Paris had been there before that silly Hufflepuff and he got to go up first, and she had something important to speak with the headmaster about. She watched as they disappeared up the stairs. She had enough of being ignored for no reason at all. "Forget this." She said jumping up from the bench she had been sitting on all day long to speak with the headmaster. She stormed off down the corridor.

Jake made his way back down the corridor. That girl he'd given the note to was lookin' all... shifty. Not good. Jake couldn't trust that she would actually give the note, so he kinda sidled up. Now they'd all left the room he had no reason to hurry back.

"Me again," he smiled, slipping the note from the girl's pocket. Nope, no evidence here. Jake had lost POINTS for giving a note, so he figured he may as well do the job properly. Who cares if she memorised the note, she couldn't prove he'd given one.

It tasted... gross. But it had to be done, Jake thought as he swallowed it. Then he looked down at his watch again, and realised he needed to leave. Jake winked at Cameron as he hurried back down the corridor.

Apparently the hufflepuff had kept him much longer than anyone had anticipated. He sighed at the retreating forms of the other students who had been waiting to see him. Well, with any luck he'd still manage to get to class on time or even early.

Herminny walked over to the Gargoyle entrance. She thought, password, she did not know it but she was determined to find out if Professor Vindictus giving her a green tongue he did not remove by the time her detention was complete would get Professor Vindictus into trouble. She felt it was wrong, she hoped the headmaster would too.

--------

Herminny was upset by the slight set back but nontheless waited in front of the gargoyle for the headmaster to let her up to his office legally.

For the most part - other than the Librarian perhaps - Dominic remained relatively tranquil on his visits to the Professors in reading his sonnet. But as the fifth year walked down from the staircases that had led him from the seventh floor to the second, he could feel the anxiety mounting in his chest.

Drawing another deep breath, the Hufflepuff stared blankly at the Gargoyles, wondering what would happen now. Was he supposed to knock or was there some sort of device that would alert the headmaster as to his presence? This was all quite new to him and oddly nerve wrecking ...

Pepe had been planning his next attack and had finally decided to call upon Professor Bunbury. If he could just find the front door he'd have it made. Actually, he could have just jumped out the window but he as already on his way down the stairs. And of course he would be waylaid by a student. No! Not waylaid! "Ah, how fortunate you're here. Can you walk with me to the front door?"

Dom's questions were answered only a moment later when the headmaster himself came up from - wait, where had he approached from? - whatever, staring blankly around, the fifth year tried for a moment to figure out where. But quickly gave up as his eyes drew back upon the slightly absentminded headmaster who asked him to walk with him to the front door!? Oh canaries.

"Greetings Headmaster," Dom answered, pursing his lips thoughtfully to think of the right response. He was on a mission, but at the same time, refusing could cost him more than just house points. "Of course, but well, would you mind reading something that I wrote at the welcoming feast for you and the rest of the professors?"

"Sure, just lead on and I'll read," he said. There, that was a good excuse for not knowing where he was going: reading. He grinned.

Oh how excellent; getting to escorting the Headmaster himself to the Entrance Hall and also sharing the sonnet. This was just amazing luck the fifth year had right now. Withdrawing the rolled parchment, Dominic unraveled it and handed it over to the man with the glasses:

Text Cut: parchment

When disgraced in the eyes of Kaz
And beneath my bravery I weep,
With deaf ears and my tearless cries,
And looking up to the dias, curse my sleep;

To wish upon me one more chance,
Featuring all whom make least,
Desire in us all to dance,
With that let us contend with deist

Yet these thoughts, I find myself despising,
How I think with glee and then to you,
Like climbing these endless stairs and always arising,
But from the clouds to the grounds, and then the loo

For no matter how much pride or wealth I bring,
That I scorn to be as half as worthy as you kings.

"So it is just down the hallway and down the staircase," Dom spoke, leading the way towards the corridor and stairwell. Perhaps he'd swing by the Hourglasses too on his way. The headmaster surely wouldn't mind detours, right?

Ross walked up to the gargoyle unaware of his surroundings and said"I would like to speak to the Headmaster please"

Having made his way as quick as he could to the Headmaster's office, Jake leaned up against the wall and breathed for a bit. He was always running these days. And didn't the Headmaster have two offices? That just made things more complicated. "Oh please be up here," Jake mumbled, turning to look at the Gargoyle and looking around for Myrtle. "It's kinda really important."

Myrtle slowly followed Jakey Jake up to the stone gargoyle and proceeded to inspect it closely. She hovered around the statue, blinking through her glasses and hmm-hmming to herself as she poked the thing a few times.

"Oh Mister Professor Headmaster Bontecouuuuuu," she called up, "Come down come down from your towerrrr!"

Myrtle nudged Jakey with her ghostly elbow. "Do you think he's up there?"

Grinding his palm against his temple, Jake watched Myrtle with an impatient expression on his face. He stopped in shock as Myrtle nudged him and darn near froze his arm to the point of numbness. "I dunno..." he said uncertainly. "Can't you check up there?" he asked, not considering the repurcussions of that for a second. "Or not, I suppose."

Jake stared down the corridor, thinking for a moment. "He has another office... in the dungeons... Maybe I could go and check there... both of us," he tried. "But then if he comes out as we leave... That would suck..."

Decisions... decisions...

Pepe was in the middle of holding a Vipritakarani pose when he heard some commotion down stairs. He carefully got out of the pose and headed down the stairs, mopping his forehead with a towel, forgetting his glasses, and wearing just a tee shirt and yoga pants. The stone gargoyle jumped aside and as he ruffed his hair with the towel he asked, "What's going on down here?"

"Pro- errm..." Jake stared for a moment at the Headmaster's attire, tilting his head slightly in bemusement. What in the name of dogs' baseball caps was going on? Oh wait! Of course, the teachers! "Professor... You know... the staff... The ones that have been acting all strange... well, I have a theory, and sir please..."

Jake didn't want to tell the headmaster he HAD to do anything, but darn it to Merlin's high hairline this was important. "Please, you have to listen to my theory... it might make sense... Myrtle told me to come to you with it, and I also thought... since the ghosts know things..."

Biting his lip, Jake looked up anxiously to Professor Bontecou, willing him to see how important this was, and not just a stupid first year overreaction.

The man has cool hair thou- FOCUS, JAKERS!

Myrtle didn't even get a chance to reply to Jakey Jake because a studmuffin of a man appeared from behind the stone figure she'd been tapping.

If the girl ghost had still been a living, breathing creature, she would surely have had a trail of drool down her chin. Fortunately, she realized her jaw had dropped a little and quickly closed her mouth before some flies flew in.

"Hot Hottie Mc Hhhheadmaster," Myrtle stammered, "Jakey has sssomething to tell you."

She nodded and swirled her robes a little, her hand reaching to twirl her pigtail like always. "Yeah it's about the professors....the non-cool ones, since they aren't cool like you, sir..." Real smooth she was.

"Er... okay," he said, squinting to see which student it was in front of him. He knew the ghost was Myrtle, but without his glasses she was just a blur. "So, tell me what you think. I'm open to any and all theories," he added, reaching up to pull his glasses back on his face. But he hadn't left them on his head because he'd been practicing his yoga postures. Right. He slipped his wand out of a pocket and sen a silent summoning charm for his glasses. Once they were in place, the world came into focus. Ahhh... much better.

"Okay," Jake breathed a sigh of relief that he was going to be listened to. This guy seemed quite cool.

Was he really a teacher?

FOCUS!

"So basically, that Mirror of Eri... Eari..." Jake cast an uncertain look at Myrtle here, annoyed at having forgotten the name of that stupid mirror. "Well... there was a portrait of a sleeping Dragon, yeah? And behind that was this huuuuuge mirror... or it seemed huge to me..."

Eyes glazing over, Jake's thoughts temporarily drifted off to what he saw in that mirror, and when he might see those two people again. They'd looked ni- waaaaiiiittttt... Wasn't he supposed to be doing something? Oh yeah!

"And this mirror, it shows your desires or something, someone said... And that doesn't seem like anything to do with the professors... but..." Jake looked around at Myrtle again, suddenly worried about sounding like a total loon. "Well, I spent alot of time in there... and every teacher that's been acting strange... well... they all looked in the mirror..."

How did he say this without seeming crazy? Meh, he couldn't. "Some it happened quicker than others... it was..." He held up 7 fingers again and started to tick the names off. "Professor Lupa... Professor Bunbury... the Groundskeeper man... Professor Forrester... Professor Dumont... Professor Vindictus... and... erm..." Darn, who was the last one? OH YEAH! "Professor Pierce, sir..."

Feeling his voice begin to grow rather hoarse at his talking. "Basically, my theory is... maybe the mirror changed them, so if we get them in front of it again, it can change them back? It can't hurt to try, right?"

Right?

"You know, that's not a bad idea," he mused, quickly considering all the kid had said. It was certainly sound logic to him. Now, to use his trick of getting the students to escort him around the school without looking like he didn't actually know where he was going... "Why don't we head down there and take a look? And as we walk, maybe you can tell me where the ghosts fit into this? You said something about them knowing things before..."

Headmaster Bontecou turned and closed the gargoyle's entrance before tucking his wand back into his pocket and clapping his hands. "Okay, all set."

Beaming a true smile, Jake nodded at the headmaster. "Thank you, sir. For listening, I mean," he added. With another quick look up at Myrtle, he set off down the corridor, unintentionally leading the way.

"Yeah," he nodded in response to the ...question? about ghosts, and elaborated. "Well, they've been dropping hints to us either unknowingly or otherwise... They didn't want us in the room with the mirror... I think... But Myrtle has been helpful... Anyway, they just keep letting on that they know things... and then leave or something."

An annoyed voice in Jake's mind couldn't help but scream GREY LADY!

"Sixth floor, Professor," he added, more for himself than the headmaster.

ooc: We'll continue in the 3rd floor corridor and go floor by floor. here's the next post.