Whispering went unnoticed by Sunny too. A guy could only listen to so many conversations while trying to diligently take note of everything that peaked interest. Lazarus was offering lots of that kind of information. He'd be given a hefty attribution once the stories were published, of course. Sunny would make sure of it! Kid was gonna make him famous! It was the least Sunny could do.

The reporter only came to a halt when Lazarus did (he was the one worth following at this point) and looked up at the two young girls who were running towards the castle. Weren't they all goin' in? Huh. Kids, am I right?

Momentarily distracted by the other student's question, Sunny turned to look over her way. "Winnipeg! That's in Canada," he winked at Jina, before noting down her name. AND Holy mackerel! Kitt was taking off! Sunny didn't need to be told twice! He slid his quill back into his hat and took off jogging right behind young Lazarus. Geez, his knees weren't what they used to be.

Ah the holidays. The first school term is winding down for the winter break and those of you set to leave are no doubt among the group currently heading toward the front gate. It is time to return home and with breakfast over, the students are being led over. The Hogwarts Express sits waiting just down by Hogsmeade Station. If you listen carefully, you may even faintly hear the magnificent whistle.

Any interesting plans? Amazing gift ideas and the perfect shops to go get them in time for the holiday?

Too bad. Before anyone can get to the gates there is a massive, bright flash of light so bright that you're forced to cover your eyes. A roll of thunder can be heard, as if someone with a large drum is stood next to you. It echoes into the mountains, a hollow and ominous sound.

And then nothing.

Nothing at all. Everything beyond the front gate vanishes, or perhaps you're the ones who are gone. Anyone who attempts a spot of magic will find that...nothing works.....

Oh dear. Best get comfy, it looks like no one is going home.

Missa could not wait to get home. There was definitely irony in that statement but she didn't want to address it. Hoping to unload her brain, the moment she saw her dad - and going over it again and again in her head, the brunette had been walking rather blindly.

And then she became .... literal blind, when a flash of bright light submerged everything in plain sight and the roar of thunder echoed in her ears.

Crouching down to cover herself, the prefect could FEEL her heart beating wildly - very sure that it was the end for her...

... but then .... nothing?

Absolutely nothing.

Reaching for her wand, even before she opened her eyes - she finally dared look around. To say she was visibly bewildered was in an understatement, "what in the world ......."

Carsyn was practically skipping to the entrance gates. The first term was winding down and for one of the first times, the sixteen year old was anxious to get home for Christmas. There was always sooooo much food and family and presents and well, did she mention food?

Only problem? As she arrived at the gates there was a literal blinding of light. "What in the golden snitch?!?" She exclaimed, eyes squinted up as she barely made out Missa's figure in front of her.

"Missa? Is that? Are we -- dead?" Because wasn't that how it worked? Blinding light and then dead.

Aboli was SO excited to go home and see Liam and her dad and her MUM and talk things over with her regarding something that had been on her mind so much lately. She had a bit of a bounce to her step as she walked, too, and was one of the first few waiting to get RELEASED at the gate...

When....

What?!

Where had...everything...GONE? "Are we DEAD?" she asked suddenly, whipping her head around in all directions. That hadn't even HURT, if they had in fact died...It seemed only what was beyond the gate was gone...it...was hard to determine WHAT was actually happening or what she was seeing? Merlin. But then, her stomach sank. It felt like she had stones in her gut...

D-did this mean she wouldn't be going home after all? After months and letters and plans and - she was supposed to visit Valencia, too....her baby brother was nearly TWO and she had wanted to hug him so much lately ;__;

Going home for the holidays was whatever. But staying at school was just as whatever. Nem mostly ever went back and forth for the change of scenery, and usually in the hope that the world might stop feeling so stale and stagnant and blah for a while, but it never really worked out that way. No big deal, though, they were very skilled at rooting out some form of entertainment.

They had taken the walk down to the gates at a casual stroll, idly scuffing a foot here and there and thinking of nothing that concerned anyone else. No reason to suspect anything untoward might happen. But of course it did.

The booming sound elicited little reaction but the light served to stun, and Nem instinctively slammed their eyes shut and stopped walking. They raised one arm automatically, so that their forearm half shielded their face even as they directed it forwards, blindly seeking the source of it. Then the light faded and the thunderous sounds rolled away into nothingness. Nem lowered their arm and blinked away the spots of white light dancing in their vision; it took a moment to take stock of what was going on.

Ooooooooh.

Everything was gone, outside the gates at least. Not only sights but sounds; Nem could no longer hear the whistle of the train. Already people were yelling about being dead - bo-ring, but probably easy for some of these kids to believe that they'd all been struck by lightning and had carked it together. Probably not the case though.

Nem looked shrewdly out upon the non-world beyond the gates. Weird stuff. Maybe interesting stuff, too early to say though. Like Hogwarts had been picked up and moved somewhere else or something. Or maybe they were in another universe; the school had been known to have leaky dimensions in the past, after all. Or maybe someone had just put some kind of curtain of magic around the entire place to cut them off, something to do with that dodgy sky they'd been having. Who knew. Who cared, really.

"So." Just out of curiosity. "Whose turn is it to tell us that everything's fine and the world isn't ending?" Headsman? F.T.? The floor is yours.

But hey, look at that. Things were suddenly a little less stale and stagnant and blah after all. Every cloud.

Islay was ready to leave, to visit with her dad and properly meet her aunts and uncles when it happened. The clashing roll of thunder and the bright flash of white light – it was...WHA—where was the world? WHERE was everything? “no no no no no no-no nope, I’m not having this” she hissed as she made her way closer to Carsyn.

She didn’t want to think that they were dead. Abducted by aliens – in another dimension in space...stuck inside of a crystal ball – anything. They could be anything, but she didn’t want to be dead.

“...are we sure Hogwarts has like a garden right?” she asked her tone quiet, “because if we don’t we might want to make them since I don’t know if the schools’ house elves can exactly got to a store and buy food.” She was just wanted to be prepared and like c’mon...there were a lot of students who needed to eat. Right?

Though Ivy was, for the most part, enjoying her time at Hogwarts, she was very much ready to go home for a little while. She missed her mum and dad and Sage a lot. Plus Christmas! The best holiday ever! She was SO READY for it to be Christmas already.

She was so excited about everything that she very much wanted to run to the Hogwarts Express, buuut she also didn't want to trip or run over people, so instead she settled with keeping to the front of the group.

Hearing the whistle of the Hogwarts Express in the distance, she grinned. Just one train ride and a lot of hours between her and...

A blinding light stopped her in her tracks, and her eyes closed on instinct. She covered her eyes with her hands as an added measure, as the light still seemed awfully bright even through her eyelids. There was thunder too, and then...

And then...

Wait, what were the others saying?

Ivy dropped her hands and opened her eyes...to nothing?

Wait, where had everything gone???? She looked around, and Hogwarts and all the grounds were still all there, but everything outside...was not??

If it wasn't so bizarre (and kinda...scary??), this would have been utterly fascinating to her. But as it was, she just...blinked, kinda frozen in place, completely speechless and trying to process everything she was seeing and hearing from her classmates.

How was she getting home now????

Malachi was somewhere near the back of the group, happily leading them out to the train station. It had been a long first term and the lot of them combined couldn’t scratch the surface of his zeal to have them put on the train and off school property. The man loved his students, but he needed a break. Consider him still very haunted by that first lesson and their choices and if there really was a storm coming, it was best to send them away so they couldn’t ride the storm off into the sunset or try to become its best friend.

It was just best for them to go home—

Holy kneazle what was THAT??

The Headmaster shielded his eyes, struck by the sudden flash of light. His wand was out in an instant but there appeared to be...no need....

What in Merlin’s beard....?

”Pardon me, coming through, excuse me.” Malachi made his way to the front of the group. His eyes widened to the size of mini moons when he spotted the dark abyss beyond the gate. “No! No no no no.” The man stuck a hand outside the gate, unwilling to believe the outside was GONE just SECONDS before he’d managed to get rid of send the children home. He was so close ;_____;

To his surprise, his entire hand disappeared, returning only when he pulled it back in in horror. The man side eyed Upstead for the no doubt oh so innocent question. “This is fine. We are fine. You are all going home.” HE was going home. His wife would prepare a splendid meal for Christmas—with his help. He’d sing show tunes and carols with his children, little Mavis would tell him all about her new kitten. This was FINE.

Or not.

Trent lifted his wand and ordered close by to step back but when he cast a bombards maxima......nothing happened. Frighteningly enough his wand felt like any old twig. He couldn’t feel the magic.....

Sweet Circe, maybe they were dead, but what had he done to spend eternity with children. Who fed little pink furballs that ate people and allowed dead people to convince them to destroy school property? Surely some state of limbo could be arranged instead. Ugh. Focus Trent. “We’ve got plenty of greenhouses, Moreau. Food isn’t going to be the problem here.” Vacation with his students would be. “Check your wands. Something’s not right.” And that said A LOT given everything was fine enough before with crimson skies and migrating crows.

With her kneazle safety tucked away in a travel crate and grasped tightly in her hands, Isla made her way to the entrance gate. She couldn't WAIT to see her family! I mean, the Christmas presents, candy, food, etc. was an added plus, but she'd been looking forward to seeing her family for WEEKS.

She could see a small group of students ahead of her, no doubt just as excited as she was to get home for the holidays. Hearing the distinct whistle of the Hogwarts Express, the second year picked up her pace. THIS WAS GOING TO BE AWESOME! Winter break, that is!

Just as she was about to catch up to the group ahead of her, she was unexpectedly blinded by a sudden flash of light. She paused, nearly dropping Maleficent, and threw her free hand over her face. When she heard the thunder rumbling, she braced herself for...she didn't know what, but she suddenly had the feeling they were under attack. She opened her mouth to scream, but just as she did, she heard it--the sound of silence.

Isla slowly peeked in between the spaces of her fingertips, and what she saw took her breath away. NO WAY was she standing on the grounds alone. She hurried to catch up to the ones ahead of her, namely Trent. Did his...hand just disappear? She heard a few of the others ask if they were dead, and come to think of it, that did seem like what had just happened. "I'm too young to die!" she said, her voice in a half sob. As she said that, she hugged Maleficent's crate a little tighter.

What had HAPPENED to them?! Were the others even still in the castle?

Noah had been a little late to this party. The boy had been oh so busy packing everything up in his dormitory that he hadn't noticed that he was going to miss his ride back home! Darting down the stairs, he flew (well sprinted) as far as his feet could take him. He slowed down when he got out to the grounds and saw a crowd of fellow students. What was this? he wondered, tilting his head to the side as he joined his fellow students and... HEADMASTER?

He slowed his steps when he noticed that the world behind the gates had vanished. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced again, finding that it was still gone. What... He then heard a second year's cry/sob? Too young to die? They weren't dead, were they? He glanced at her, offering her a kind smile, before squaring his shoulders straighter. "We're not dead. We'll get through this," he added with a weak smile before looking at his Head of House. Check their wands? Okay. He pulled out his wand and attempted to cast Lumos. Nothing happened. He tired again. Nope. And one more time. Nope.

"I've got nothing... Not even my magic works, Sir."

What would cause their magic not to work? Had they been sent to an alternate universe? Or was the world really coming to an end? Could magic... die?

Avalon was more than excited to be heading home for the holidays. She loved Hogwarts, but at the same time, she missed her family, and she was looking forward to some much needed relaxation. She had been studying a lot lately. To make things even better, this would be the first Christmas in three years that all three of the Sinclair kids would be home at once.

Naturally, Avalon had a little pep in her step as she made her way toward the front gate. She was thinking of how much fun it would be to decorate the tree and bake cookies when she was suddenly blinded. The Ravenclaw flinched at the gigantic boom of thunder, nearly dropping her bag in fright. Uhh, last time she checked, Hogwarts didn't usually have thunderstorms in December. She looked around her classmates in bewilderment before blinking quickly. Were her eyes deceiving her, or was everything beyond the gate....gone?

She moved aside at the sound of Headmaster Trent's voice and nearly gasped when his hand disappeared. Even weirder was the fact that he just tried to perform a spell and it didn't work. To her knowledge, the Headmaster was never unable to do magic.

What in the world was happening?

Avalon was truly speechless as she backed away from the gate. She did not want to accidentally step over that threshold. No way. She grabbed her wand and tried to light it with a quick Lumos, but nothing happened. No magic at all. She held her wand limply. "Mine isn't working either...." But what was most disturbing is that it didn't feel like it was just her wand that wasn't working. She didn't feel any sort of warmth or energy like she usually did when she was trying to perform a spell. It was just emptiness. Something was very, very wrong.

Once Isla somewhat had her wits about her, and she thought she could think and act correctly without freaking out, she drew her wand. Trent wanted them to check their wands, and Isla watched as a few others tried and failed. Umm...WHAAAAAAAT? So now they were being attacked by blood red skies, super old ghosts, and whole worlds vanishing around them, and...they had nothing.

NOTHING.

Wait a minute. Did this mean she could turn her wand on Trent and cast a Bat-Bogey Hex without the fear that the hex would really work?! It'd be funny! Kind of. Ohhh, she needed Bernie for this one! They could fake a duel and cast all sorts of weird stuff on each other...and nothing would happen! It'd just be fun to actually point their wand and say the incantation. She didn't think she could actually Avada Kedavra someone, fake or not, but a Bat-Bogey?! OHHHH, YEAH.

Deciding not to try and get detention when whole worlds were disappearing, Isla opted for "Revelio!" as she pointed her wand past the gates. No world. Nothing at all.

Did this mean Hogsmeade weekend was a no-go? Asking for a friend.

Tom was just standing there, shocked as the headmaster hand disappeared through the gates, then reappeared, he watched as the man tried to get his wand to work, maybe Gryffindor could help, he was a nice man who had been around last term, surely he could do something now.

Tom thought about everything that was going on, surely there had to be a way out, he wasn't going to be trapped here with everyone, he wanted to go home and see his parents and to get loads of sweets and cakes, you know the usual stuff that happened at Christmas.

Look at that, right on cue.

Nem didn't say anything else at first. Just looked pointedly at the Headsman's hand, which had momentarily vanished outside the gates, then up at his face, eyebrows raised. They absolutely nailed the half pity, half resignation expression, and that wasn't an easy one, just by the way.

Moving back with the rest of the nearby crowd, Nem watched as... a whole lot of nothing-whatsoever happened. Even before Trent ordered them to check their wands, Nem's hand slid up their sleeve to where their wand was kept in its holster, but even just touching it was enough to figure that little, if anything, would happen if they tried to cast. Nobody else was having any success either. Maybe they'd test their magic later, alone, in case something did actually work. Doubtful, but still.

... But wait. If magic wasn't working then...

Several thoughts, each less welcome than the last, flashed through Nem's mind. Their face and eyes were both impassive enough, but inside there was the unmistakeable boiling of anger. And this guy didn't have a clue what he was doing, not that Nem expected much more. Something's not right. Apparently that big empty void beyond the gates had not been enough of a giveaway.

"At least everything's fine." There was a fair amount of venom packed into that statement, but who could blame them, a troubled thirteen year old in a troubling situation. This apparent mess wasn't their fault.

It was Malachi Trent's fault.

So jot that down.

Eiji wasn't sure if there truly was anyone at this castle ready to be out of it more than himself. He NEEDED this break and to reset himself and his mind, which was something he rarely felt while facing the holidays with his grandpa shuffling them this way and that at one Ministry function or another. Though he was looking forward to the annual New Years trip to Japan for more reasons than to visit extended family. With his entrance exams completed and himself feeling very confident in them, he was hoping to take a peek at some campuses while over there too...

So this...was beyond an inconvenience.

Honestly. Could this term just stop for a second from its personal attack on him and making his final term miserable? He would appreciate it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

Missa could not wait to get home. There was definitely irony in that statement but she didn't want to address it. Hoping to unload her brain, the moment she saw her dad - and going over it again and again in her head, the brunette had been walking rather blindly.

And then she became .... literal blind, when a flash of bright light submerged everything in plain sight and the roar of thunder echoed in her ears.

Crouching down to cover herself, the prefect could FEEL her heart beating wildly - very sure that it was the end for her...

... but then .... nothing?

Absolutely nothing.

Reaching for her wand, even before she opened her eyes - she finally dared look around. To say she was visibly bewildered was in an understatement, "what in the world ......."

Blinding light gone and himself still seeing little colorful dots in the aftermath, he easily found himself beside Missa when...everything was going down and then people were talking about magic not working which...was kind of the least of his worries in the moment. "........is no one going to mention how there is literally NOTHING beyond the gate now?!" Was it salty while stating the obvious? Not going home over the break and wands not working - he was still petty about his failing him in class - were kind of molehills compared to this mountain in front of them.

His hand slipped into Missa's, whether for his comfort or her own was...his business, and he looked around instantly for Rebecca who was likely clinging to someone else at the moment. Or trying to weave her way through everyone to find him.

She took her time with the last minute packing. For some reason she was finding it hard which clothes to bring home and which one to leave. Christmas back home is her favorite and her family had a nice tradition of exchanging gifts, which is something she is already looking forward to. She is visiting Diagon Alley the moment she steps out of the train.

As soon as her backpack was ready, she dashed all the way towards the gates and this big flash of light just suddenly (possibly) blinded her. She closed them for a bit until it was okay to open them. Is this some kind of apocalypse? Are they going to die? W H A T was T H A T?!

The seventh year got nearer the gate and looked around, most of them were checking their wands..................? "What happened?" she asked the person beside her (Noah). Why was there a bright light? Are they able to go home? What's going on?

Christmas!

Your Transfiguration Professor may have been over seventy years old, but Christmas was one of his favourite times of the year. Between seeing his whole family, seeing his great-grandchildren opening their presents and his grandchildren going in a huff over whatever hot item they hadn’t received (the years passed, but that would always be a teenage phase).. It was always magical.

This year, even more so as he and Derek were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. 50. That’s right. He couldn’t believe it had been so long since he and Derek had met at Hogwarts (though not through the best beginnings) but here they were ----

Carwyn’s musings were cut short by the blinding light that made him see spots and.. Well, not much else. He blinked, somewhat stupidly, as if trying to see through the whiteness but nothing. Just as his poor eyes were recovering, an echo’ing sound reverberated and made his ears ring. What on earth???

Carwyn looked over the students heads towards Malachi and frowned ever so slightly. That… was slightly worse than a red sky. He watched from his point in the pack as Malachi drew out his hand and… it disappeared. O___O Um. Then it seemed to get worse as their wands no longer worked? What?

That couldn’t be right.

The tall Welshman took his wand from its holster and cast an easy prior incantato on his own wand. He had been transfiguring decorations for the Great Hall just this morning… but nothing. His wand didn’t feel like his wand… it felt… dare he even think it???? …. Useless.

…. If he wasn’t already dead or cursed, Derek was going to kill him for missing their anniversary.

Sighing slightly as he rubbed his face with his free hand, Carwyn looked over at Malachi and motioned back to the castle with his second hand. He said nothing though even as he wondered if it would be best to get the students back to the castle while they stayed to investigate the gate. Surely, they would find something out about what had just happened.

Orion had his hands jammed in his pockets. His bag was slung over his shoulders as he waited to get on the train.. He was looking forward to the break, he had lots of shifts lined up at his job, and he was going to see JJ’s play and have his first Christmas by himself!

It was all very exciting for him and his newfound freedom..

The flash of light made his eyes water and he closed them and looked away..

When he opened them again.. he frowned a bit.. why weren’t they moving?

He looked around and blinked..

Ahhh, were they still going home?

................
.............
.......
....
..
.

No Hogsmeade Station. No Hogwarts Express. No home. No family.

Cecelia's chin wobbled and her blue-green eyes widened and then she burst into tears, fists clenched at her side.

Nem had been RIGHT! This was the E N D!

Ronan did not like unexpected loud noises. He especially did not like said loud noises when they came directly after very bright, unexpected lights. He wasn't a big fan of storms.

Still cowering long after everyone had raised their heads, Ronan slowly started testing out his limbs. Bit of a sore knee from the sudden movement, but other than that he was mostly fine. Something felt strange, but physically he was as fine as he ever was these days. Ronan sighed. He couldn't wait to get home and eat some of mum's cooking and see Noel and Aria and Sunny and maybe play some video ga-

Wait.

The fifth year squinted ahead. What... what?? WHAT????

Ronan gulped and followed everyone's motions, testing out his wand. It was a welcome distraction from the very eerie lack-of-something-ness beyond the gates which he really didn't want to think about. Nothing, of course, no magic. No reason to think his wand would work when the Headmaster's wasn't. He looked around for familiar faces. Luz, Chloe, Alexandre, Picadilly... Maxie... he couldn't spot any of them at that moment and he suddenly felt very alone.

About to take off in search of his friends, Ronan turned when he heard a sob close by. There was a younger girl (Cece), she wasn't sobbing, more like full on crying. Ronan took a step towards her, feeling this was more important. "Hey.." he started gently, leaning down a little, "it'll be okay. This, um, these things happen at Hogwarts sometimes. We'll be fine. What's your name?"

Did he himself truly believe that? ... Somewhat. Ronan had come to Hogwarts fully armed with Noel's stories, he knew how weird things could be here, and how they mostly sorted themselves out. One just had to wait them out and always have one's wand on them.

The thing about being thirteen was, almost everything felt like the end of the world. ADD to that the fact that she was homesick, adamant about following family holiday traditions, and emotional, and you had yourself the perfect recipe for a meltdown. It just couldn't be helped.

Wiping at her eyes stubbornly when an older kid approached, Cece sniffled a bit and kicked at the ground. "N-no it won't. Not if we can't get home for Christmas." Didn't he GET it? "'M Cecelia. Cecelia Summers." Looking up at him all HEARTBROKEN and unsure, she wiped at her face again.

The rumbling sound of thunder worsened as the thick storm clouds in varying shades of red began to roll in. In the distance, trees can be seen bending to the wind. Whatever was coming, it was coming fast, in fact, it looked like it was already here and battering some parts of the grounds.

The howling of wind can be heard coming from the greenhouses and the piece of land designated for creature care.

Are they ready for the storm?

A faint yell can be heard drifting on the blowing wind, being carried from the grounds nearby:

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

"HELP NEEDED in the CREATURE SANCTUARY!"

oh merlin the wind was seeming to pickup and Islay was having a harder time hearing Headmaster Trent over the howling wind as the storms picked up. Oh this was bad. This was going to be destructive. The Gryffindor looked at her friends and gave them wide eyed looked “WE SHOULD GO” she practically yelled to Noah and Aboli, “should we help the creatures first or just...y’know book it to the school?” because thunder was not her thing.

Thunder made her heart thump in her chest. She just wanted everyone to be safe. Please stay safe she forcefully thought as she turned and saw the trees bending in the distance.

NO nooooooo she was not ready for this. “Noah look” she hissed as she tugged on his sleeve and pointed toward the forest.