Anna stumbled slightly as the wall shifted and another room---a very small, dark one---came into view. Anna surprised herself by not being afraid or concerned about her current surroundings. She felt oddly safe with the clue leading her around the school and showing her secrets that were yet to be unfolded. Anna dove to the floor as she noticed the five, glistening crests. She began touching them and exploring them, trying to figure them out.

Cale had been eating his meal in the Great Hall, quite focused on his mashed potatoes and dinner rolls, when he noticed some strange happenings up by the staff table. And of course, his girlfriend had gotten involved in it. He had stood up from the table just in time to see her disappear, and when he followed her, he found himself standing in a small room with no idea how he got there.

"Anna?" He called, looking around and quickly spotting her in the middle of the room. He ran up to her and looked around, his curly head darting from side to side as he took in his surroundings. "What's going on? Where are we?"

Chris had seen what happened at the staff table and made his way into the room where Anna and Cale where. He saw the five crests. "Whats going on?" He asked them.

"CALE!" Anna yelled, breathing a sigh of relief. "I thought I was the only one in here... Thank Merlin you're here!" Anna motioned for him to join her on the floor by the five crests. They were the only other option this room had to offer besides turning around and heading back out. Everyone had come too far to give up now. "Come help me. We've got to figure out what we're supposed to do with these five crests." Anna looked down at all five and wrinkled her brows. What were they expected to do now? Surely it wouldn't be as simple as just looking around and seeing a clue pop up out of thin air, right? Maybe so, though. Who knew what secrets this room had to offer.

Anna looked up again as she heard yet another voice. "Hey, Chris," she greeted. "I'm not really sure what's going on, but I'm going to find out. We need your help, though." She nodded in the direction of the five crests, silently asking him to come join. "Maybe we need five Gryffindors?" she wondered aloud. "Everyone...get on a separate crest." Anna moved to the first crest and put her hands on it. She motioned for Cale to take the second crest and for Chris to take the third.

"But...but...how did you get here? Where did you find this? What...how...I need answers!" Cale said, stomping his foot and pouting slightly at the lack of information he had. "And, last time I checked there were only 3 Gryffindors in here...where do you plan on finding two other Gryffies?" he asked her, standing where she told him even though he still wasn't completely sold as to what was going on.

Chris went over to the third crest as Anna motioned him to. He looked over and saw she had her hands on it. He shrugged and also put his hands on the third one.

"Callllleeeeeee," Anna whined, looking at her boyfriend in mock-disgust. "I need you to help me. Save the pouting for later, please!" She shook her head at the little Drama Queen fit he was throwing. She then playfully pouted and smoothed his hair repeatedly with the palm of her hand. "It's okay, ickle baby. Anna Banana's going to make sure you stay a-okay." She giggled and jerked her hand away quickly. He'd just kill her later for that little show---she just knew it. Or, actually, he'd probably just throw a fit with her right then and there.

"I'm only kidding," Anna said, smiling sweetly at him. "Sadly, I know no more than you do. I was just trying to follow the way the clue seemed to be leading me...and I ended up here." Anna thought about Cale's next question for a moment and then answered. "Well, Astrid was right behind me. I hope she didn't accidentally go into the wrong room. Maybe someone else was in that long line of people who followed me into the first crack."

Cale huffed and jerked his head away from her motherly pats to the head she was giving him and stalked off to the second crest and moodily stuck his hands on it. "So we just...wait?" he asked, looking around in confusion. "I don't want to stand here with my hands like this all day. Maybe we should wait until we have more Gryffindors."

Piper had been eating when she noticed Anna leave and then Cale. She wandered after them, hoping they hadn't gotten into another fight, when she suddenly found herself in a small room with five crests. She saw the other three people in the room each had their hands on one, and so she went to the fourth one and put her hands on it as well. " Hiya Guys... umm what are we doing?" She asked curiously as she looked around her violet eyes wide.

Torie had been sitting down to a very peaceful meal, when a commotion near the front of the Great Hall diverted her attention from her food. She watched in amazement as Anna disappeared into a small gaping hole behind the staff tables. Within seconds, Cale had followed her, along with a bunch of other Gryffindor students. "What on earth is going on?" remarked Torie in astonishment as she got up from her place and headed towards the site of the mystery.

She quickly ducked inside. "Hey Guys. What are you doing in here?"

Noticing that everyone seemed to be touching a bunch of crests for some reason, Torie followed suit, taking a place on the only remaining crest. She hoped explanations would be forthcoming soon.

Astrid looked around the room and saw her house mates all crouched down with their hands on the floor. She walked over to where the fifth crest was and placed both of her hands on it. "Like this guys?" she asked Anna and Cale. She looked around at all of the others and watched for any sign of movement.

"Well, why don't you just look at that," Anna said, looking over at Cale and smirking. "There's our missing Gryffindors. Three of them to be exact." Anna was more than a little excited to see the sight of her friends and fellow Gryffindors. She was beginning to get a little worried that not enough of them would venture through the crack and end up in this mysterious room.

She smiled up at Astrid, Piper, and Torie. "Welcome to...actually, I don't where we are. Welcome, though." Anna giggled at her silliness and then motioned towards the crests once again. "It seems we have enough people now to make sure all five are covered. Just venture over to one and make sure your hands are on it. I'm not sure what we're doing here, but like I've said before, we'll find out soon enough."

Torie felt extremely odd as she placed her hands more securely on the crest. "I kinda feel like we are at some sort of weird seance." she remarked in a creepy whisper. "Like we are calling the shade of Godric Gryffindor or something wonky like that, eh?"

She looked over at her partners in crime. What would happen next?

Piper smiled at At Anna as she spoke and she nodded. " It's good to see you again, I had been wanting to talk to you again, Although.. this wasn't exactly what I was thinking of." She said softly as she kept herself and her hands near the crest. It was on the floor, so she was sorta bending down next to it slightly awkwardly.

"Um, guys? Do you think we could just stand on the crests or something? This is a kind of awkward position. I'd be willing to take my shoes and socks off if we need to touch them with flesh..." Torie trailed off. She felt really silly right now, and having to crouch on the floor to touch a sparkly crest wasn't really helping.

Anna giggled at Torie's words. It did feel rather odd just kneeling by a crest and holding both hands down upon it. "It is kind of weird, isn't it?" Anna asked, shrugging just a little. "Maybe we won't have to sit like this much longer. Maybe something will show up soon." Anna stared down at the crests, thinking hard about what mysteries they possibly held.

"It's really good to see you," Anna remarked. "It's ashame it took something like this to get us together again. Especially since we're both in the same house. We should hang out one day...go to Hogsmeade or something." Anna shot a friendly smile to Piper and then turned her head to listen to what Torie was saying.

"I don't really know," Anna replied, shrugging once again. "I really don't know how this works. All I know is that this whole deal started with everyone placing their hands on the Hogwarts crest, so I just figure it's the way to go. Like I said, I don't really know for sure, though."

Piper looked over at Anna and Torie and she smiled a bit. " Yes, we should hang out more Anna! Well you are busy with Cale , and I have my own distractions." She said with a soft smile as she adjusted her position so she was now kneeling on the floor, with both of her hands on the crest. The hard stone hurt her knees slightly, but she was excited to see what would happen.

A whisper echos in the room: "A gentle touch does not seem to be enough. Perhaps a heavier footing is necessary."

"Okay," Anna mumbled, standing to her feet. "Now I'm even getting tired of kneeling. I think I'll take you up on your idea, Torie. I'm standing." Anna used her hands to shove herself off the floor, and she moved to stand on her crest. "Come on...up, up, up," she said, giggling and pulling her fellow Gryffindors up to their feet, as well. Let's stand for a while. Nothing's happening while we're kneeling on the floor."

No sooner had she gotten the words out of her mouth did she hear a whisper notifying them that mere touches were not enough. Magic or no magic, that was just downright creepy. Sometimes, Hogwarts had the weird ability to make Anna think she was just losing her mind. Hearing voices echo in a secret room happened to be one of those times.

After a few minutes of gently pressing their hands against the crests, Torie decided to try stomping on it. 'I mean, what could it hurt, right?' she thought to herself. She got up from her kneeling position, her knees giving a sharp clicking noise as she straightened. Then she jumped up in the air and landed firmly on the crest below.

The moment Anna and Torie's feet met the crest, they disappeared from sight.

------------

Suddenly there was only blank wall behind Anna and Torie, and a darkness ahead. Contained within the darkness is a slithering, writhing mass.

With a shriek, Torie withdrew her wand from her robe pocket. "LUMOS!" she whispered shakily. She looked over and saw Anna beside her. "Anna, what's going on? Where are we now?"

As she played her light around their surroundings, something appeared into view.

"Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Anna yelled, her voice getting lower and lower as she fell further from sight. When Anna realized what was happened, she opened her squinced eyes and looked around---nothing. "T-T---Torie?" Anna asked, her eyes zooming in on what lied ahead.

"Lumos!" Anna exclaimed, following Torie's lead and casting the spell with her own wand. "I don't know....but something tells me we're nowhere near the Staff Table anymore." Anna gulped and continue to stare shead. "Don't move," Anna whispered, holding her free hand out to stop Torie from going any further. "Look ahead."

They appeared to be in the same place they were standing in the previous room, however the wall ahead was now gone. Replacing it was darkness and the writhing thing before them. Closer inspection reveals it to be devil's snare. As the light of their wands played against the shadows of the vines, it seemed larger somehow. More sinister.