Watch Where You’re Going!
Transfiguration class has just ended and, it being the last class of the day for the newest batch of first years, many of them are in a hurry to get out and start going about their own business for the day. There is one boy, however, who is dragging his feet about leaving, taking several sluggish minutes to get his things together and wander out into the hallway - the reason is quite plain; he has his nose stuck in a book. His blonde hair is shaggy and really too long to suit him, and his bright blue eyes scan the page quickly, clearly anxious to get to the end of the book, or at least the end of the chapter. He's a little small for a first year, but his feet are quite large; someday, perhaps, he'll grow into them. Once Joseph Wexler, the young boy in question, finally makes his way out of the classroom, he plops himself down in the hallway just outside the room, kicking his feet up on his bookbag and settle down for a good, long read.
Emerging from the class few moments later, Carrie Whittier is her own usual self, trailing behind the rest of the students as she goes about her way. Red hair long and in plaits, she's a tall, gangly girl; the sort of girl who stands out amongst her peers. She hunches herself a little as she walks, trying to fit the average profile. Her robe is already looking wrinkled early into the year, and her gaze never leaves the floor, which is one of the reasons she rams straight into the slow-poke reading a book. "Oof!" She tumbles forward, and turns about, her eyes going wide. "Sorry," she mutters. "You dropped your book."
"Hey!" Joseph jumps to his feet in annoyance as someone trips right over him; not even bothering to right his book, he plants his hands on his hips and looks at her. "When you walk, you have to look /down/ as well as /ahead/, or else you're going to trip! Do you tread in pooh all the time as well?" Only after this chastisement does he hold out an arm to her and asks, his tone still rather annoyed, "Are YOU alright?" He bends down to pick up his book, cheeks flushed red.
"I was looking down!" Carrie snaps back, angry. "You watch where... you're sitting! We have a library!" Looking about, she brushes down her robe. "I'm fine. I'm really fine." Glaring at Joseph, she steps back a few times and hits the other wall of the hallway. "And I didn't hurt you, right?"
"Can't have been looking down too careful!" Joseph retorts, crossing his arms across his chest and hugging his book closely. "Or you would have seen that you were about to /trip over a person/."
"Hallways aren't for reading!" Carrie sniffs back, holding her wand up against her chest and hunching over it. "Use the library like NORMAL people." Looking back and forth, she watches for teachers.
As Joseph notices that Carrie has her wand, he presses his lips together closely and grips his book all the more tightly. "Hallways also aren't for... tripping over people!" He retorts, but a little lamely; he doesn't have much to add, and he's just watching her wand carefully. "There's no /rule/ against reading in hallways... but there's a rule against using that wand, so you watch out." He starts craning his own neck looking for a teacher - but he can't see any yet! Rats!
"I'm not going to use it!" Carrie snaps back. "I'm right worthless with it anyway." Her tone drops to a mutter, and she slides down to the ground as she does so, peering over the hallway at Joseph. "You're the Wexler boy, right?"
"One of them," Joseph replies, a little warily, eying Carrie awkwardly. He relaxes just a little, but still seems to be watching her quite carefully. He sits back down as well, confirming, "Yeah... Joseph Wexler. What did you hear about me?" There's a bit of a demanding hint in his voice, but he tries to keep it in check.
"I know you're from that huge pure blood family." Carrie shrugs. "I don't hear a lot. I don't have many friends." A pause. "I'm sorry I tripped over you. I wasn't looking forward. I looked down, though. I always look down. I'm Carrie." She responds, not looking at Joseph while she says it.
"We're not that huge a family," Joseph replies matter-of-factly, turning his gaze up towards the ceiling (so she can't see his faint smile). "That's just a facade that we put on to coverup the huge crime syndicate that we run out of our family home." He glances back down to her, though, eyes narrowing slightly. "Still reckon if you opened your eyes you would have seen me. I was sitting /right there on the floor/."
"My eyes were open enough to know you're not a bunch of criminals," Carrie mouths, barely speaking. "That isn't the kind of 'family' you are. Sides, your aunt's the nurse, I know." Pausing, she looks about and slides a chocolate frog pack out of her pocket and then skids it across the polished floor to Joseph. "Sorry again."
At this, Joseph's brow creases a little. "How do you know I'm related to - ohhh," it dawns on him a moment later. "Oh. She's not my aunt." He furrows his brow, and adds, "Dad explained it to me when I started. She's my... uh..." He frowns, unable to think of it. "She's something. And anyway, how do you /know/ we're not a crime syndicate? Are you an expert on crime syndicates?"
"I know enough to know that you're no criminal. You're just some ... some hallway reader. Ravenclaws. Always some nose in a book." Carrie sniffs, and points. "I said sorry with it! Quidditch set. Current year. You like Quidditch?"
"Oh!" Joseph's family is quite distracting, but the chocolate frog just as much so. He tears the wrapper off it in delight, but only licks at the frog slowly, not even bothering to check who it is on the card; why would he care about that? He looks up at Carrie, adding, "I'll forgive you, but only - only if you take back what you said about my /always/ having my nose in a book. You don't know that."
"Alright." Carrie agrees immediately. "I don't know it." Pausing, she mumbles, "You probably think I'm some dufferpuff, anyway."
"'Course I do," Joseph replies, licking at the chocolate frog again, and turning his gaze up towards the ceiling - again, trying to make his expression less than obvious. "Everyone in Hufflepuff is a complete idiot and I wouldn't even deign to talk to you 'cept you tripped over me because you're such a ridiculous Hufflepuff. I heard that the Dark Lord Versita turned evil solely 'cause she was in Hufflepuff and was so sick of being surrounded by twerps."
Carrie Whittier sniffs back. "Shut up." Looking away, she finds a particular spot on the wall apparently fascinating and stares at it for thirty-odd seconds before announcing, "I should get back to the dorms. I need to do my homework for the night."
"Have fun, clumsy Carrie," Joseph chirps in response, rising to his feet again and pulling out the chocolate frog card only now, handing it back to her. "You can keep this, I don't want it anyway." He turns and wanders off away from her, presumably off on his way to find his own common room, licking at his chocolate frog as he walks.
Neva Turner invading Ravenclaw Common Room
The voices rise momentarily, then seem to move away slightly.
A brown-haired fourth year comes down the stairs alone, wearing an open robe and slippers and rubbing his eyes blearily. "H-wha?" he mutters, stopping at the entrance to the room.
Wandering around the castle, Neva Turner notices that the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room is wide open. She strolls over making sure there are no prefects or teachers around and enters the common room with curiosity. As she makes her way in, she notices a first year Ravenclaw standing in the room. With no words said, Neva just stands there.
The boy blinks, taken aback by the brazen invasion of the commons, then begins striding towards the trap door, hands clenched.
Sari gasps as she hears footsteps enter the room. She turns around quickly to find a Hufflepuff just standing there. Grimacing slightly, she says in a whisper, "Why in the world are you here?" Sari approaches the Hufflepuff and slightly frowns, but then grins. This could be fun. She had never seen a Hufflepuff in here before.
Neva looks at the boy wondering what's going to happen next. Neva also looks at the girl and wonders if she should run for it. "Umm..It was wide open. This is so weird..but cool!" Neva says as a wide grin comes across her face.
A ghost of a Scotsman rises up through the floor, kilted and carrying a bagpipe. He plays a ghastly tune, smiles politely, and then pauses to survey the activity. "I say, isn't this the Ravenclaw commons?" he muses aloud.
The fourth-year stops stalking towards the girls and glares at them. "What are you doing here?" he exclaims, addressing Neva. "Are you deaf? They said you're not to wander the halls alone, and here you are!"
Sari chuckles at the girl's answer. She nodded and then stated, "Yes, I noticed it was open, but I don't think you really should be in here." She gasps once again to see a ghost floating by them. Sari, not knowing what to say, just whispered to the girl, "I guess you could stay here, but you got to be careful." She then backed away and took a seat on one of the arm chairs.
Looking at the ghost, Neva tends to break out in a ridiculous laugh. "Yes this is the Ravenclaw Common Room. I was passing by and saw that it was open and I came in. This is just so odd!" She replies to the ghost. Looking around the common room, Neva notices how much better it is then hers. She hears the fourth year telling her off and she replies, "Well I was making my way back to--to my common room and I got lost and made my way up here. With all this chaos in the castle it is alot easier to get lost than before."
And what's your name, young lady?" the Scotsman inquires politely, a faint smile crossing his pallid lips. He floats peacefully several feet away, his feet a scant inch from the floor.
Sari giggles at the girl's answer and then sits farther back into the chair. Her blue eyes lit up excitedly at the presence of the Hufflepuff girl. Never in her life would she expected one here. Sari leans forwards and gives the girl a small smile.
Neva Turner. And yours would be?" Neva asks the ghost politely. This was such a bad idea coming into this common room. I'm going to be in such big trouble. But its so worth it. Neva stares stunning around the common room impressed by it.
The boy is less polite. "You've the manners of a boggart and the brains of one of Miss Swathsbuckle's biting slugs! This is the Ravenclaw commons, and you bloody well know it. But we can't well have you wandering around on your own like a bleeding fool, now can we? Sit here, see, and I'll go fetch one of the prefects." He turns away decisively, shaking his head, pausing only to point at Sari. "You, Huntington was it? Keep an eye on her."
Sari frowns slightly at the boy. She didn't like him ordering her around like that. She really wanted to sass him, but bit her tongue and got up from her chair. Flipping her golden hair, she walks up to the girl and whisper's in her ear, "I could hide you."
The ghost observes this with some amusement, hefts his bagpipe, plays a dreadful chord, and then begins to drop into the floor again, touching a hand to his head in salute. "MacArthur." And he is gone.
Neva's mouth drops. Never in her life has someone made insults about her. As the boy leaves, the Ravenclaw whispers something in her ear. Listening closely, Neva understands that the girl wants to hide her. "Alright. I'll play along with it..This'll be so much fun but so much trouble." From then on she follows the Ravenclaw's plan.
The boy reaches the stairs and hurries up them, his footsteps echoing on the stone steps. A few moments later, they stop and the sounds of hurried conversation can be heard.
You'd better hurry then..He's going to be back any moment!" Neva rushes the girl, and looks around the room to find a great place to hide. I wonder if I'll get caught and how much trouble I'm going to be in.
Sari grins at Neva and then looks around for a moment. Where could she hide a Hufflepuff? She then sighed and whispered to Neva, "I can't find anything big enough. Could you hide behind that arm chair that is by the fireplace?"
The conversation on the stairs ends, replaced by the sound of two sets of feet rapidly descending the steps.
That'll never work. They'll find me in an instant! I'll hide in the storage chest!" Neva hurries in the storage chest and waits.
Sari hurries over to an arm chair and sits down quickly. She did not want to look suspicious. Taking really deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. She looked at the stair case intently hoping that they wouldn't come too soon.
Inside the storage chest, Neva's heart is beating rather fast and she waits there for what seems to be bigger chaos then with the castle. She slowly breaths in and out not too loudly for her position might be given away.
The boy appears at the foot of the stairs, followed by a fifth year girl wearing a prefect's badge. She takes a few steps into the room and looks around, putting a hand on her hip and arching an eyebrow. The boy looks around, his expression a mixture of righteous indignation and something... else. His eyes lock on Sari and his lips tighten grimly. "Where did she go?" he demands.
Fooling a prefect is alot of fun. Neva thought to herself. But so much trouble. As Neva lay in the chest wondering if they are going to find her or if the first year Ravenclaw is going to rat her out, she slowly takes more deep breaths and her heartbeat racing faster than ever.
Sari glances at the boy with her blue eyes. She could feel her heart beating quickly at what she was going to do next. "I have no idea. She just ran out. You really didn't expect me to follow her, did you?" Sari stated still staring him down.
The boy returns her stare, eyebrows lifted. "I bloody well told you to keep an eye on her. Wandering around the castle alone is suicide! You--" and he stops sharply as the girl puts a hand on his shoulder and shakes her head. She moves towards Sari, a genuine look of concern on her face, and stops just in front of her chair. "I believe you," she says simply, "but did the girl say anything before she left? If she's afraid, there's no telling what might happen to her." The boy clenches his fists behind her, glaring at Sari as if to say "there, look what you've done."
Neva's heartbeat tends to slow down now as she tries to hear what the prefects have to say. It's getting bloody hot in here. She thinks to herself, and takes another deep breath and thinks, I'm in such deep trouble!
The first year looks up at the prefect, as her blue eyes wavered. Sari tried to smile and then said, "She said something about coming in here by accident. I couldn't figure out anything else. She was mumbling too much." Sari then glanced at the boy once again with anger in her eyes.
The prefect sighs to herself, observing the blatant hostility. "I suppose I'll have to go after her, then. You two wait here, and if she comes back, please ask her to stay." So saying, the girl hurries across the room and down the stairs to the trap door. Meanwhile, the boy gives Sari a /look/, crosses his arms, and stalks away towards the tower stairs.
Sari gives a quiet sigh of relief and she sink back into her chair. She put a hand across her forehead quickly wiping her sweat off. That was the hardest thing she could ever do. Sari then looks at the chest and then at the boy. She should give the Hufflepuff girl some air, but then the nosy boy would probably catch her doing so. She frowned, muttering words about him under her breath.
As the boy passes the storage chest, he aims an irritated kick at it, just a light one mind, and then takes a seat in a chair just beyond it, pulling a small book out of his robe and thumbing it open. He crosses one leg over the other and makes it painfully obvious that Sari is no longer worthy of his attention. The prefect takes hold of the knotted curtains, eyes tightly closed against the blue glare, and lowers herself cautiously, disappearing from view.
The rattle of the storage chest gave Neva quite a jump. She never expected him to come and kick the storage chest. Good thing he didn't look in it or I'd be dead. This can't be all my fault. Why would they leave the Portrait holes ungaurded and wide open?
Sari glances nervously at the chest as the boy kicked it. She gave him a quick glare and mumbled incoherently. Sari started to fidget a stray lock of her golden hair still glowering.
The boy glances up quizzically at the sound of mumbling, then returns his attention to his book.
Additional footsteps can be heard on the stairs.
As Neva tries to get comfortable and bead of sweat drops down her forehead. She feels this tingle in her throat then.... *cough cough*.. OH NO!..
Sari jumps up slightly as she hears the cough and then tries to figure out what to do. After a few moments of pondering, She brought a hand to her mouth and pretended to cough. She definetly hoped this would work.
A pair of third year boys appear at the base of the stairs, looking a bit frazzled. They stop in mid-step, taking note of the incredible hostility Sari is directing at the innocent-looking fourth year. "Hoy, what's going on?" one of them asks, genuinely puzzled, even as the coughing sound was heard and Sari pretended to cough. The fourth year glances up, shrugs exaggeratedly, and returns his gaze to his book, though the rate at which he has been turning the pages suggests that his concentration is less than complete.
Sari looked at the chest again. There had to be some way that she could give the poor girl some air. She stared intently at the boys that came up. She had to get all of them out of the room, or maybe find a way to just open the chest without acting suspicious. Sari frowned as a puzzled expression entered her eyes. She then took in a breath and walked towards the chest. Upon reaching it, she glanced at the boy who was sitting in the chair and said, "What book are you reading?" Sari put on one of her best smiles, hoping quietly to herself that this would work.
Oddly, Neva thought her coughing might get her caught obviously it hadn't. She was getting more light headed as the minutes passed. When is that other prefect coming back? Neva thought. Wait she heard the Ravenclaw girl speaking. This is great. Talking with the prefect..This should be good. A smile came across Neva's face as she listened.
The boy looks up at Sari in surprise, even as one of the two new arrivals starts walking towards the chest as well, eyebrows raised suspiciously. The boy in the chair abruptly snorts, tilting his book so that the cover is visible to the girl. Horpin Doffler's /Magical Disasters of the 1600's/.
Sari peers at the book as if she was interested in the title. Thoughts in her head was rushing quickly through. She had to keep the conversation going. She grinned slightly as she said, "What's it about?" She clasped her hands together, as if to look like an innocent first year who did not know anything.
The boy in the chair does not respond, through he does tap the title meaningfully with a fingernail. Meanwhile, the two third years have reached the storage chest, and the one with raised eyebrows reaches towards it as though intent on opening it up, even as his friend follows out of habit and watches Sari chatting up the fourth year.
She hears two people rustling right outside of the storage chest perhaps going to open it. This is bad..Neva thought. The girl has to do something or I have to something..But what? Neva looks around the dark storage chest to see if something to block the opening.
The darkness is almost absolute, and the chest is fairly empty seeing as how there is room for an twelve-year-old inside it.
Sari frowned slightly at the boy, but then hears footsteps behind her. In quick thought, she places a hand on the cover and starts to lean on the chest. Her body was shaking with fear, but she tried to keep calm. "I asked what it was about. Not the title. If you don't know, then you are obviously not reading it," Sari said to the boy in the chair almost stammering.
The boy in the chair sets the book down on his lap and glares at Sari. "Leave well enough alone. I'm minding my own business. If you must know, I'm reading about King William III's invasion of Ireland right now. And if you really want to know, read the bloody book yourself." So saying, he picks it up again and hunches his head and shoulders down, returning his eyes to the page. The third year boys pause to observe this, giving each other a perplexed look. Then the same one who was reaching for the chest takes another step towards the chest, convinced now that something is up. "Say, mind if I have a look in there?" he suggests, looking at Sari.
At about this time, there's a soft noise from the trap door, and after a few moments, the prefect's head appears, followed shortly by her torso and finally her feet as she hauls herself up the makeshift rope. She looks quite worried as she gets to her feet and begins hurrying back up the short staircase into the common room.
Sari gets up from the chest after giving the boy, in the chair, an angry glare. She turned towards the other boy, who had asked her a question, and says, "You may if you like, but I don't see why you would want to seeing there hasn't been anything in there for weeks." She tried to look calm as she strode back to her seat. Sari could not hide the girl any longer. She would just have to make up something if they found out. She took a seat in the chair and sighed quietly.
The boy in the chair sneezes.
Neva gulps. For she now knows she is about to get caught and in even more trouble than before hand. Why did I have to come in here? Why am I so curious? Here goes...
The boys are going to open up the storage chest and see me there and I don't know what I am going to do. Neva thought.
The prefect finishes charging into the room and looks anxiously around. The boy in the chair glances up from his book. The third year begins to open the lid of the chest.
Sari looked at the prefect that entered the room. Sweat was starting to fall down her neck as she tried to smile. She nervously looked around, but she anxiously kept an eye on the chest. He was going to open it. Her heart practically leapt as she tried once again to stay calm.
The boy has the lid open now.
Neva could feel a slight breeze from the small opening of the top of the chest. Oh no. Don't open it. Don't open it. Neva thought to herself. She could here the prefect set out to look for her re-enter the common room. The crack was getting bigger.
Well, then, the boy has it open NOW.
Neva stared blankly up at the two boys. She didn't say a word. The only thing she did was put her finger over her mouth to have the boys not say anything. She stared and stared and waited.
Did she come back?" the prefect asks breathlessly.
The prefect looks from Sari to the boy in the chair to the two boys next to the storage chest, catching her breath. The brown-haired fourth year shakes his head negatively at almost exactly the same instant that the two boys simultaneously exclaim "Wah!" "Gah!" and stare at the cramped form of the girl in the storage chest. The prefect happens to be looking at Sari as this occurs, and her attention immediately shifts towards the scene.
Sari grimaces as fear enters her eyes. She had to get herself out of this mess. She thought to herself, but nothing was coming to mind. She would have to just make up something is they asked. Sari looks at the chest and sighs. She bit her lip expecting the worse to happen.
Shhh!" Neva whispers to the two boys. As she stares up knowing any minute the Fourth year boy is going to come over and pull her out..Any minute she'll be getting yelled at or worse getting detention. Neva waits for the worse.
The boy in the chair gets up and takes a step towards the chest to see what the commotion is, even as the prefect hurries over to take a look for herself.
Neva stands up and says, "Man! Where did that thing go..I thought I saw something crawl in here..Hmm." Neva said nervously. I hope that is a good enough excuse. She looks around the chest for something to point to but there was nothing..She wipes the sweat from her forward.
Sari smiles nervously as the girl gets up from the chest. At that point she was going through her list of perfectly excuses. She stared at the group of people around the chest, wondering what would happen next.
The prefect looks at the scene with obvious dismay, even as the fourth year points at the girl and shouts "you?!" incredulously. The third years back away, sharing a bemused look.
Sari looks around as she hears the noises. She sighed as she thought that the ghost was coming back. Muttering to herself, she still tried to keep her attention on the scene, but it was getting quite hard.
Neva stared up from the empty chest. She looked at the two older students and didn't say anything. As the sounds of bagpipes filled the air Neva looked at Sari for a plan.
The prefect finds her voice, turning towards Sari. "I suppose this is that Hufflepuff girl?" she asks, sounding disappointed, almost sad.
The fourth year interrupts, "You bloody fools! Do you realize how risky your stupid game was?" He points to the prefect. "She went out looking! What if something had happened?!"
Neva stared at Sari hoping that something else might happen or someone important would walk through the room. I wonder what I should do, Neva thought. But nothing came to mind.
Sari looks surprised as she looks at the prefect. "I didn't know she was here. Honestly," She stated, still glancing nervously at the Neva. Why did she choose to help out this girl? Sari sighs and tries to stay calm. Maybe everything would turn out fine. What was really starting to perturb her was that nosy, fourth year. Oh, how she wanted to ring his neck, but she knew that wasn't possible. Sighing once again, Sari looks back at the prefect.
That's enough, Peter." The prefect chides quietly, listening to Sari's claims. "I'm sure you don't expect me to believe that," she replies. "I'm a Ravenclaw too, you know." She looks unhappy. "I don't know what to do with you. Normally I'd report you to your House Heads, and who knows, maybe you'd even be expelled. You especially," she adds, still looking straight at Sari. "Lying to a prefect, at a time like this! You're a disgrace to our House!" She's starting to sound rather upset, causing her voice to tremor slightly. The fourth year boy is nodding, glaring at Sari with a vindictive expression. The third years are watching in obvious shock.
Look..Alright..I didn't want to get anybody hurt. I came here because I was lost and I was looking for my common room. And with all this chaos within the school, it's easier to get lost. That's what happened with me. And I went in the chest because I saw something in there." Neva stated seriously. She looked back and forth from the prefect to the Fourth Year to the First year. Then she stared at the opening to the entrance way. Hmm. I wonder if I could run for it..
Sari looks as if she is about to cry, but oddly maintains to keep a calm attitude. She gets up from her chair and approaches the Hufflepuff girl. She then stops and turns to the prefect while saying, "I apologize. I didn't know what to do. It is just that she looked like she needed some help and I decided to help. Once again, I apologize." She peers at the prefect intently as her blue eyes start to have tears. That was true. She wanted to help and did not expect that she would have to lie. Sari grimaced slightly, scolding herself for being so dumb.
The prefect turns to the Hufflepuff girl, frowning. "How dare you? You 'saw something' in a closed chest and just happened to hide there for all this time? You are a horrid liar and an even worse disgrace to your own House." She turns to Sari and says more quietly, "I forgive you. But what you did was very dangerous and it'll be up to the House Heads what happens next. For now, I want you to go up to your room and stay there." She turns to the Hufflepuff. "And you, you..." she pauses, taking a deep breath and visibly collecting herself. "You're alive, at least. Consider yourself lucky. I was nearly eaten when I went out to look for you."
Oh..I'm really sorry about that..And..I didn't see anything crawl into the chest. I hid there after she told me that she could hide me. I'm sorry..All I wanted was to get back to my common room..Really." Neva said starting to cry. She really didn't mean for anyone to get hurt or anything. "Why are the common rooms open? How come just anyone can get in?" Neva asked the prefect.
Sari nods as she looked relieved that the prefect had forgiven her, but she doubted that the House head would be as forgiving. She sighed softly as she turns to leave, but then suddenly stops at Neva's words. Her jaw almost dropped, but she just shook her head. This was going to be a long day. Sari continued towards the tower, slowing down a bit, to see what the prefect would say.
I'll go back to my common room and wait for my Head. I just want to say I'm sorry." Neva waits for a moment and sees what the two people in charge are going to say. She hopes that she doesn't get expelled she loved Hogwarts. She's been a bit scared of it because of the recent events but she still loves this castle.
The girl looks sad. "I don't know why all of this is happening, but the commons are open because the passwords have all failed." She sighs, then gapes incredulously at the twelve-year-old Hufflepuff. "After all this, you still want to go off on your own." She starts laughing, mirthlessly, then gasps. "No. You're going to stay here until they come to check on us and we can send you with an escort."
Alright." Neva mumbled as she stands there in wonderment of what her punishment might be. She thought to herself, Would I really get expelled? I hope not. I wouldn't mind detention but I couldn't bare being expelled.
Sari sighs as she starts to walk up the steps. She did not want to miss anything. She pauses for a moment to look back at the group, listening intently for anything else they might say.
The prefect turns to the assembled boys. "I'm going to go fetch a teacher." And she leaves.
The prefect changes her mind in mid-step. "No. They'll check on us eventually. We'll wait here. Come with me," she says to the Hufflepuff, walking over to the bookcase. "Pick out something to read. It might be a while. And what are the rest of you looking at?" she asks, smiling wanly at the three boys. The fourth year reddens and slumps back into his seat, picking up his book half-heartedly. The other two boys look at each other for a moment and then turn back to the stairs.
Can I ask you a question?" Neva asks the prefect, "Am I going to get expelled?" She looks at the bookcase blankly, wondering about her answer. She picks up a book not caring what the title is or what it's about and flips through it.
Sari mumbles to herself as she turns around. Nothing else seemed to be going on, so she leaves up the steps quickly, as her golden hair flies wildly behind her.
The prefect looks at the little girl beside her and sighs. "I couldn't say. With all that's happened, I really couldn't say. Got something? All right. Come sit over here." She selects a book for herself and then leads the way to a pair of chairs in the corner of the room, settling down in one of them and gesturing the Hufflepuff into the other.
CoMC I
Summary: The advent of the Biting Slugs. First class of the term for third year students; also Mildred Swathsbuckle's first class taught.