"They're coming! They're coming! This is it, oh Merlin it's happening!!" Honestly, Emmerson felt a little bit like Chicken Little screaming that the sky was falling but the sky may as well have been falling given what she'd seen on her way back from the duck pond.

She knew warning wouldn't make a difference because they couldn't very well make anyone LEAVE but she was so freaked and needed someone to know and and and she hadn't stopped running from the moment she broke into that sprint back on the ground.

"We gotta hide--we gotta....gotta...they're here."

WAS NO ONE ELSE GOING TO FREAK OUT???

Surely she wasn't the only one who'd seen the A R M Y.

Gemma was out looking for her mum, but she hadn't found her yet. Sighing she headed towards the entrance hall to head out on the grounds. Maybe she was with Williamson or maybe she was trying to do some readings near the forest, either way Gemma was hoping to find her.

She heard Emmerson before she saw her, but she stopped and watched her for a moment. "Who is coming? What are you talking about." With the way this term was going and the hooded figures an uneasy feeling came to Gemma and she rushed towards the doors and looked out.

"Who.... who are they?" She started to back away from the door feeling more and more terrified.

”Quiet.” She’d seen the crowd approaching through a window and moved to the entrance hall at once, wanting to see them up close. Her curiosity winning out over her fear. The number of them was alarming, telling her that this Rosier man had a much bigger following than she’d been willing to imagine. ”I don’t need to tell you that these people will not tolerate any defiance. If you’re going to stay here, you’ll stand beside me and you’ll be quiet. If you can’t do that, I suggest you go back to your common rooms immediately.” And fast. The girls had every right to be frightened, but making a scene right now was only going to end badly for all of them. She shooed them back towards the stairs, out of the way of the doors.

I didn’t sign up for this. The thought had crossed her mind a million times since she’d started the term here and today was no different.

Shreya had been passing through the Entrance Hall, heading down one of the marble staircases on her way back to the dungeons, when she heard echoes of someone screaming. Moments later, Emerson Camrbdige skidded into the Great Hall. They're here? Who exactly were they?

Picking up her stride in concern, Shreya hurried down the rest of the stairs, meeting her coworker as she reached the landing. Neva's warning confirmed the worst: Rosier's following had arrived.

She knew it would only be a matter of time before this happened, but the sight of the stone-faced army out the window was concerning nonetheless. Shreya joined Neva in attempting to move Emmerson and Gemma back, away from the doors, just in case the army tried to burst it open somehow. Or otherwise inflict some type of torture. "Professor Peralta is right. Whatever they say, just do it. Don't question them. It'll be okay." She wanted to further comfort the frightened girls, but now was not the time. She knew that any funny business would not be tolerated. And she didn't want anyone getting hurt.

Well this was scary. Ash had never seen the full force of the cult before. She said nothing, but put up her hood before they came in to cover the mark on her forehead and make it harder to get her identity. She found a spot tucked behind the professors, just in case. Please universe don't make me die. I'm only twelve and I have reasons to stay alive and this time, the danger isn't even my fault. I'm sorry about all the times I've put myself in danger by being dumb, please just help me this one more time. Pleaseee. Ash said nothing. She stood there so still and "compliant" and "respectful" or whatever that if a cultist stumbled upon her, they wouldn't even try to kill her.

Norman had seen the army approaching from the window in his office. There was no need to ask who they were; the real question was what did they want? There was only one thing he could think of: an ambush. Merlin! He knew Rosier was lying through his teeth when he said no one would get hurt if they all complied; that was practically all dark wizards ever did! He just didn’t think the truth would come to light this fast.

He ran down the flights of stairs as fast as his legs could go. Give him a break! HIs office was on the sixth floor! He was not at all surprised to find some of his colleagues (Neva & Shreya) already gathered by the time he finally made it to the entrance hall, and he inwardly cursed the location of his office. The three students in the hall (Emmerson, Gemma & Ashley) got little more than a passing glance. Neva and Shreya had already told them what he would’ve said, so there was no reason to waste time repeating it. Besides, warm and comforting wasn’t exactly his strong suit. Sorry, kids! “Stay calm. We’ll handle this,” he said, making an effort to be reassuring as he rushed past them.

Norman’s mind was going a million miles an hour, trying to formulate a strategy just in case the worst happened. They outnumber us… We can’t drive them back, and we can’t hold them off, he thought. Then an idea occurred to him! If they could draw that entire army into one place, they could buy time for the students to get to safety… But he was getting ahead of himself. First thing was to find out what they wanted and try to resolve this peacefully. He nodded, standing near the two women. “Agreed, we do everything we can to placate them,” he said. Acutely aware of the students’ presence, his voice dropped to a whisper as he added, “And just in case, I have another idea.”

Biting on a piece of toast he had decided to take with him , Minjae left the Great Hall to go to his common room cause where else could he go after his favorite room had been destroyed only to find a small group gathered around .

With Cambridge's frantic behaviour and the few words he had caught from Professor Varma and Peralta, Minjae knew immediately that something was wrong. He just did not know what.

Looking over through the gap of the door, his face paled upon seeing the large group of what could only be the Tyrant's followers and he was shocked to see that there were so many of them. Still chewing on his toast but more...nervously now....cause it was food and he couldn't waste it, he quickly walked over to stand beside Ashley, knowing fully well that she was a muggleborn like himself and he felt a need to protect her. "Professors? Should we leave?" he asked, not knowing what to do. Was he supposed to hide or face them? Someone tell him please.

See, Emm was all set to start screaming about the army by the gate when Gemma asked. She even took a deep breath to make sure she could get it all out but before she could offer any response to the Hufflepuff, Professor Peralta was insisting on quiet.

WHO could be quiet now? HOW could anyone be so calm????? And d e f i a n c e?? Did she look like Ashley Fox to any of them?? Emmerson didn't NEED to be told to comply. SHE wasn't the one who had trouble holding her tongue. Speaking off the Ravenclaw, there she was which meant Emm had to be somewhere else. That girl had a habit of becoming a target and the 12-year-old was uninterested in being grouped in with her should things go south.

"Leaving is an excellent idea." Emm piped up. Minjae knew what was up and even Peralta had suggested they go if they couldn't handle things. "Just don't die after we leave. YOU don't do anything dumb either." She'd seen the hooded figures in some of their classes. Frankly, she didn't wanna know what those classes would become with them teaching. "I wasn't made for hexes every time I give a wrong answer."

There was a brief moment of relief in realizing she wasn't the only adult in the hall, though it left the moment Norman mentioned having another idea. She glanced at him, worry clouding her expression. He knew this way beyond their control right now, didn't he? The best they could hope for was to keep the kids safe and try and keep their heads down until back up came. If back up was coming. Merlin, she hoped someone somewhere was catching on to the fact that something was not right. They needed help. "I don't think this is the moment for impulsivity. Surely Rosier knows they're coming" Her tone was apologetic, but she wouldn't budge on this. They couldn't intervene but they could remain calm keep the children out of harm's way. She glanced at Shreya, wondering what her thoughts were.

Glancing at Mr. Yoon and then back at the oak doors, the Professor frowned. The crowd of Rosier's friends would likely be here any moment, which meant they didn't have much time. "If you can handle getting back to your common rooms quickly and quietly, go now. Do not call attention to yourselves, no more yelling." That request was for you, Emmerson Cambridge. "I assure you no one is dying today." Not if she had anything to do with it.

"Get moving," She added after a moment, particularly if the children who dormed in the towers hoped to make it back up there and out of sight.

Gemma had moved back and was happy to see the adults. Her eyes scanned low for a blonde figure to come forth, but her mother never did. Hopefully that meant she was safe some where else. Listening to everyone Gemma just watched and nodded. She wasn't trying to take a wand out or wanting to fight. She just wanted to go and hide under her covers. It was becoming the only place she truly felt safe.

"You don't have to tell us twice professors. Stay safe." With that she was getting gone. Turning she went to head off but then stopped, "Has anyone see my mum or Hope?" She didn't want them to be left in danger and seeing either them or even her brother would be helpful.

See, Ash wanted to hold her best friend's hand right now. But her best friend was not here. She looked to her left. Well Minjae was standing next to her. But no way was she going to ask to hold his hand. That would be embarrassing. ASH DID NOT NEED TO HOLD ANYBODY'S HAND. Although she definitely did want to.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Emmerson. She didn't have time for that.

"I should go." Ash was possibly the person you would want the least in this spot right now, other than possibly Kale Trent. She had spent most of last year yelling at fake Trent, and she had definitely lied on her blood status form, and she acted like a muggle whenever possible, and she couldn't hold her tongue, and that was the worst combination ever.

It was hard to tell, but there may have been traces of fear in Ash's eyes as she started in the direction of her common room, which she wouldn't feel particularly safe in either.

Aboli had planning this for some time. Maybe she should have made sure at least ONE other person would show up with some SKILLLLZ??? but, like, she felt that if she broadcasted it too much, it would get too much attention. And what if the Alliance found a way to make this....not fun? So she had posted her posters a couple places around school and on the main bulletin board and just...let it sit. Let it be.

But she managed to charm some desks from an empty classroom into some tables and had managed to shrink them for movement down here to the Entrance Hall. She had her tongue between her teeth in concentration as she flourished her wand, getting the four tables set up. Then, she had to get alllll her supplies out and set up on one of the tables as well as the THREE example cards she had been working. They were ALL charmed in some way to either shimmer, sing, change color...she had a list of options available!

Now...to wait and see if anyone turned up *EYES EMOJI*

example 1
example 2
example 3 !

Ash seemed to have come out of nowhere. Where had she came from? Why was she so sneaky? She popped up right behind Aboli. "You wanted people to make each other presents or something? I can do art. Like of anything. Anybody want a drawing of anything, I can do it. Or like, something else. But I'm mainly good at art. I can even do pets. And people. And objects. Preferably off of a picture but descriptions can be done." She pulled out her sketchbook. Proof. Almost anything was in there. Since when had she become an ad agency for herself? "I can draw you, Aboli, if you want. For free." She laughed. "I sound like a robot. Seriously though, you want art, I'm your girl. I can even put magic in it to make it less suspicious. I'm boreddd." And with that, she started doodling a boy on an empty page. It was a very good drawing, but it wasn't recognizable to anyone at the school. Mystery subject, apparently. Any "customers"? They didn't have to pay, especially if they boosted her ego. They could pay in gifts. They could pay in favors. Ash was bored out of her mind. pleaseee somebody give her something interesting to do that didn't involve trashing muggles.

Quinn was very excited for the Christmas gift thingy. He was already knitting some stuff for his own friends, so why not knit some stuff for other people's friends, too?

He made his way over to Aboli with his satchel full of all the yarn he's brought (red, green, blue and yellow [obviously] along with three shades of pink and a purple with glitter in it), some samples of what he can make (hat, socks, scarf and a sweater that was wearable but a bit dingy), and his knitting needles. "Hey! I saw the posters about the Christmas present thingy, and I thought I might as well pitch in! I can knit pretty alright, so that's something. Plus I can bake cakes, cupcakes, brownies and cookies! But, uh, not anything too fancy just yet," he chuckled a bit awkwardly.

"I was thinking I could probably take orders for stuff and then get it to people before Christmas? But that also depends on the amount of yarn I have, and how much time it'll take to knit stuff... and I can't very well bake things too far in advance, can I?" He furrowed his brow in thought. These were... not exactly things he had thought about just yet. "W-well, maybe scratch the baked goods until I figure out a proper way to go about doing that, but I'm still on for knitting..!"

Eden was nervous about approaching Aboli, not that she'd admit it. She hadn't really befriended any upperclassmen, and she didn't really trust purebloods at all. Would Aboli let her in on the holiday spirit, or would she tell her that muggleborns weren't welcome? The first year really didn't know what she'd do if that were true, and the fear of it alone almost kept her from coming.

Her fears were significantly alleviated when she saw Ashley. Quinn was a different matter - but nonetheless nothing to fear. Eden approached the small group by the tables. In one hand she held a few colorful
friendship bracelets. In the other she carried a black plastic case with a pink glitter handle.

"Hi Aboli, Ashley, Quinn," the little ginger greeted, nodding to each of her fellow students. She wouldn't ignore Quinn - that was all him if he chose to go that route. "I, um, brought friendship bracelets. I can make more or teach people to do it themselves." Eden took a deep breath. She worried about looking like a silly kid with the next one. "I can also do nails. My parents both did it professionally and taught me how. Not like acrylics...like nail art. Polka dots, glitter...strawberries...that kind of thing. I could make vouchers or something? Or not."

Delaney descended the stairs that lead to the entrance hall and glanced around. They weren't hard to spot. Aboli had a small group of Ravenclaws gathered around some tables, one containing a number of holiday cards. Delaney had seen the flyer hung up around the castle and was intrigued. She had no skills to offer BUT Christmas was her all time favorite holiday (right after her birthday of course) and she was determined to make this year a good one even though she would be stuck at school. See, Delaney LOVED receiving gifts but she also found some joy in giving them as well. There was almost no chance of any of her presents from home reaching her this year (unless the Neo Alliance were also big Christmas supporters) which left her with only one other option: giving. Delaney had no talents herself, not a creative bone in her body, which means she would need to enlist help.

She strode over the group with her arms behind her back, "Hello Aboli," She was only mildly familiar with the older snake, but she did remember she was pro 'sticking together'. She nodded her greeting to the others as well, "I heard you're all making stuff for Christmas? I need stuff. I don't have any coin with me..." That was a lie but who knows when she might need the money in the future for something more pressing, "But I've got a couple of pumpkin pasties, some chocolate frog cards, and a Puddlemere United poster I can trade you for ... or whatever else I can help you with."

Delaney shrugged. She would be happy to help in whatever way she can in exchange for some gifts...

Claudine did have talent and so she was here. Aboli’s idea intrigued her and presents definitely should be a thing because they were an essential part of the holidays. And Claudine loved Christmas. She lurked behind some first years, checking out the display. Was she impressed by what she saw? Yes.

“Hi, Aboli. Creative idea.” Anyway. “I overheard Ashley volunteering her artistic talent.’’ Really, the Ravenclaw was pretty good at drawing. “I volunteer mine too. Two artists are better than one, right?” This self taught artist was so proud of her work, you know.

Minjae had....no skills to show. Not in this setting at least . He had become rather skilled in potion making and using defensive spells over the years and lately non-verbal spells was added to the list as well but all of that had nothing to do with christmas. Still, the Hufflepuff joined the others in the entrance hall because he wanted to be useful somehow.

"Hey everyone" he greeted the group at large , his hands deep inside of his pockets as he checked out the cards on the table. Neat. "I liked your idea Aboli, very Prefect like" he said as he looked at his slytherin friend. "I have to admit i don't really have any skill but maybe you know something i can help with?"

It didn't take long for some students to start trickling in, and Aboli had to admit she was a little relieved people were actually here. She had thought if she just made ONE PERSON'S Christmas a little better, then things would be all right. However, there was MORE than one person, so all was well in the world!

Ashley was the first to arrive, and Aboli had to hide her look of amusement as the girl just prattled on...and on...and on........and then, on. Merlin's pants, when she wasn't being faced with the ridiculousness of the Neo Alliance, the girl was an absolutely chatter-box. "Ashley, thank you. You can set up your stuff next to me on this table or choose one of the other tables for yourself and anyone else who wants to do art stuff!" She smiled and gave a thumbs up at her sketches. "Oh, nice. I wish I had that skill. However.......I don't. I just make these guys - " and she held up a card. It seemed Claudine wanted in on the art stuff too. "Thanks, Claudine. Sure. You two can go get your own table -" she nodded at the one next to hers. "And then we can all start working! We're the little Christmas elves this year, aren't we?!" she nodded and chuckled to herself.

OK.

THINGS WERE GOING SWIMMINGLY.

Awww, little Quinn. Aboli sent him a wave with her gloved hand. "Heya, Quinn. Actually, knitting might be easier for you. We don't really...have ALL the access to the kitchens to be promising people baked goods and stuff. " Which made her wonder just how the Alliance felt about the house elves. Did they like the elves because they had magic? Or did their prejudices extend further? "That's a pretty cool thing to know how to do. How did you learn?" she patted the spot next to her at her own table so he could display any of his knitting stuff he needed to display.

MORE OF THOSE LITTLE RAVENCLAWS. Eden, now, too. "Oh! Lovely, Eden. I'm sure a LOT of people will want friendship bracelets." She did not glance at Quinn even though she SUPER wanted to. Had he spoken to her yet, she wondered. She was trying not to be obvious though! "Those are sooOOooo cute, Eden. SO cute. I'll probably even take some." She'd put in her order by the end of the day, surely!

At Minjae and Delaney's arrival, though, she thought she should make something clear. Those two had come just to procure gifts! Aboli cleared her throat. "AHEM!" she started, "I just want to make it clear that NO form of payment should be transactioned here!" She made up the word transactioned. People could get over it. "This is all for fun and for free since we can't get mail! So unless you want me to kick ya' out, do NOT force people to pay you!"

Aaaaand Minjae got a wink. "Thanks. I will forever be a prefect, thank you."

Yeah, well. Ash had decided she needed to say everything. And an eighth of the lifespan equaled 8 times the amount of talking. "Nice card." Yayyyy! Other people were here! "yo Quinn! I didn't know you could knit. That's cool! Edennnn! Nice bracelets." And then she hopped over to Claudine. Goooood mood todayyyy!!!! "Claudine can we sit at the same table please? We can be 'twinsies', or whatever. I don't know what that word means." She gave the girl subtle puppy eyes. Not enough to be annoying, but enough to be effective. Pleeease. They all had limited time, so they needed lots of fun. "Does anyone want a picture of someone else? I don't even have to like them to draw them. I can make their eyes all sparkly..." She rested her head on the table. High-energy today was she? She wanted people to give her stuff to draw. plsssss.

He smiled at Ashley and nodded. "Yep! It's really relaxing actually." He moved to the table next to Aboli, starting to take out some of his things.

"Hi, Eden," he said, hopefully very neutrally (since that's what he was going for) as he looked into his bag to sort through his things. He hadn't actually spoken to her yet, but he didn't want to ignore her anymore. He didn't want to not talk to her, but he had never really had a good opportunity. Every time he was going to it felt really awkward, so he just... didn't. Yet. He was going to. For sure. Soon. Definitely.

He laid out the samples he had knitted—yellow hat, blue and green striped socks, purple glittery scarf and a baby pink semi-dingy sweater—and then laid out the yarns so people could see the colors. "Well," he started in response to Aboli, "I started knitting because of my Gram. Same for my baking, actually. Every time I would go to her house she would do one of the two, if not both, and I just started watching her. Then I started helping her bake, and she gave me a set of knitting needles and showed me how. Now we do both together whenever I go." He smiled thinking about it. He wished he could be there now—his Gram's was his happy place. He wanted to bake brownies with chocolate chips and walnuts and work on their big quilt together. He took a deep breath before he could tear up. "Your cards are very pretty, Aboli. You did a good job," he forced a smile.

She had already been working on her own gifts for her friends whens she noticed the posters about helping out with Christmas gifts for everyone. Having been ahead on her studies (Hogwarts was much more slack than her own mother) Tavie couldn't think of a better way to spend her time for Christmas. Well, she could, actually, but she thought she still had enough time to spare and help make everyone's Christmas merry and bright.

When she walked up to the area, she spotted a few underclassmen and some older kids, one of them being, "Aboli!" She smiled brightly at the older girl. "I'm rubbish at arts and crafts, but I'm brilliant with my wand." That was, at least at charms. She had improved greatly over the past year. "Stick me wherever I'm most useful for the gifts!"

Dahlia had seen the posters around the castle a couple of times and yes, she had read it. The idea had made her smile but the realization of how close it was to the holidays and the fact that she wouldn't be going home, had made her cry. Christmas was a big thing at home, their family always got together to exchange gifts and eat and play games and things. There was music and laughter and lots of noise. Not getting to go home was heartbreaking but she couldn't dwell on it for too long. Whether or not she was stuck here... her holiday gift shopping list was long.

So it was quietly and with a soft smile that she had made her way to the entrance hall where the tables were set up. Taking a quick look around and seeing a few familiar faces, the first year made her way over towards Aboli. Since it was the older girl who had put this thing together she wanted to start by speaking with her first.

"Hi, Aboli.. I'm Dahlia." In case she didn't know that already or thought that she was her sister Lily. It wouldn't be the first or the last that someone still called her Lily. Even being sorted into different houses hadn't helped with people mixing them up. Anyhow that wasn't even important right now. "This is a really great idea." She shifted from one foot to the other. "I'm not sure how much help I can be since what I'm really good at won't help with this." Creatures and plants wouldn't do much good right now.

In her bag though she had brought some paracord, lanyard and beads of many colors and styles. She used to enjoy making things from time to time but with how things were going this term... well the items had all sat buried at the bottom of her trunk the entire term. Forgotten. It had been a secret hobby of hers that only her family knew about. "I do have some stuff I made awhile ago but I'm not sure at how good I'll be at making them again." Not that she wouldn't give it her best try. "Would you like to see them?"

Aboli chuckled at Ashley's immense enthusiasm. Goodness, it was nice to see the younger ones look HAPPY. And unafraid. And NORMAL. She smiled a little. "Ashley, I'll take a sketch of this handsome fellow." She pulled out a picture of Noah Nam and slide it over to her. Her eyes went to Minjae, wondering if Noah had filled him in on she and the NOW BOYFRIEND'S developments. All of the developments... "My boyfriend. So please make sure it looks decent." Were her cheeks red because they were burning. She hardly spoke about these sorts of things aloud to the general population here at Hogwarts. Sure, Bernie had caught on to her romantic shenanigans simply from observing her interactions with the Gryffindor, but she didn't go out of her way to talk to random people about Noah.

Ahem.

Anyway.

"Do you want one?" she asked Quinn, suddenly pulling out a blank sheet of paper and using her wand to turn it green. She was not an artist, no, but she was dead good at magic, all right? To each their own. "You know there's a charm to help you knit, too," she said with a smile. "Unless that's how you already knit." Because he DID already knit using magic.

Well, well, well. Someone from that little annoying group had arrived, one of the non-annoying ones. Octavia. And she supposed her heart to heart with Cece rendered her more patient with her as well. But Phoebe, Kale...and the lot of 'em.... yeah. Aboli was not a fan, but she did wave in a polite manner at the Ravenclaw. She had nothing against Octavia, after all. "Well, thank you for turning out, Octavia. How nice of you. I guess....you can help me make some cards. It's easy if you just follow my steps and know hot to render decent magic," and she expected that the Stark girl would know decent magic. After all, that lot talked a LOT about their schooling before Hogwarts, and they seemed well learned. Hmmph.

Another small one! Aboli was glad the younger kiddos were at least taking advantage of her idea. Dahlia.....right. Okay. "Oh. Um. Sure. Show me," she began using her wand to snip snip SNIIIIIP away at her green paper, her eyes moving to watch Dahlia pull whatever she wanted to from her bag.

And since she was not paying attention, her magic had produced a very lopsided Christmas tree. Whoops.