eiji was on his way back to his common room, probably since with his next step he couldn't quite remember where it was he had thought he was going, when he heard the disembodied voice calling. Of course his instinct was to assume it was one of the ghosts and of course his next assumption was Peeves...but this was far too delicate a call to be that poltergeist.

....the Grey Lady?

Was she looking for the Bloody Baron?

Freezing and feeling the hairs stand on the back of his moderately translucent neck, the seventh year spun around in place a few times looking for any signs of ANY of the ghosts that haunted Hogwarts. Or more of those...students that he kept seeing walking around the common room randomly. One had been in HIS seat all morning and it was just...there had just been a lot of unnecessary irritation.

".....Helena?" he asked, moving closer to the walls and...pressing his ear to it. Was the voice in the pipes?

Was Hogwarts aware that its acoustics were rubbish? Because they were.

If someone had asked him, he honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell them why he was down in the dungeons. Was he there patrolling the corridors doing his prefect duties? No, that didn’t sound right. Surely that would have been done by one of their prefects, what with their common room being around here somewhere?

One thing was for sure though, he wasn’t there to look at the portraits and how covered with dust and cobwebs they were. With that in mind, the prefect was about to make a quick exit until heard something echoing down the corridor calling to him? “Hello?”. He wasn’t sure why he was whispering but something about the voice made the hairs on his long, gangly arms stand on end.

Looking around and seeing nothing and no one, his eyes instantly went towards the portraits but they had been just as reliable as the any other type of magic in the castle as of late so that seemed unlikely.

Was someone in trouble? Timidly, the began to walk deeper into the maze of corridors knowing full well he couldn’t leave until he found out if someone was in trouble. It was his duty after all no matter how much the echoing voice made him feel uneasy.

Turning the corner, Ewan froze as the sight of another seventh-year boy came into sight just ahead of him with…his ear to the wall? Was that why his voice was so weird when he called out? Or maybe it was just because they were now all practically ghosts in their own right? Either way, it wasn’t exactly normal. “Everything okay Eiji? I uh…heard your voice from around the corner and followed it”. At least now he knew where it came from he could get out of there before something even weirder happened.

You know what Isla's mom always said? STRANGER DANGER. You know who wasn't here right now? ISLA'S MOM. The second year sighed. "I think I'm going to follow the voice," she announced, although it was more to herself than to anybody who might have heard her.

I mean, what did she have to lose? THE WHOLE WORLD...ALL OF IT...was gone. She was transparent. The whole school was FALLING DOWN.

"I can hear you! I'm on my way!" she said. She probably looked super silly right now, but like she said earlier, what did she have to lose? She was so determined to follow the voice now that she wasn't even focused on how dangerous this was. It was odd, but her heart wasn't even pounding at a faster rate. She was almost calm about this.

Without another word, the second year turned and headed in the direction of where she thought the voice might be. A little while later, she emerged into the corridors. Okay, where was...err...whoever this was?

He almost exited the chamber with his wand drawn but half way out, remembered that there was no magic and his wand was more likely to get accidentally snapped in some scuffle than be of any real use to him. With everything else going on, and Sunny Raine now turning everyone transparent, a snapped wand would only serve to push him over the metaphoric edge that he was teetering on.

Now about that voice. Where had it gotten off to?

Malachi searched both sides of the corridor, spotting the pair of 7th years just a ways down. “Have either of you heard a voice? One wanting to be followed?” Or was it only down in the chamber? Could they seal it shut and pretend this never happened?

Oh look, that Slytherin girl hadn’t gotten far.

The Headmaster looked to her, fixing her with his most unimpressed expression. “We do not blindly run after strange voices. Do you understand the danger you could’ve been in? There was a group. In times of uncertainty, we do not split up. You stick close to your professors and wait for further instructions. I find it hard to believe you needed to be told that. That will be 5 points from Slytherin for your sheer lack of common sense,” Weren’t Slytherins meant to be all for self preservation anyway? “And if this voice doesn’t get us killed, I’ll see you in detention tonight. 8 sharp.”

But no really, where had the voice gone?

...no answer. Maybe he was losing his mind. Being stuck here indefinitely with the future he had methodically planned out for himself seemingly out of reach could do that to a person. As was the thought of all that time studying and working towards an ambition that may never come to pass. Yeah...he could see how he might be losing his mind.

And then he was hearing ANOTHER voice and he was certain that he was losing it. Until he saw that the voice actually belong to a person. Trinetta and Missa's co-prefect, to be exact. His actual name was escaping him at the moment, not that this particularly fazed him much. "....just my voice?" he questioned, finding precisely zero reassurance for him being all pressed up against the wall trying to find the source of the voice that he was hearing.

Eiji's ears soon perked up again when yet another voice echoed in the corridors and for the briefest of moments he thought his sanity would be spared and sweet validation had...only to find that the voice belonged to Isla. Who seemed sort of off in her own little world and had not yet noticed himself and Ethan. Egor? Edward? Whatever his name was.

And then came the headmaster with a group in tow, though Eiji paid the latter little mind once he heard the man's inquiry because AHA! James Eiji Rasting was not losing his mind and someone else had heard the voice too!

"Yes, headmaster," he nodded, a look of sheer relief washing over him as he, er, stepped away from the wall and that embarrassing predicament. "A gentle voice...asking if I could hear them...and asking me to come along..." Like a siren's call from mythology or something, though Eiji left these school boy thoughts to himself in the moment. "I...am uncertain if..." what WAS his name? "...he heard it as well. I was trying to find the source of it just now...it was...entirely too disembodied to sort anything out..."

Elliot? Evan?

This was going to drive him insane as the name was on the tip of his tongue.

Trying to recall this information robbed him of the opportunity to enjoy the headmaster little speech as well, even if it did come at the detriment of his house.

Elias? Erik?

"....Edwin?" Which was muttered under his breath and with a very casual side glance towards the Ravenclaw prefect.

Isla had only been out in the corridor literally seconds when she finally had a chance to look around. Two older boys were also around, and from the looks of it, they'd heard the voice, too. WEIRD. It reminded her of the story she read about how Gia...Gina...Jennifer Weasley (something like that) could hear voices inside the walls of the school. The thought alone sent shivers up her spine.

She spun around and was met face-to-face with a very unimpressed Headmaster Trent. Wait a second...was that facial expression directed towards her?! She barely had time to listen to all the reprimanding before he snapped a detention sentence on her. DETENTION?! For the second time this school year?! That had to be some sort of record or something. Regardless, she was officially terrified. Trent had the ability to scare her just from slamming his classroom door. A detention with him was almost unimaginable. Maybe she'd luck out and have to serve time with Schmoe or that finger snapping lady! Oh, and sorry about those five points, Snake family. She'd make it up to them!

"Yes, sir," she said, her voice almost at the tiniest of whispers.

GREAT, if she had to scoop up poop for the third time this school year, she was officially done. Not that she could do anything about it...

She tried to divert her attention elsewhere, because there were more pressing matters than detention right now. She listened as one of the older boys told his side of the story. She didn't chime in with any details, though. She definitely didn't want anymore attention on her than what had already been given.

One moment he was all alone in the creepy, spider ridden corridor with the eerie feeling that something was calling to him, the next moment he was there with a whole group of people and the fact that one of those people all but confirmed to the prefect that the situation at hand seemed to be…serious? No. Maybe not but at least it seemed weird. Off. Not normal and he for one was glad that the headmaster had turned up when he did.

Turning away from Eiji for the moment, the prefect simply nodded at the headmaster and frowned a little. “Yes headmaster. I thought it might have been Eiji but…I guess it couldn’t have been now”. It was only then that he noticed the appearance of someone else who stood out from the group (Isla) “It did seem to be beckoning someone or something towards it…” because he still wasn’t convinced that it was seeking another human. It could well be calling a creature although even he had to admit it seemed unlikely.

Turning his attention back towards the young Slytherin girl, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes a little and frown at the idea of her following the voice as though it was some kind of game or something. Sure, he followed it briefly but only to see if someone needed help and he was a prefect or at least in his seventh year. Either way, the look on her face all but confirmed that she was indeed sorry or at least, sorry for being caught so that was the end of that. There was just something about adventure seeking that didn’t sit right with him.

And then there was Eiji…He knew it was most likely due to the weirdness of the castle and everything going on that he couldn’t remember his name and yet, something about being called “Edwin” tickled him the wrong way. With a small sigh and a lot of effort, he simply just shook his head a little and replied simply ”My name is Ewan…but yes…Like I said, I heard it. It most definitely was something or someone”.

Bernie had picked up her wand from the floor of the chamber and decided to abandon the weatherman and his strange book because 1) he was TERRIBLY unreliable, even for a weatherman, who were already notoriously unreliable; and 2) she was curious what Bellbottoms was up to and did enjoy seeing someone besides herself get into trouble on occasion. Especially with Kale's dad. Bernie couldn't remember all the details just now but she'd definitely been in trouble with THAT guy before. Just look at the Headman's facial expression!!! Somebody call MasterCard and put thAT guy in a commercial because it!! was!!! priceless!!!

"Oh hey, hello, hi, Isla, Evan, Becky's brother...." Bernadette leaned around the transparent Headmaster to wiggle her fingers at them all. "Are you guys hearing voices too?" Good thing the Healer was nearby, right? Right? Haaaaaa. Because they all really needed to get their heads checked out. "Think it's something in the pipes, sir?" Maybe someone had gotten stuck in a toilet!!!! That would be neat. And hilarious.

The voice that had almost certainly been out here in the corridor was growing distant once more. “Where are you?” It questioned.

Further and further the voice went, like someone running but in the wrong direction—the direction that would get them nowhere.

“Are you coming? Say something.”

This voice, this woman was lost. Or maybe you were lost. Either way, she wasn’t in the corridor anymore. Instead, she sounded somewhere on the floor above?

“Come find me!”

Missa had followed Headmaster Trent, all the while trying to not roll her eyes at the runaway gryffindor - wasn't this exactly what she did last term? - wasn't this exactly what she had also been told not to do?

Maybe it was a memory thing, but mostly it seemed like an intellect thing. Nonetheless, she wasn't surprised when the girl got detention for it.

GLAD to see Eiji and Ewan there too, their confirmation on the voice they had been following - only made her more curious about the entire situation.

"Do ... you think the weatherman ended up summoning someone with that spell of his?" she asked, her thoughts running back to Professor snap-you-fingers' lesson.

And then the voice spoke again.

"She's moving ... it seems..." she said, before moving in the direction of the voice yet again.

This was getting curiouser and curiouser. Sunny was so busy jotting down notes, he almost lost the rest of the group. Weatherman were excellent trackers and finding the crowd wasn't a difficult feat. "Interesting theory," he nodded along with the suggestion that this was the work of his spell. Wait. BINGO! "What's the likelihood this guy is trying to help us out?" Though they couldn't be sure if the voice was helpful, it'd be rad if they followed it anyway. Sunny could use some more content.

He followed right behind the student clothed in blue.

Ah so the boys had heard the voice as well. He wasn't hearing things and hadn't just given the Slytherin detention for nothing. He'd have to write that down if he ever made it back to his office. Wouldn't wanna forget it along with...just about everything else he couldn't remember. "Calling...beckoning...?" Sounded like they really had all been hearing the same voice.

"Nothing in the pipes." He assured Grandson. "At least, I don't remember there being anything in there." Which...didn't really ...mean much....at this point but the point stood.

Ronald's question got him thinking and even though he was ready to shove Sunny Stormcloud out the front gates and wish him well wherever he landed, the man had echoed his own thoughts. Reluctantly--reeeeeeaaaaallly reluctantly, Trent turned to face the weatherman.

"I suppose there's only one way to find out."

Malachi looked next to the students gathered. We don't have magic, so I'll need everyone to exercise extra common sense."[/b] Looking at you Bellman. "Come on, while we can still hear it." Trent got into a jog, heading down the corridor after the source of the voice.

He expected they'd be following and hoped they'd be quick because the voice was disappearing fast.

Ewan. Right. Eiji was likely to not remember than in an hour's time which would be a good thing for this Ravenclaw because it would also mean that the Slytherin had forgotten about the whole reaction and perceived tone. Eiji also wanted to point out that Edwin Ewan had said he had her HIS, Eiji's, voice and not this...disembodied one but that was honestly neither here nor there and with the small crowd that had gathered and Headmaster Trent being in a mood...self preservation kicked in and so did the seventh year's silence.

The fact that he and Bernadette had both being thinking about voices in the pipes was ............... concerning. Thankfully he had not admitted to doing that very same inspection just now. And then the voice was back...and there was Missa and he felt both heavier and lighter by her presence.

.....and not this Sunny Raine fellow he had only heard about by rumor until now. Eiji decided instantly that he was not a fan. And a SPELL? This guy had just used a SPELL and it had WORKED? Eiji tried to catch his girlfriend's gaze for further explanation, but she was already moving to follow the voice and it seemed like the headmaster wanted them all to follow. Naturally, his inclination was to say 'no thank you' and leave. But Missa was here. Along with some guy who could apparently use magic when the rest of the school could not. None of which sat well with him. None of it at all.

Head and eyes rolling back along with an accompanying groan, Eiji followed after the headmaster. Though his strides were primarily towards Missa so he could try and get her to fill him in on what was going on and aaaaaaaaaaaaall the while side eyeing Sunny Raine.

Largely ignoring the new group of people, save for Missa whom he flashed a quick smile to, the prefect turned his attention to the matter at had and speaking of… “Yeaaaah weather man, What have you been up to today?” . He really had no clue where the rest of the students had come from or why they were here but he found that a lot less that they were here than why Sunny Raine was here.

A small nod at the headmaster’s insistence that there was nothing in the pipes was all that came from Ewan as he considered what they should do next. He was half tempted just to leave seeing as no one seemed to need his help and the fact that the voice seemed to be whispering but alas, he did not. Not right away anyway. Instead, he simply followed the headmaster.