Professor Kazimeriz swept into the library, a look of concern on his face. He looked for the librarian, his dark eyes scanning the area.... they lit upon the student who had sent the owl.


"Miss Lorrensith. I received your owl. What--" He saw the body and approached it slowly. He knelt in front of the student, a stoic look on his face. "Who saw what happened?" He began to examine the body of the Hufflepuff boy.

Cale shrugged as Professor Kazimeriz showed up. Finally, some assistance! "I don't think anyone saw how it happened, Professor. Although I had been over at that corner over there--" he paused to point at the darkened area of the library. "with a small group of students who said they felt like something was hidden in the corner, but it turned out to be nothing," he explained. "Next thing I knew...there was screaming and yelling and just a lot of chaos," he told the professor.

Running barefoot through the library was not the best idea in the world, but Anastasia was still in an anti-shoe funk. And besides, the librarian hadn't minded. Yet.

She was probably going to get mad though when she found out her kitten had escaped again. Great, I lost the cutie kitty and I dunno where she went and I'm going to get in trouble and Dad said if I got another detention he's gonna take my broom away...

And then she saw him. It. A student, lying on the floor of library, not moving, with other students all around, all looking sad. Like a bolt out of the blue, Anastasia snapped out of her mood and snapped back to reality.

"What in the Merlin's beard is going on here?" Bunbury stated loudly, carefully weaving through the students to come to come to a stop near Jake, Lima, and Cale. "Professor Kazimeriz.....?" Annie mumbled, blinking at the old man and then down at the boy, then back to the man and back to the boy. She shook her head and frowned, immediately dropping to her knees next to him to check for a pulse.

"This is not good, not good at all," Annie muttered, barely speaking above a whisper. She was as pale as a ghost but oddly calm as she flicked her wand once and a white sheet fell solemnly over the body. "We should take him to the hospital wing," she whispered to the other professor.

The redhead looked up then and listened to Cale speak, nodding briefly. "Prefect Newell, inform the librarian that...that something happened at the Front Desk and....and we're taking a few students to the hospital wing.

The rest of you," Annie continued, eying the crowd of students warily, "should report back to your common rooms right away. And I'll need someone to get the Headmaster and tell him to come to the Hospital Wing as soon as possible."

She straightened back up again and stood in front of the covered body. "Please stop staring, now, and get back to your rooms. There's nothing to see here. Move along." Annie flicked her hand in a shooing motion at the kids and turned her head toward Lima and Jake. "You two, follow us. Hospital Wing. Now."

Vindictus came running in right behind Bunbury. "You heard your professors," he said between breaths. Chasing after Anastasia was quite a workout. "Return to your common rooms, immediately!" He scanned the area for anyone or anything responsible. Nothing.

Cale turned as yet another professor joined the scene--it was the pretty Herbology Professor this time. Blushing, he nodded. "Right Professor, I'll get right on that," he told her, looking down at the body once again. He suddenly realized that he had never known this Hufflepuff--it was a strange thing to notice at THIS moment, but it was true. He watched as the students began to clear away, and he turned on his heel and headed towards the librarian's office.

The professor rose, abandoning his cane in favor of his wand. A grave expression was on his face and he nodded once to Newell. "Gather the students. Stay together. Do not move. Students, stand with your backs together and cast your shield charms. Now." He waved his wand and cast near the students. "Homenum revelio!" Nothing. He cast again, this time aiming for the dark area the boy had mentioned. Nothing. And again, around the bookshelves, keeping the group of students in sight. Whoever did this was either a student ... or gone.

"Stop!" Kazimeriz ordered Bunbury, Vindictus and the students. "No student shall leave this place until we are certain of the situation and their safety. Whoever did this may be outside that door... or among us at this very moment." He looked at the students and Bunbury, his eyes scanning the room with suspicion.

Noooo. She didn't want to go back to her Common Room, she still had to go to the library. Umm, were was Kaika's perspective on things? A kid just died, and she wanted to head to the library still?! That's new.

So, Jake was going to the Hospital Wing, or so it seems for whatever the Herbology professor just said. He'll probably be okay, everyone will probably be okay...except, well...

Kaika simply nodded and headed back, her Potions handbook still on her hand, and still no sight of Madam Kohan...now, that was weird.

Actually, today was sort of weird, and disturbing. The Common Room sounded way too good at the moment. And so, she walked away...to...the Common Room, perhaps? Yes, or no. Since Prof. Kazimeriz seemed to have another idea. Sigh. Were they leaving or what?

Freya stood quietly and oddly formal as she watched Kazimeriz enter the room, 'Good, he got it fairly quickly...'. She looked to Vindictus next, then gave a short nod and turned to exit, stopping again as she heard the DADA professor. "Exactly what I was thinking! That's why I sent a letter." 'Right?! Hadn't I stated that it would be smarter or what? Sending someone out for a professor was mad enough...'

Cale stopped abruptly, looking back and forth between the two professors. Stay? Go get the librarian? GAH, he hated when they gave him opposite directions. "Erm, do you mind if I go get the librarian, Professor Kazimeriz?" he asked, taking his wand out and casting a quick shield, just in case he told him no. "I mean, Professor Bunbury had a good point, she should be alerted to what happened and since her office is just over there, I should be safe against...whatever happened to this boy here," he added.

"STOP those students at once. Bring them back here. No student should be leaving the library alone. It is unsafe." He cast his patronus, giving it a message:

"Headmaster, there is a student dead in the library. Cause unknown; culprit unknown. Come at once."

The silvery patronus galloped off in search of the Headmaster. "Newell, the librarian should be told, certainly. But do not go off alone... Professor Bunbury, will you escort him?"

Cadence saw all the students crowded around, Spence being among them. "Hey Spence, what's..." and she saw him. Lying there. Not moving. Not breathing. Set.

She let out a scream of anguish as she dropped her bag and pushed through the crowd of students, falling down next to his lifeless body. "Set, wake up. Please, please wake up!" he didn't move. "Please Set, you said you'd never leave me! Don't do this to me!" she was now screaming at his unconscious body, tears pouring from her eyes. "Please Set, please!" she kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his lips. All cold. Nothing moved.

Her heart felt like a rock. The world was collapsing around her. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. She couldn't move. She just sobbed, screaming his name over and over, begging him to wake up.

Krazimeriz . . . gah, don't say it! "Relax, Professor Kazimeriz," Vindictus said. "The child probably touched the Poisonous Book of Poisons and it led to his gradual demise. Besides, why would someone take out one student when there are many more to choose from?"

'Because it was convenient...' Freya couldn't help thinking as Vindictus spoke. Really, unless it was just to make a statement to say, 'Be on your guard.'

Kaika jumped at Prof. Kazimeriz' words. He was a frightening little fella indeed. "Well, I'm not going anywhere" she shrugged, and moved closer to the rest. If only she'd never left the Common Room to come here in the first place.

And Prof. Kazimeriz seemed to be right. They were a bit safer here, with the Professors and all, but still...no one was ever safe from anything, anyway. Ask the poor boy on the floor.

Uh-oh. And another Huffie arrived. Someone should tell them to stop coming to the library now, or they'd be stuck in here.

But Prof. Vindictus said one thing that got her thinking, "He's got no books around him...." she said, as her eyes scanned the boy, "...and, if someone did it, as Prof. Kazimeriz said, don't you think it could be to distract us, Prof. Vindictus?" she said, still annoyed about the fact that she was standing here.

Annie half-turned toward the ancient one, shooting him an icy glare. He was brave to argue with the Bunbury. Sure, he was old, sure, he might think he knew what he was talking about, but he probably suffered from dementia all the same. And clearly, Maz agreed.

"Just go, Cale----" she started to say in exasperation, but stopped dead when some RUDE little girl PUSHED past her to collapse on the covered body.

"EXCUSE me," Anastasia growled at the child, reaching down with one hand to pull her away from the body. "There's nothing you can do. There's nothing any of us can do. And now you could be contaminated with whatever killed him." Clearly, she agreed with Max's theory that the boy had touched some poisonous novel or another.

"We need to quarantine him," she decided suddenly. "Hospital Wing. Now." And without further ado, Annie turned and cast one of her favorite spells on the corpse: wingardium leviosa. "Beeeep, beep, excuse me," she called out, stepping barefoot toward the exit with the body hovering in front of her. "Move, people."

Seeing Cadence Ana ran to her and held her arms trying to calm her down, of course with no results. "Ca...Cadence, please look at me... you need to calm down..." she hugged her. Ana didn't know what to say. First her parents and now her boyfriend.

Cale watched the chaos erupt all over again as some Huffie girl started weeping over the boy's body, and Bunbury finally decided to get rid of him once and for all. He nodded when she told him to go, turning on his heel and hurrying to the office before any other crazy person could get involved in this whole situation.

"HALT!" Kazimeriz said, holding his wand out pointed at Bunbury. "You will not remove the remains of this student from the scene until the headmaster arrives. You could be damaging critical evidence in a crime scene. Return him to his original position at once." He turned to Vindictus. "You may be right-- but we must assume nothing until an investigation has been conducted. Until we know with certainty what caused his death, we must take every precaution. This could be the work of a poison, a cursed object... even the Avada Kedavra." He looked around. "I want all of these students sequestered pending arrival of the Headmaster and a full investigation. Bunbury, you will summon Healer Byron to the scene. Vindictus-- pay attention, Vindictus-- you will gather the students in the library and begin conducting interrogations while the body is examined. Bunbury, you will assist him... Now." He barked orders like a general... like the Auror he had been so many years ago, in the time of Voldemort.

What a cold woman. But, then again, wasn't Kaika all about continuing to go to the library? Kaika looked the other way as she lifted the boy's body. It was about time someone moved poor Set out of the way.

And, well, it was slightly odd that both Professors were against one, but she wasn't going to comment about that. However, she could comment about something that was beginning to be a bother, thanks to the variety of decisions between Professors, "Ummm, so, are we allowed to leave?" she asked, hoping that will be answered soon.

Her eyes widened as the other began to speak, "Interrogations?! What about?" it slipped, hopefully he wouldn't listen, "But I just got hereeeee...." she started to say, in an attempt to be left alone and on a direction to her Common Room.

Cadence had the urge to hex the professor who was being rude and unsympathetic toward her into oblivion. Didn't she have any idea what Cadence had been through? She felt confused as the professors argued back and forth, but eventually all noise around her was obliterated and she just sat, immobilized in Ana's arms, crying into her shoulder feeling completely empty and lost and alone. She didn't want to be here anymore. She wanted to go home, but she didn't have a home anymore. This was her home, and yet Set was gone. How would she ever be happy here again?

While near Cadence, Ana saw the discuss between the professors. Prof. Bunbury and Vindictus were acting very strangely. Someone died and they blame a book and said 'there's nothing we can do'... Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place on Earth. Prof. Kazimeriz is right. We shouldn't walk alone through the corridors.

Jake, still crying, pulled himself up to Lima. He didn't want to look at the could DEAD body anymore. He just wanted to go home right now. Jake stood shaking as he pushed himself back into a hug.

"I want... to go home..." he mumbled. Not once did he ever expect to SEE a dead body, let alone find one. "I don't wanna be he-here any mo-more..." Jake gulped.

Lima watched in total confusin as BunBuns and Kaz seemed to have started a little argument over what exactly to do. Though she had to secretly favor Kaz's side a but more. Out of her feeling that this was a matter where precaution was very necessary.

Though through holding Jake and listening to him, part of her wished that she could take him out of the room right now and make him forget that this had ever happened. She just sighed and held him close, continuing to try to sooth him. "Can't one of you Professors take me and Jake to the Hospital Ward? Please?" she beseeched the staff earnestly. She didnt' want Jake to be in here any longer. No matter what.

Freya nodded to Kazimeriz, no one should leave the room...but an interrogation? Oh goody. She stared over towards the 'dark corner' again, remembering the eery feeling she had over there.
She had to stop herself from blacking out...something wasn't right, aside from the murder...her stomach was all in knots. Freya wondered what the other students in the castle were doing, whether they were all aware or not, and if the corridors and classrooms were empty.
There was no way that Hogwarts was the safest place in the world, not if things like this could happen. Freya's old home was more secure than this.

Vindictus had taken out his wand and was about to use a spell to clean the floor where the body had been. "W-w-what? I'm paying attention, Professor Kazimeriz!" he stammered and put his wand away. "Why do I have to do the interrogations? You're the one with the Ministry experience that you repeatedly remind us on a daily basis and it makes us gag. I've got this under control, so chill before you have a coronary." He turned to the Prefects and older students. "If you saw something, then tell me. If not, then get your bums back to your common rooms."