First Floor: Moving Staircases

[Wilber Winterbottom]

To get to History of Magic, or Muggle Studies, one will have to make use of the first floor corridor. Getting here is usually relatively easy if you're coming from one of the lower levels of the castle as you need only deal with the moving staircases for just a few minutes. Rugs with intricate patterns have been placed on the floor to soften your footsteps so that any learning going on inside the classrooms isn't disturbed.

Make sure you are not dilly dallying on your way to or from class. This corridor in particular is often times filled with students during the school day and a few professors pointing those who have managed to get lost in the right direction. Various doors flank this corridor, so make sure to memorize which of the portraits are outside of the classrooms you should be entering. And don't freak out when the corridor comes to a sudden halt -- the door at the end of the hallway will take you outside to the stone bridge and then to the rest of the first floor over in the next tower. Just keep moving!

[The Narrator]

Polished stone steps and ornate railings, pieces of the castle constantly buzzing with life as students frequently traversed them on their way to and from lessons or common rooms. It was not uncommon for the staircases to get a bit mucked up every now and then, but this was a curious scene indeed.

Upon the steps and landings, bleached out footprints sprawled in every direction, each step seemed to weave a story of its own and yet the sheer volume of prints made it impossible to discern their origin. Along the bannisters, a chaotic tapestry of handprints in shades of gray added to the monochromatic conundrum, the impressions layered one atop another, creating a ghostly trail.

It was as if a gathering of shadows had danced through the castle and held a soirée upon the staircases and none had bothered to cleanup after.

[Zoe]

Beauden's pace slowed as he descended the polished stone steps, his eyes drawn to the eerie spectacle before him. His brow furrowed, and his usual carefree attitude was temporarily overshadowed by curiosity. The bleached footprints stretched out like a puzzle he hadn't asked to solve, and the chaotic layering of handprints gave the impression of something wild having swept through. He leaned over the railing, fingers grazing the gray smudges, half-expecting them to vanish under his touch, but they didn't. They stayed there, ghostly and silent.

"Oi... What's all this about?" he muttered to passersby, running a hand through his tousled hair. This was different. Weird. And Beauden loved weird.

He squatted down near one of the larger footprints, squinting at the bleached-out edges, as the staircases continued to shift in their usual erratic pattern. "Bleach charms maybe?" he murmured aloud. "Or some prank gone a bit too far?"

[Quirly]

"...no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no..."

Quirly's squeaky laments echoed through the corridor as she appeared with two dripping rags in hand and her trusty spatula clutched between her puckered elfie lips. "Oh OOOOOOOOOOH nooooooo! Masters be okaysies?" Quirly squeaked again while scrambling over to his feetsies and THREW herself on the splotchy ground. "Quirly fixsies the messies up right away! Masters no worry! Quirly has been working all day trying to fixsies it all!"

Hard working elfie that she was, Quirly would make sure to scrub these floors until her little twiggy armsies snapped if she must!

"Did masters gets any on his shoesies or handsies? Quirly can cleans that up too!"

[Kolyander]

One would think that after ALL these years, not only as a Professor but previously (years ago) as a student, that she may not get turned around on these stairs. And yet, it still happened from time to time. It was sad, yes? How she had managed once again to end up in the opposite direction of where she had originally intended to go. Was it simply one of those days or was her mind slipping? Perhaps all the thoughts of upcoming holidays were already taking it's toll.

With a soft sigh, fingers running through her brunette hair, Hady once more checked which floor she was one before going to descend the next flight of stairs. Only she didn't make it very far, voices catching her attention moments before her eyes caught the sight of a familiar student and a house elf on their knees scrubbing at the floors. "Is everything alright here?" Hady asked, joining them, her gaze finally able to take in the sight that surely was the cause of all the scrubbing.

All the mismatched footprints. In the oddest of colors, almost as if.. they were fading out. So so strange. "Are the students causing trouble? Some.. prank of some sort?" This was certainly something she hadn't seen before.

[Zoe]

Before he could investigate further, a familiar squeaky voice interrupted his thoughts. Beauden straightened, watching as Quirly, the frantic house elf, skittered over to him, her dripping rags flailing and spatula clenched between her lips. Beauden stood up from his crouch, brushing off his knees.

"Relax, Quirly, I'm alright. Haven't got any on my shoes, I think." He glanced down just to make sure, a quick inspection of his worn boots revealing nothing but the usual scuffs from his outdoor adventures. "Looks like you've got your hands full though, yeah? Would you like a hand?"

The boy's attention suddenly shifted to Professor Paton, her arrival as unexpected as the mess itself. She always carried herself with a quiet composure, but he could sense the mild confusion in her expression as she took in the ghostly imprints covering the stairwell.

"Looks like someone had a bit too much fun, Professor," Beauden said, half in jest, but his tone held a note of genuine curiosity. "I've never seen something like this before. Thought it might be a bleach charm gone rogue or something like that." He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair again, clearly mulling it over. "It's all over the stairs and bannisters. No pattern to it that I can see. Just... everywhere."

[Kolyander]

Did she now? So was the way of most Professor she supposed, however, she hadn't ever realized she was all that quiet
Perhaps her appearing so quiet was due to just how loud her youngest child could be at times. Anyhow, none of that was of importance at this moment in time. What was important, were these here faded grayish looking prints about the flooring and banisters.

"I would have to say that it would seem so." And should whomever it was be found they would surely get points deducted and or detention. This is just a disgrace. A prank is one thing but this.. is a mess. "That could be possible but even so, it should be a relatively easy correction if it was." Yet it appeared that Quirly here couldn't get any of it cleaned up. Surely interesting. "It's likely a prank of sorts.. one I haven't seen before myself. I'll make sure to mention it to the other Professors and Headmaster though so that we're all aware of it." Nothing wrong with everyone keeping an eye out for any more pranks gone wrong.