Text Cut: Louise & Fiona

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

Right. Keep the rat away from the cheese. That didn't seem too hard, did it? What was the best way to get someone to NOT do something?

As soon as the instructions were given, Louise broke away and went to claim a table with a maze on it. Naturally, she chose an empty table. She preferred to work alone, but she knew that wouldn't be the case in this situation. While she waited for others to join her table, Louise went up to the front to obtain a rat from the cage and a block of cheese. There was no point in wasting time, was there? She wanted to impress their terrifying Headmaster.

"Alright, who's with me?" Louise asked aloud seriously as the rest of her classmates found tables to join. She was ready to get going. For now, she left the block of cheese on the outside of the maze while setting the rat INside the maze so it couldn't run off.

"We could charm the cheese. Make it smell. Or transfigure it altogether." Did anyone else have ideas?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Fiona had joined Louise at the second table. At the Gryffindor's suggestion of altering the cheese, the Snakette shook her head and said in a whisper, "Do you really think Headmaster Rosier would like it if just the cheese was enchanted? I think the rat has to have a spell placed on it. Maybe if the rat thinks the cheese is a ferocious cat then it won't go near the food."

UHHHHH, Ilya was not touching a rat, thank you very much...???? What even was this request. He was not even going to levitate the thing, oh dear Merlin, save his soul (Ilya's, not the rat)! He scrunched up his nose watching some students go ahead with the touching and just.. gag... ew. He should have stayed in bed today feigning sickness.

Actually. It was perfect that some students already claimed a rat and things. He quickly followed the red-haired girl (Louise, he mildly knew her from other classes), mainly because the table didn't have any kids yet who might screech or let the filthy rodent loose in the room. Although, the rat right now was just sitting in the maze, and Ilya was having an internal mental crisis at the sight. "UHM. Do you think we should just... tie it to the floor?" He was not concerned by the task at hand right now, just, not having it JUMP out of the maze and escape. "It looks malicious." He added.

Although Fiona's idea was much more fun... but the execution? What if the rat got so scared he ran away???? Ilya had conflicting opinions.

He was right, of course. Her suggestion would not work in this exercise - how would anyone use logic to prevent a rat from eating cheese that contains poison? It was a cruel activity, worse than exploding dummies and sabotaging environments in a daydream charm. Those were only simulations, but these poor rats could really die! Determined to do anything (except Unforgivables) to save the animal, Irithel joined Mamie and Aboli at their table.

"I like that idea. Vera Verto, isn't it?" she said. What would the human equivalent be? Transforming children into fish to keep them away from Neo-Alliance followers?

That carrot-stick thing, it wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough on the average person. Nem had observed their peers enough - not just this term, but over the years - to have noticed this. Also to have noticed how little it affected Nem themselves (even Jake seemed to have noticed; he'd long since given up on trying to give them any consequences), which was clearly a personal strength of theirs, or at least a lack of an all too common weakness. Not that they did not go in for any carrot at all, more like...

Well, that was for them to know, and to reveal if and when they chose.

As the other answers in class were given, Nem turned to watch each and every person who spoke, lingering on Summers, and then on James, particularly after the Big Man responded to her. They shot her a quick smile - vaguely encouraging - then turned back to the Headmaster as he laid out the activity.

Not a problem. Actually, it was kind of funny, the Big Man was giving an example of exactly the answer Nem had just provided, while getting them all to work on manipulation of their own. If you don't wanna see it croak, I'd suggest you try everything you can to keep it away. There it was, the deterrent. Or you could argue that extending the rat's life could be considered the carrot just as much as witnessing its death was intended to be the stick, a two-in-one deal. It was tempting to let the rat bite the big one to prove just how easily that method could be foiled, but Nem was perfectly content to play along. They liked the Big Man more than enough to do that.

Scouting out the third table, Nem went over to collect an unstunned rat and a block of cheese, then carried both over to the maze. Right away, they set the cheese inside the maze, and quietly applied the Flagrante Curse to the floor of the maze immediately surrounding it. Nem didn't set the rat down just yet, but instead waited to see if anyone would join them, someone who might be interested in their other idea, or maybe who wanted to try something else entirely. Nem didn't care too much on that score, they'd already done the part they wanted to do.

In the meantime, they got a good look at the rat, giving it a full once-over and trying to ascertain if it was, at least, a decent one. Another Phil would make this way too easy, and easy was the quickest way to death by ennui.

Ah, but the long route was the best route. It was wayyy more fun. Not that Ash would know about that. But now they had to partner up. Who should she partner with? Not Eden, that was too dangerous. Preferably someone older who Rosier tolerated. Oooh, there was Upstead. She walked over to them, silently begging. "Can I be in your group?" Because while she did not trust them at all, she thought it would be better for her image to be sitting next to someone who looked like a pureblood supremacist. Plus they were smart. Pleeeease say yes.

It was a good thing that the ‘headmaster’s’ smile had been so small it was barely recognizable because had Minjae noticed it he would have cringed at the thought that for a moment he had been on the same wavelength as that man. Luckily, the Hufflepuff hadn’t noticed a thing and was just glad that so far class was going pretty smoothly.

Which in return scared him a bit as well. If it went smoothly, it meant he had successfully scared them all into obeying and he wondered how many like himself were doing the same thing but kept reminding themselves what an horrible person the man was. He was vile, cruel and pathetic for scaring kids and the seventh year knew he could never forgive him. Which was saying something since Hufflepuffs were usually known for being forgiving.

He watched as the tables appeared out of thin air and then listened carefully to the instructions. Keep the rat from going to the cheese. Merlin that sounded so simple that he had his doubts it would be. He looked around for a moment to see which table had less than four people and he was glad that group one , people he actually liked, had a spot left.

”Maybe instead of harming the rat we could alter the maze so that it never reaches the cheese?” he asked as he stood at the table and looked at the rat. Poor thing.

Everything that had been said was mentally noted. All of it. Whether or not she believed any of it, she had to remember it in case it ever came up again. Now was not the time to run her mouth in disagreement. So silence it was for the time being.

The first year watched as eight tables appeared, complete with the little rat maze-like enclosures on top. Her heart was ready to sink when she saw the caged rats. There was no way she was going to purposely harm the creature just to keep it away from the cheese... but... if it got the cheese it would die...

Rosier had made that fact very clear. Whatever she choose to do, the rat couldn't eat the cheese. Without any thought about it, Dahlia went over and collected a cube of cheese and a rat. Right away the rat was cradled in her hand against her chest. A quick glance at the empty tables had her choosing the fourth one.

Setting the cube of cheese down in the maze, she turned her attention onto the rat. "Don't worry, I won't let you die," she hummed to them barely above a whisper. While waiting to see if who would join her group, she looked at the maze on the table trying to figure out the best way to keep the cheese from being eaten.

Mice and rats had once been the creatures Nem had most often had in their possession. They were easy to find in Godric's Hollow, especially in the nearby fields, and had been challenging enough for them to catch at seven, eight, nine years old or so. The point was that Nem was reasonably familiar with rats, and this one seemed normal enough, if a little confused. Stunners, you know.

Turning their attention towards a nearby voice, Nem's eyes fell on Fox, one of the second years determined to provoke a Killing Curse from the Big Man or his band of merry hoodies. Far from being deterred by this, Nem gave her a smile. "Sure." They held the rat out for her to see it better. "Do you know the Animalis Fidelis charm? Might help with convincing the rat not to go for the cheese and just loop the maze instead. Only lasts a couple of minutes, but it can just be reapplied." Super humane, that was Nem. Very ethical.

No need to mention the curse.

Bernie was again SO grateful to have Phoebe for a friend but also SO WORRIED by Rosier's response to her answer. He.... he... he'd liked it, hadn't he? She felt her heart sinking, and then dropping entirely when the activity became clear.

Great. So they were torturing animals now in addition to the humans. Fun fun fun. How was Bernie going to work her magic? She just didn't want to see anyone get hurt this lesson, so she took it upon herself to gather a rat and a box and then go get a group.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiallNIP

As soon as Rosier said that they would be working in groups, he clutched onto Atlas's sleeve. "Hey, do you wanna work with Eden and Ashley?" He hoped Atlas would just go with it—he really wanted to just get away from Nem. He would be able to tell him why once they were far enough away; he wasn't a fan of the idea of making a scene in this class, and talking about the subject with Nemesis right there could certainly cause one. And, if there were to be a scene, Rosier would take Nem's side, of course—they were a pureblood.

She scooted over to Atlas and Quinn's little group of babies (since she already saw Ashley, worryingly, working with Nem). Bernie did NOT like working with babies, so maybe Phoebe would join them, but also... maybe she wouldn't, since Rosier had been pretty clear about GROUPS OF FOUR ONLY. Guess time would also tell if Eden saw their group. ALSO, please note what a good leader Bernadette was being in sacrificing her time and energy (and possibly self) in order to help the even younger and yet somehow even more reckless Muggleborns. And Flamsteed. He wasn't a Muggleborn, but he had the unfortunate qualities of being young and naive and Gryffindor.

So back to the box and rat game.

"Well we can either tamper with the cheese more, or the rat, or make the box," ya know, the environment, "kind of impossible for the rat."

Funny how this paralleled their current situation at the school, huh.

Bernie looked from their table to the boys. "Whaddaya wanna do first?"

Ash smiled back at Nem. She couldn't help but feel reassured. SHE WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO FEEL SAFE! Safety was just an illusion... buuuuut she still felt it. Maybe she wasn't safe, but Nem was smart and they weren't going to kill the rat. Probably. That might be a scarring experience for her. Did she know the charm? "Ummmm... I know of it. Makes an animal loyal to you yeah? But I don't know if I'd cast it right. I've never tried before. It... might not work, and then the rat would die and I would be sad." She paused. Her magic had never failed before. In high-pressure situations it always worked. Even when she was a kid who didn't know about magic, she'd been able to use it to save people if she really wanted to. But what if one day her luck ran out? And somebody got hurt because she couldn't do it? Best not to think about that. Her eyes flicked back into reality, where she realized that the silence had stretched on for too long. "Do you know it? You would probably do it better." She was smiling a little, but her eyes betrayed a hint of fear. She was only twelve! What if they couldn't save the rat together? Would it be her fault? It wouldn't, but she would still blame herself. NO. They were going to save the rat. If she couldn't, then Nem would. It was all going to be fine, and nobody was going to get hurt.

right?
?

This activity actually sounded pretty fun! Practicing on a rat MUST be much better practice than inanimate objects, right? It didn't hurt that Eden was just waiting on the day Rosier decided the muggleborns should be target practice, so any that didn't happen was a win in her book.

Eden beelined it to Quinn and Atlas. It was always good to have back-up, and partnering with Ashley was completely out of the question - Rosier wouldn't like it one bit. Eden didn't really know Atlas outside of classes, but she'd been wanting to get to know him better since Quinn was with him all the time. All she really knew was there was a rumor he'd pee'd himself in Charms, but she decided not to let a rumor cloud her judgement of Atlas before she knew more about him.

Someone older was already there, too - Grantham, right? But it was still...1...2...3....yes! She walked even faster to get to the table before the fourth spot was taken, and arrived just in time to hear Bernie's last question. Sorry to pop up right behind you, Bernie, probably should have said hello first.

"Could we put a charm around the cheese so the rat can't get close?"

And then could she learn it and put it around herself? Did it work that way?

“I mean of course I would have a backup plan” her reply automatic as she listened to Headmaster Rosier’s reply. Why wouldn’t she? But before her thought process could continue, she paused and looked back at the headmaster, her mouth a little open as she considered how her retort may have looked.

Doing her best to shake that feeling off, and because she wanted to move before the headmaster could spot her again, the little Ravenclaw moved towards one of the tables as soon as they appeared, not really caring who she was working with (Table 4). “Do you mind if I work with you?”(Dahlia) she asked, her eyes now briefly flicking between the headmaster and one of the first year girls she had seen in lessons this year.

It was strange how she hadn’t actually noticed the rats at first but once Ingrid actually focused on the lesson at hand and her eyes found the stunned rats, her eyes actually widened. Setting her jaw, she bit the inside of her mouth and quickly rushed forward, away from the table and grabbed a piece of cheese and a rat without a word. There was no way she was going to give the cheese to the rat or hurt it in anyway, shape or form. Nope. She would rather eat it herself and throw up all over the classroom. Maybe she would? Either way, nothing was going to happen to this rat if she could help it.

Now back at the table, the Ravenclaw dumped the piece of cheese down in the maze and held the rat tight as her mind ticked over. What could she do? Briefly, her eyes wandered over to her partner on the table to see what she was doing but she hadn’t started either. “Do you know the full body-bind curse?”(Dahlia) she whispered, hopeful that the girl would know, despite her being a first year.

Having wound up by chance near Nemesis Upstead, Violet was now curious about them. She watched Nemesis watching everyone else and observed how their glance kept returning to Rosier. Hmm, interesting. She wondered what that was about. Then she was taken aback to find she actually agreed with what Nemesis had said in response to the question. She had just been thinking herself that bribery and offering what someone really wanted was often as effective, if not more so, than causing fear. You could reel someone in that way and they'd never even notice that they were in too deep until it was too late.

And now they had an assignment, requiring the dreaded task of finding partners. Violet could see the two younger students were quietly engaged in a tussle over whether to remain where they were or go elsewhere. Not waiting to see the result of that, she looked up at Nem and raised an eyebrow inquiringly. "Well, shall we do this?" she asked, and was not sure if it was because she needed a partner or if she wanted to see what Nem would do.

aHEM. Actually, Kale Trent had been defiantly quiet the whole lesson. But he knew that Rosier often did his best to ignore the elder of the two Trent children. This suited Kale fine. He wasn’t acting out, per say, he just wasn’t talking.

He knew how much Rosier loathed when he did.

The fifth year openly scowled when the assignment was revealed. Rosier really wanted to torture rats now, too? This dude was the worst. He felt a surge of Gryffindor stupidly welling up, but he shoved it down. Deep down. Look, he didn’t wanna act out, okay? He’d promised Mavis.

So he retreated to someone he trusted to be sensitive and kind and a good Bud, Nem. And the two other students they managed to attract (Ash and Violet).

The fifth year forced a smile and asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

Mamie looked up as Minjae and Irithel joined her and Aboli. Good. Smart older students, like she wanted. No trouble here. Nooooossssiiiirrr. Just students doing exactly as they're told. She was not surprised that Minjae didn't like her idea. Because he had a better idea. Well, maybe better. No idea was perfect. Plus...did turning a rat into a water goblet really hurt it? She thought it would be an improvement. Water goblets didn't need to eat. Couldn't be destroyed by a killing curse. Couldn't feel the pain of a cruciatus curse.

Really, being a water goblet sounded pretty nice to her.

"What if it climbs over the top of the maze or just knocks over the little walls and still gets the cheese, Minjae?" Mamie asked quietly. She wasn't trying to poke holes in his plan, okay, she was, she just wanted them to think it through first. "Can we transfigure the cheese instead?"

Would the rat try to eat a rock?

Okay, well...this could be worse, Ivy supposed. It wasn't great, the idea of putting these rats in a maze with poisoned cheese, but it at least seemed doable. Especially working as a team, they could surely keep the rats safe.

She joined two other fellow Ravenclaws, Dahlia and Ingrid, at a table. Ingrid was whispering something to Dahlia, but Ivy didn't quite catch it. "Got a plan already?" she asked. Seemed like there were a ton of ways they could accomplish this, so if there was an idea they were already leaning toward, it was definitely worth trying.

Stupid group work.

Claudine really hated it but what choice did she have. Tables were filling up fast and she winded up gravitating Dahlia, Ivy and Ingrid. Ideally, she’d have preferred group one but… oh well. “Hi, hope you don’t mind me joining you guys.” Dahlia had already retrieved a rat and the cheese so tha meant that they could get started right away with the activity. Already the wheels in the Slytherin’s head were turning, hoping to keep the rat away from death the cheese. She wouldn’t put it past Rosier actually lacing the cheese with something that would cause harm. Claudine kept seeing her own pet rat in this contraption. Gosh. She was grateful that it wasn’t Samm.

Anyway. Having joined the table a little late, Claudine missed Ingrid’s suggestion. “Any ideas?’’ And did she have one of her own? Yes. “We can Stun him,’’ came her suggestion, fidgeting with her robe. See, she was still somewhat anxious about the possibility of the Imperious Curse being used on them.

Those poor rats. Cece had been busy watching them with a frown so when she finally turned her attention back to the task at hand, groups were already forming and fast. Mildly panicked by the thought of being caught falling behind, the blonde hurried to an empty table and found herself a seat.

”Hey Kins, over here.” The fifth year beckoned her pseudo-little sister over, noting she hadn’t found a group either. ”I’ll grab us a rat and some cheese.”

She settled on a brown one, a little smaller than some of the others, with a twitchy little nose. It was cute, but Cece tried not to let on that she thought so. She also grabbed some cheese. Some evil cheese. Whatever Rosier had done to it, she was sure it was bad. Maybe they could make the cheese look or smell like something awful and the rat just wouldn’t want to eat it? Hmm..

Returning to the table, she set the cheese inside the maze and far from the rat she was holding. ”Any ideas?”

Phoebe gave Rosier a little nod of acknowledgement when he liked her comment. Of course he liked it. It was his current game plan. Everyone liked it when their good ideas were repeated back to them. Made them feel extra smart for having thought of it first.

She shuffled along behind the others, but the tables seemed to be filling up fast, and she was glad to peel off and join the relatively empty table with Cece and her sister. The impeccable, indescribable, incessant Kinsay James. Slumping against the table, Phoebe peered into the maze with a critical eye.

"What if we just put the cheese somewhere with limited entry and exit and block those off? Magically, of course, but it doesn't have to be a song or dance. He can't get the cheese. Period." Because, actually... because Rosier wanted them to prove they were willing to hurt the rats. That was his whole thing.

........... Was she dropped on her head a few times as a young child?

Um.

That was mean. Kinsay shook her head no, feeling all sorts of embarrassed. "No, sir," she would not off Emmerson even if Headmaster Rosier asked nicely. The very question itself, though likely a rhetorical one just for the sake of making a point, made Kinsay's skin crawl. She hated everything about this class. Everything, everything.

The one thing she didn't hate? The rats! ....... Until he mentioned the bit about the cheese poison. She hated the rat thing too now. It was all terrible. So terrible that Kinsay stood still, in disbelief, only to snap out of it and notice that everyone else had already started pairing off. Oh no. Um.

Fortunately, she heard her name and saw Cece! Kiz wasted no time in scurrying over to the older girl and giving her a big squeeze before she went to grab their supplies. At least she knew nothing terrible could happen if she was with Cece. They'd protect each other. As for ideas though? Kinsay thought over the scenario quietly. Hm. "I'm not good at spells, but um maybe we can um..."

PHOEBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kinsay stopped short and absolutely LIT up when her sister joined them. Things were much less terrible when Fifi was around. Hi. She tapped her chin thoughtfully listening to Feeeeeebs give the best idea ever. "Oh! I know! The spell Bernie did in charms! With the bubble! Can we make a bubble around the cheese?" Ebublio! Professor Peralta said you could only pop the bubbles with magic. Kinsay knew because she had asked specifically. But.... it wasn't the same thing as blocking entry and exits, so maybe it was a bad idea. Her arsenal of magic was..... limited.

Aboli instantly felt guilty. Her idea had been to stun it again. Knock it out. That would ensure the ultimate payoff to this endeavor. Transfiguring.....seemed to overcomplicate the situation. And Mamie had a good point - what if the rat climbed over walls (which she could totally see it doing).

She pointed her wand at the rat, toying with the idea of outright stunning it. It had already begun to travel across the maze...but....he wanted them to play with the rat, didn't he? To actively impose their will on this rat. Her brain began to go down some dark places, and she shook her head at the ideas of her classmates. "We need to do something to the rat. That's what he most likely wants. Incarcerous!" she suddenly said, the ropes spitting out from the end of her wand to entrap the rat in their grip. "There. We have time to discuss. Or continue this. My ropes won't break any time soon," she said as she glanced at her group.

Mamie might judge her. Minjae, too. She didn't know Irithel too well, so she didn't care if he had an opinion of her or not. "I like the transfiguration idea, but...I just don't know if that's what he's looking for." She nodded her head at the headmaster.

Returning to find not one, but two James ladies at her table put the smallest of smiles on Cece’s face and she felt a little better about the task at hand, if only because two of her favorite people were in this with her and their poor innocent rat. ”I like the idea of blocking off access to the cheese, but what if we use Kizzy’s idea too? Instead of putting the bubble around the cheese, we put it around the rat.” She paused, wilting a little at her reasoning but knowing it might please the evil genius that was their headmaster. ”The rat would be able to see the cheese still, but no matter what it does, it won’t be able to get to it, not from in the bubble.” And Cece could only imagine how frustrating that was going to be for the rat.

SPOILER!!: hi friends

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiallNIP

As soon as Rosier said that they would be working in groups, he clutched onto Atlas's sleeve. "Hey, do you wanna work with Eden and Ashley?" He hoped Atlas would just go with it—he really wanted to just get away from Nem. He would be able to tell him why once they were far enough away; he wasn't a fan of the idea of making a scene in this class, and talking about the subject with Nemesis right there could certainly cause one. And, if there were to be a scene, Rosier would take Nem's side, of course—they were a pureblood.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Bernie was again SO grateful to have Phoebe for a friend but also SO WORRIED by Rosier's response to her answer. He.... he... he'd liked it, hadn't he? She felt her heart sinking, and then dropping entirely when the activity became clear.

Great. So they were torturing animals now in addition to the humans. Fun fun fun. How was Bernie going to work her magic? She just didn't want to see anyone get hurt this lesson, so she took it upon herself to gather a rat and a box and then go get a group.



She scooted over to Atlas and Quinn's little group of babies (since she already saw Ashley, worryingly, working with Nem). Bernie did NOT like working with babies, so maybe Phoebe would join them, but also... maybe she wouldn't, since Rosier had been pretty clear about GROUPS OF FOUR ONLY. Guess time would also tell if Eden saw their group. ALSO, please note what a good leader Bernadette was being in sacrificing her time and energy (and possibly self) in order to help the even younger and yet somehow even more reckless Muggleborns. And Flamsteed. He wasn't a Muggleborn, but he had the unfortunate qualities of being young and naive and Gryffindor.

So back to the box and rat game.

"Well we can either tamper with the cheese more, or the rat, or make the box," ya know, the environment, "kind of impossible for the rat."

Funny how this paralleled their current situation at the school, huh.

Bernie looked from their table to the boys. "Whaddaya wanna do first?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryn

This activity actually sounded pretty fun! Practicing on a rat MUST be much better practice than inanimate objects, right? It didn't hurt that Eden was just waiting on the day Rosier decided the muggleborns should be target practice, so any that didn't happen was a win in her book.

Eden beelined it to Quinn and Atlas. It was always good to have back-up, and partnering with Ashley was completely out of the question - Rosier wouldn't like it one bit. Eden didn't really know Atlas outside of classes, but she'd been wanting to get to know him better since Quinn was with him all the time. All she really knew was there was a rumor he'd pee'd himself in Charms, but she decided not to let a rumor cloud her judgement of Atlas before she knew more about him.

Someone older was already there, too - Grantham, right? But it was still...1...2...3....yes! She walked even faster to get to the table before the fourth spot was taken, and arrived just in time to hear Bernie's last question. Sorry to pop up right behind you, Bernie, probably should have said hello first.

"Could we put a charm around the cheese so the rat can't get close?"

And then could she learn it and put it around herself? Did it work that way?

He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't heard Bernie speak, or really anyone else for that matter, so Atlas was...relieved that the man had not Crucio'd him or worse for a repeat answer. He felt like nothing, nothing, was off the table with Rosier...who honestly felt more and more unhinged. Whatever relief he may have felt quickly vanished as more of the lesson was revealed. Namely the rat and the threat of there being something in the cheese that would kill the rat. More and more...Atlas wanted to stick by Nemesis. It just felt...ironically safer, somehow. Though before Atlas could voice his opinion, he felt Quinn's tug on his sleeve again...and the Gryffindor once again assumed it meant that Quinn wanted to hold his hand. So there was an urge to repeat himself as well, that they could talk and such later and maybe while in the Tower Patch as well, but there were words attached to the gesture this time. The first year glanced over towards Nemesis, who was moving towards a table already (WAIT COME BACK!) and then one of those two names Quinn had mentioned joined Nemesis...and then their table full.

....so much for that plan.

Signing and with a frown, the flush washed from his features instantly, he looked back to Quinn. "I was hoping to..." And then a wild Bernie appeared, which came as a small comfort, followed soon by Eden and...well...that was it then, wasn't it? But he still wasn't going to hold Quinn's hand...entirely too afraid of the repercussions for both of them if they did. Even if it would be one of the best feelings in the world right now. Or, well, maybe it would be. Not that this Flamsteed was admitting to on ANY level actually craving physical affection of any variety. Nope nope.

Later though, okay?

But also...no offense...this group did not speak much towards self preservation and it had Atlas' insides knotting up terribly. Like...if they were going to have to kill the rat, who in this group was going to do it? For some reason...Atlas would put his galleon on Eden. Or maybe himself given the right circumstances.

Not to get ahead of anything though, Rosier HAD said if they didn't want the rat to die.

Fidgeting, his eyes locked on the beady eyes of the rat and then to Eden at her suggestion.

"...what if we just levitate it so it's out of its reach." Simple, effective, rat away from the cheese no matter what. "Keep it level with the top of the walls...which are taller than the rat can reach to climb over ... " Or else thie would be an ineffective maze.

"Yeah, that's it." Nifty little charm, actually. They never left home without it. Fox seemed to be thinking, so Nem didn't disturb her, just set the rat on the table and gently held it in place while they waited for her to continue. "I do know it, but it's alright to have a go, if you're up for it. I promise I won't let the rat touch the cheese."

They looked up from Fox, noted Blackthorne and Vegetable, and gave a small smile to them both. "Hey." Joining? Yeah? Yeah. "Here's what I'm thinking. Animalis Fidelis. One of us, maybe Ashley, casts it on the rat, and guides it around the maze - if the spell works, it'll follow their fingers-" Nem did the pay me gesture, which sometimes worked for beckoning cats and things like that. They never paid up though. "-and go where it's told. If that person applies the spell every two minutes, that should be enough, and the rat will bond with them more as time goes on, and trust to follow where they're telling it in spite of the smell of the cheese."

It was boring in its simplicity, but fitting for group work. "If the charm isn't working, or wears off at the wrong time, and the rat strays near the cheese, someone else gives it a little zap. Nothing awful, just a shock or sting, and it'll back off, and Rosier should be satisfied too. A little pain isn't so bad if it means keeping the rat alive."

It was all for the greater good, one might say.

Anyway.

"Carrot and stick. I'm totally open to other ideas, but we should get started or he won't be pleased." The Big Man, obviously. Nem released the rat into the maze, giving the others an opportunity to try... anything, really. That Flagrante Curse would hold, and they were not even entertaining the idea of failure.

Quinn followed Atlas's eyes as he watched Nem leave and he frowned. He understood why Atlas would look up to them—heck, Quinn thought they were cool for a while—but... Quinn didn't like them anymore. Truthfully, he didn't trust them as far as he could throw them, which wasn't far given Nem was tall and 15 or 16 and Quinn was short and 11. And, the more Quinn thought about it, the less sure he was about Nem's allegiance. Pureblood (maybe; Quinn wasn't sure), Slytherin—not that Slytherins were bad, just, y'know, historically...—and open to threatening people. Well, open to threatening Quinn, but Quinn being a Muggleborn didn't help their case. Not killing Quinn did, though; they easily could've thrown him down the stairs and suffered no repercussions, and that was the part that was holding Quinn back. That, and lack of actual evidence. Quinn would never act on an assumption alone, no matter how strong the assumption was or how convinced he was of it. And honestly, Quinn was only halfway convinced himself, so there would be no acting of the sort (also, the fact that he was only pretty sure he'd been threatened took the assumption down a couple more notches). But, that didn't mean Nem would have any sort of his trust. He may not be making any moves because of an assumption, but an assumption was enough to lose all trust, especially in a situation like this.

But, also... Quinn hadn't noticed it until it was gone, but... was Atlas blushing around Nemesis? That was... something Quinn thought he shouldn't think about right now. Lots of ideas floating around.

The point is, no matter which side Nem was on, Quinn still thought he was rude and a bully, and he didn't want Atlas around him. "I'm sorry, Atlas, I just... I don't think Nemesis is someone you should be looking up to," he whispered, hopefully so that only Atlas heard. He wanted to talk to Eden and Bernie about them as well—Quinn thought it was funny how all three of the people he currently trusted the most at school had gathered at a table with him, even though none of them really knew any of the others very well (except maybe Bernie and Atlas, but that was for the wrong reasons)—but DADA didn't seem like the time or place to get into that whole conversation. Plus, Eden and Atlas still didn't know about what he and Bernie discussed, so they wouldn't understand why he was telling her. Quinn was still unsure about telling either of them the truth about that whole situation, Eden because of her hotheadedness and Atlas because of his dad.

Strange times to live in where you couldn't tell your closest friends truths for the sake of your life, their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Anyway.

Rats. Maze. Cheese. Bad.

He listened to the suggestions of the rest of the group; he thought Eden's idea would be good, but he wasn't sure what that charm would be. He liked Atlas's idea about levitating the cheese, too—Rosier said by any means, and levitation was a means. Quinn had another idea as well. "Levitating the cheese could definitely work. I'm not sure what charm would be able to keep the rat away from the cheese, though," he shrugged at Eden, "but we could also use Petrificus Totalus to petrify the rat if it got too close to the cheese. Or, I guess we could just petrify it from the beginning, but... that seems a little too simple, doesn't it?" He wasn't sure if Rosier would be impressed but such a straightforward solution, and he didn't want to give him any reason to dislike Quinn any more than he did.

With the influx of new children at the table, Ingrid was ready to put her plan into action regardless of what the other girls wanted but figuring that it would be rude not to at least share her plan, she flashed both Ivy and Claudine a quick smile before her face turned back to that of someone who meant business. “I mean, I want to body-bind them so that they’re not hurt but stupefy works too. Short of that, I’ll eat the cheese myself because I’m not going to hurt these rats.”, her eyes fierce as she spoke her plan into action.

Pulling out her wand, she quickly dropped her rat and aimed her wand it quickly and moved her wand in the hook like movement required.

“Petrificus Totalus”

Hopefully the rat would just let the curse wash over it and everything would be fine. No vomiting cheese or death cheese or whatever the stupid cheese was. Nope. Just a flash of white light and nothing else.