'In the Meantime...Something for Fun' Cont..

[Jazzie C]

Jey looked up and smiled as Katie came into the room with a steaming pot of tea on a tray looking somewhat exhausted. She watched as Katie set the tray down in front of her. 'You look exhausted.' Jey said, voicing her thoughts. She pulled up a chair for Katie to sit in, wondering if the girl would take her up on the wordless offer. When Katie didn't move, she conjured a second mug and said: 'Katie why don't you join me. You've barely sat down all day and we haven't had time for a chat yet!'

Was there a hint of sadness in Katie's eye? Jey spotted it instantly and smiled inwardly. She had something to pluck at. She would find this girl's weakness. She just had to watch for it first. Katie would do anything she was asked, of that Jey was certain.

[Nicci]

Gratefully accepting the fluffy towel with an outstretched hand from Leilani, Lance rubbed it carefully against his hair before turning his head to listen to Vixie. Surprised by her cruel mocking demeanour he found himself sinking back further and further into his chair with every spiteful quotation she made.
It saddened him to hear her speak of others in such a way with pure dislike in her insults. Not only had she insinuated that Juliet was mentally unstable and even called her Nature Freak… twice, Vixie now claimed that alone they knew that the glass jar on the table and many of it’s kind could be found in the back cupboard of the Care of Magical Creatures classroom.

Frowning, Lance didn’t jump to defend Juliet’s case. If there was truth behind Vixie’s outburst (by the fact he was soaking wet made logical sense) then Juliet preferred him as a frog and probably would have kept him as one if it made ignoring him easier.
It was Leilani’s two faced chuckle and comment about a ‘temporary habitat’ that had reoccurred his earlier suspicions that although the two girls were pretty on the outside, brain cells about amphibians weren’t quite as common as the colour of their lipstick on the inside.

With all eyes now turned to Shawn, Lance waited with baited breath to hear what his best friend had to add to the story. It was obvious whether Vixie liked it or not that Juliet had been involved but what had happened to her? Why wasn’t she with them now? And who was the Ravenclaw girl who had turned him into a frog?
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Taking a detour down a hidden passage behind a tapestry of an old looking bearded man on horseback cleverly disguised as ‘Sir Prise Beahond’, Katie had made her way down to the kitchen and back up the main staircase with enough time to spare to glance out of a few windows.
With no signs of anybody of interest she continued on with her duty of getting the afternoon tea to Professor Garland.

Having been ushered inside the room to join Jey for tea, Katie remained wary as she stood away from the large desk.
“I don’t know if I should Professor..I..I mean Jey, every minute wasted of precious learning time could have an effect on ones education. You have earned your break and earned it whole-heartedly, why the third years couldn’t wait to leave the room to start their practice homework assignments…” Pausing, Katie bowed her head nervously, concerned that her mere ramblings were indeed time wasting.
“You are an inspiration towards teaching and I should follow your set example… which means I should politely decline your generous invitation to join you and instead offer to take that pile of workbooks off of your hands and mark them with…..”
A second hesitation caused Katie to lock onto the cold gaze from Professor Garland as she sipped her loose leaf tea from an ordinary looking spotted mug.
The choice of mug had baffled Katie on the first time she had retrieved it and the teapot from the house elves in the kitchen, a delicate china one would have held whatever heat was left in the water a lot longer than the big fancy ceramic monstrosity, but then each was to their own taste.

Catching a hint of fresh mint, Katie took a deep breath and forced out the end of her sentence “Compassionate…commitment. I hope you like the scone”.

[Chris]

Shawn focused so hard, and had to combine a few different spells, but the transfiguration worked. He was so in the zone, that he didn't hear any of the conversation that was taking place during or afterward. In a way, he was in shock that the spell combination fixed his best friend. Shawn can relax later. It took his girlfriend to get his mind out of the clouds. "Leilani? Sorry I wasn't listening. Still shocked that it worked." Then looking around and saw Lance and Vixie also looking at him. Shawn smiled and gave his best friend a hug. "Glad you're back."

*******

Seth turned as Ylana bursted from the Entrance Hall. "There's Ylana. Hey there." Alex counted everyone, and said, "I think we're just missing Peter?"

*******

Peter was not wanting to rush out, since he did make a rather strange exit. Taking a breath in, he broke through the bushes and saw that everyone was waiting for him. He approached them, and smiled, "everyone ready?" Alex looked around the group, and nodded as he said, "I'm ready." Seth nodded.

[Nicci]

Lance gave an unsure grimace as Shawn tightly hugged him.
“Yeah, um…thanks bud. Appreciate it and all.” He mumbled, thankful at heart but was clearly aware of the deep, soul boring glances that Vixie and Leilani were giving the pair of them. Both of the girls had expected Shawn to back up their account of events, and as he hadn’t and confessed to have not been listening Lance felt anxiously on the edge that they were in for a grilling. Maybe if they survived long enough to make it back to their dorm room he’d be able to get a clearer unbiased answer out of Shawn about what really happened.

(Afraid mine is short but Lozzy should really have the main chance to reply for this scene and I’m allowing time for Tom to keep Lyn involved with the Gryffindor’s to answer as Serena. Chris you always have the first years if you wanted more time to carry on writing but I don't know what Tom wants to do about bringing his back in.)

[Thomas]

((Oh oh! first years, I wrote some notes somewhere in my exam file about what I was planning to do with them better go look ))

[Nicci]

(Exam file..oh dear hope that didn't pop up as one of your answers. Maybe they'd give you extra marks if you had brought Kyle back instead )

[Thomas]

((haha not in the actuall exam just revision notes!!! Although maybe I should have done that!))

[Nicci]

(Glad to have you back Tommy, If you need updates or anything just let me know. Can't wait to read some new posts from you

[Thomas]

Lyn was torn this Serena girl seemed really nice, and she was a ravenclaw, but she felt like she should go confront Heather right now, and let her know that she couldn't control who she was friends with "Ummm.. where are you going?"
"Gen!" She beamed as she saw the petite girl join the group, which had swollen in size rather quickly, feeling a little intimidated she stepped back a little and edged around closer to Gen on the outskirts of the group, giving her a smile she excitedly asked "What's with the rush, were are you all going?"

[Nicci]

Serena was about to answer Lyn’s question when realised that Ylana had bounded to join the group for Peter’s trip. Concerned that she had just invited the Slytherin girl along without Peter’s permission she turned to face the others as Peter himself emerged from the bushes.
Feeling caught up in the frenzy of chatter, Serena held off from launching into the conversation to get acquainted with Ylana and watched the Gryffindor’s respond to Peter’s arrival.

At the back of her mind she contemplated the reasoning for Tristan’s strange behaviour towards Lyn. She seemed nice and also being new gave them some common ground to share. Why wouldn’t it be a problem for her to come along? She could be trusted, couldn’t she?

[Nicci]

(Sorry about this random post, boyfriend wanted me to write a post about the Loch Ness 'monster' so he could read it and get involved. Many apologies that we haven't seen Riri since the current RP day morning that was wrote back in June, she'll drop by Hogwarts eventually)

Having been caught up responding to a rush of owls and debating about jet set holiday ideas with Mathilda Sprigott from the Goblin Liaison Office that sat a few doors down the corridor, Marissa ‘Riri’ Summers had taken the morning and afternoon’s work at the Ministry of Magic’s Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures all in her proud stride as she returned to her desk after a well earned leisurely tea break.

Danton Sweetman’s (the head of the Being Division) supposable after lunch symposium for new ideas for the Department as a whole had been dreary as dishwater. The eighty something year old tiny wizard, with his brilliant white beard that reached down to his ankles was a kind old soul but in Riri’s mind was really due for retirement.
Contemplating possible changes to the department if Sweetman retired as she casually sipped on a new mug of cooling natural green leaf flavoured water; Riri smiled a wicked confident smirk before summoning in her personal assistant.

Shuffling into the room with a buff coloured file tucked under her arm, heavily pregnant Harriet smiled like she always did with her dark raven hair curled up in a tight bun. The woman was in her late twenties, smart dressed and constantly admired her boss’s ability to juggle a demanding full time job, a husband and a teenage daughter all the same time and still arrive on time for work looking like the cover of a fashion magazine. This was Harriet’s first child and although work demand was high, Riri understood the importance of family and firmly knew that she would have to find a temporary replacement in the next couple of weeks to replace her PA. If Harriet’s child were as gifted as her own then they would be a fine addition to the Wizarding community.

Taking the file from her assistant and wishing her well on her way back to her desk, Riri scanned the documents about the unrelated animal attacks and still contemplated a visit up to Scotland herself.
As the minute hand on the clock reached 16:23pm a short, gangly weasel like man with slicked down greasy hair, hooked nose and tiny round glasses slithered his way unannounced around the clear office door and stood puny before Riri’s desk with a rather large scroll of parchment.
Repelled by the sudden creepy appearance of Badvel Smithe from the Committee for the Disposal of Magical Creatures, Riri sat up tall in her high back chair displaying an air of confidence.

“What do you want now!” she barked in an authoritive tone down at the small man “Sixteen times we had to send over those refusals, Do you know how busy we are over here?”
Cowering pathetically, Mr Smithe began to mumble as he unravelled the parchment to deliver his unwelcomed news. “M..m..my appologies madam, but it’s..s..s happened again. The Loch Ness Kelpie has exposed itself in its serpent form in front of a transport vehicle carrying sixteen muggles and as you know is a direct contravention of Clause 73. Your Task Force were nowhere to found at the time of the incident and the International Confederation of Wizards wants a respectable…”
Having found his confidence for the briefest of moments, Mr Smithe paused, trembled and stared back at the burning gaze that the suited red haired woman was giving him across the desk. She was not taking this as well as he had hoped.

Gulping, he squeezed out the word “answer” and took several steps back towards the door.
“An Answer! I’ll give them an answer” Riri scowled, disapproving intently the audacity of the Committee even setting a foot into her office unannounced. She knew of them all right; it had only been about a year and a half since they had all turned up outside her office and camped petitioning for the same Kelpie to be physically restricted to isolation or eradicated completely. Lying and faking compassion was on the top of their responsibilities and she hated them for it.

“Tell them that I will see to this matter personally, No one! And I mean NO ONE is going to kill that innocent creature because someone in my department failed to do their job… Understand!”.
Having been reduced to a shuddering pile of bones on the nice plush carpet, Mr Smithe crumpled up his parchment and sped out of the room as silently as he had arrived leaving Riri glaring at the door angrily.
To her this was actually work, the good meaty part of getting to the bottom of things. Resolving problems was what she did naturally. So what if the paperwork went to Harriet, she had business to attend to.

Standing from her high backed chair and flattening her pencil skirt against her smooth tan tights, Riri gritted her teeth and wrinkled her nose with a keen determination. She wouldn’t just give them any old answer, there would only be one. One that put things back in her favour no matter how bad the situation.
“Harriet!, Fetch me my coat I’m off to Scotland.” Riri shouted across the room as she hurried to put away any residue paperwork “Oh and send word to the Muggle Liaison Office, they need to know about my visit as quickly as possible. Use Iris preferably, she knows the route and is faster than any of the other Ministry’s ‘seagulls’ they have up in the loft. If someone hasn’t been quick enough to hand out memory charms then we’ll have another Ilfracombe incident on our hands and I do not want that splashed all over the morning’s papers.”

[Chris]

Joe listened to Sammi, and felt she was right. Studies would always be there, but their friends were missing.

"Yeah. Let's go."

Closing his book, Joe was ready to go with Sammi.

***************
While waiting for everyone to give the go-ahead, Peter counted those that were there. With an extra member, he realized that he hadn't met one of the group. Looking towards Lyn, he said, "hi there. I'm Peter." After the greeting, he added, "I'm not sure if you were invited, but since I just met you, if you want to come, understand that what we are about to do is dangerous, and you have to keep what you may see to only the members of this group. I don't have time to elaborate, but its very important to my well-being." Peter wasn't trying to scare or worry her, but just give to her the gravity of the situation.

[Nicci]

Still miserable about the day’s events, Juliet emerged from the Hufflepuff common room and stepped out into the dark corridor beyond. The air around her was full of the delicious scent of roasting meats, cooking vegetables and the sweetness of homemade apple pie. That was a perk of being near the kitchens you could always guess what the House Elves were busy preparing and the warmth of the ovens that wafted around always invigorated the most tired of students.

Frowning, Juliet wasn’t content with dinner to look forward too; she wouldn’t be joining the others again this evening for the main sit down meal and had to endure hours of detention instead. More than likely the potions professor would have her counting eyes, claws, anything that can be forced into a jar really just to take a stock check to ensure that nothing had been stolen. Like anyone would want a handful of Spleenwart loose in his or her pockets. Maybe she could just hope that he’d let her do homework instead, Magical Creatures still had an assignment outstanding and there was always time needed to revise herbology.

Passing down the corridor, Juliet ignored the trio of rowdy seventh year boys and kept to one side of the wall. Sneering at their lack of respect she had already evaluated in her mind that if they’d actually put effort into academics they wouldn’t have to work so hard to get good at Quidditch just to be noticed by the girls in her dorm. With the three students out of her way, she sighed sadly. It wasn’t them she had a problem with and she hastily regretted her thoughts. The Slytherin’s and Seth were really to blame for her foul mood and none of them were around to face the consequences.

Trudging up the steepening staircase that overlooked the Entrance hall of the castle, Juliet past a large, partially stained glass window and paused having caught sight of a gathering of dark shapes outside. Pressing her face to the glass she could observe the cheerful faces of the Gryffindor’s and a few others who had their backs to the castle. She had no idea what they were plotting or where they were hoping to go for the rest of the afternoon, but the main thing that bothered her was Seth wasn’t moping and this was probably Peter's doing.
********************************************************

Delighted to have easily persuaded Joe into joining her search, Sammi punched the air down by her side with and whispered an enthusiastic “yes!” before grabbing her friend by the arm and pulling him towards her upright position. Raising a look of concern as the textbook tumbled closed on the chair Joe was sat on, the young first year shrugged off the worry with a beaming grin and took her friend instinctively by the hand to lead the way out of the common room. Together they’d find Leah and Jesse, she was sure of it. A second pair of eyes on the problem was always better than just one.

[Thomas]

Lyn nervously eyed this 'Peter'. He appeared to be the natural leader of this expedition, which apparently was not going to be just a dander after all.

Only now did she wonder why her shielding charms could come in handy, why everyone was looking a little on edge, and why the group had looked in such a hurry to set off.

Hesitating, she stated her question again firmly and clearly hoping this time she'd get an actual answer "Where are you all going?" she crossed her arms waiting for an answer, although she trusted Gen was not going to bring her to harms way it was hard enough asking her to keep everything within this motley group that she had only begun to warm to, she was not prepared to go somewhere without at least a little prior knowledge of the final destination.

[Chris]

Joe didn't mind the book just closing, and smiled as he joined the expedition to find their fellow classmates. He left the Gryffindor Common-room with Sammi.

*****
The group was nearly ready. Peter just had to make sure that Lyn knew what she was getting into. Listening to her question, he didn't mind giving out the detail, since it may be obvious where they were going.

"We're heading deep into the Forbidden Forest. I should know where, as we get inside...when we get deep enough in."

As he waited, Peter took out his wand, turned towards the woods and silently muttered 'Expecto patronum.' A gorgeous phoenix patronus left his wand and flew up towards the sky.

Alex and Seth just watched as Peter took the lead on the mission, being that it was his mission.

Peter will need to be fully focused as they entered the forest. There was no telling what they will see.