Cari raised her eyebrows. "Well that IS interesting." She wasn't very familiar with wrackspurt. But there were all kinds of reasons for oddly coloured eyes and bad attitude, however not many of them were related to good health.

"There are a few infectious maladies that he might have somehow contracted," Cari theorized. "Some plant poisonings could have had an effect on the brain, and coloured the eyes. An inflammation if you will. He might have rabies. In that case I would keep him away from Mr Masterson's dog. Or other people in general until we find out what is causing his symptoms."

Divad painfully tired to speak. "C-Ca-Can I-I G-G-Go N-N-Now?"

"Let me end the spell and see how he reacts," Vindictus suggested and wondered if Divad did have rabies. He had his wand pointed at the boy. "Divad, you need to stop hurting yourself. That's why I had to petrify you. When I end the spell, I want you to sit patiently on the stool, okay?" He waited. "Finite Incantatem!" A jet of light shot out from the professor's wand and at it's target.

Not for nothing was Cari one of the top duellers in her year, but she didn't feel any less apprehesive as Max lifted the paralysis. An ounce of prevention is supposedly worth a pound of cure, so she kept her wand drawn and her stance ready, just in case the kid went a little nuts on them.

Divad sat patiently, he didn't even whence.

"That's better. Now can you tell us why you decided to bang your head against a solid block wall covered in slime?" Vindictus asked.

Cari didn't ask any questions of her own. Max's question was certainly the most pressing on her mind. She could count all her detentions in her life on one hand and never during any of them had she ever felt the need to test the hardness of the slimy wall with her skull.

Kids today.

"You see, I was mad and needed to blow off some steam. So I hit my head against the wall to loosen up." Divad confessed.

Vindictus raised an eyebrow. "Of course you're not going to like detention - it's a punishment, not a picnic! And hitting your head against a solid block wall isn't a smart thing to do. Now stop brooding and press your lips up against the slimy wall."

Caroline's eyebrows rose right into her hair.

This... explains a lot about the boy.

"That is a terrible way to blow off steam, Divad, is it?" Cari said, "You could loosen neurons, brain cells, that way."

She continued, "Are you familiar with the Muggle sport of boxing? Boxers who take too many repeated blows to the head wind up with brain damage and dementia. Surely you can think of other ways to relieve stress, can't you?"

Divad did as Vindictus asked. He pressed his already green lips against the slimy wall. He wondered how long he would be stuck here and wanted to cry.

Myrtle liked the dungeons because they were cold, grey, and lonely. Just like her.

What's more, the kids screaming and crying and wailing in torture detention sounded just like her. For once, she didn't feel alone. She had been watching this one cute little Ravenclaw boy in detention for a while now, and when his girlfriend (ew) left and he pressed his lips up against the wall, she couldn't resist.

"MWAH!" Myrtle cooed, popping through the wall and flying straight through the boy's face with her lips puckered out and her eyes closed, the perfect picture of a ghostie wanting a smooch.

Divad lurched back, fell off the stool and stared at Myrtle. He had heard stories, but this tops all. Vindictus won't be happy Divad thought to himself.

Vindictus had to stare at a spot on the ceiling to stop himself from laughing at Myrtle's antics. After a moment, he recollected himself and smiled at the ghost. "Ah, Myrtle! Fancy seeing you down here," he smiled and looked down at Divad who was on the floor. "Back up on the stool, young man, and I want you to say something nice to Myrtle."

Divad got back on the stool. "Thank you Myrtle. I like your shade of grey, it highlights your eyes."

Cari was not allowed to laugh was she? No she wasn't. Oh but it was just too good. Even a social failure like Cari knew that. And there was something kindred there between her and Myrtle, the lack of close friends probably.

Instead she smiled. A really big smile. "Hi Myrtle, lovely evening isn't it? How are things?"

"Mr. Professor Vindycus sir," Myrtle respectfully twirled her ghostly dress and batted her eyelashes at the man. She nodded at the Healer. "It's such a romantic evening, isn't it?" Myrtle giggled that nails-on-a-chalkboardish sound and floated over to the Ravenclaw in punishment.

The ghosty almost blushed at his compliment, only not, because she knew it was totally true. "Aww thank you," she beamed at the boy and decided to share his stool by basically floatsitting on him. "I like your shade of green fungus lipstick. You look so much older and more mature with it."

The green fungus lipstick, of course, was her way of telling him that she'd seen him making out with the dungeon wall. Teeheehee.

"Thank you Myrtle. Say? If I die down here, can we share this room?" Divad asked, jokingly.

"Divad, that's completely irrelevant," Vindictus said and walked over to the cell door. He held it open. "I hope that you've learned your lesson about public displays of affection and that you won't do it again. And the, um, green color on your lips will fade away within 24 hours. You're dismissed."

He got off the stool and said thank you to Professor Vindictus. He then walked out the door, and headed back up to the common room.

Vindictus watched Divad leave and kept on holding the door open for Cari. "Thank you for coming down here to check on the child. If I see him acting strangely, I'll send him to the hospital wing immediately." He looked over at Myrtle. "It was a pleasure having you stop by during this detention, Myrtle. Have you, um, greeted the prefects and the Head Boy and Head Girl this term?"

"THAT'S NOT IRRELEVANT!" Myrtle screeched, flying off the stool, knocking it over, and zooming after Divad out the door. "THAT'S AN INSULT! AND I'LL HAUNT YOU FOR IT!!!!!"

The pearly ghost glared through her thick spectacles at the back of boy before suddenly and dramatically bursting into tears.

"Hehheee, heee was jjoking, wasn't heee? He fffinks it's fffunnnny I have to ssstay hereeeeeeeeeeeee." She covered her face with her hands as thick droplets started to wet the floor. "Nooobody likes meeee. And I haven't even seeeen the Prefects."

Poor, innocent, moaning, moping Myrtle.

"Myrtle, please don't cry because of that rude boy," Max said softly and tried his best to sweet talk and console the ghost. "I'm your friend, aren't I? You know that you're always welcome to visit me and the Ravenclaws."

The ghostie sniffled a little and her tears stopped as if on cue.

"Realllllly? Do you mean it?" Her lip wibbled just a little bit, not unlike the infamous Toussaint lip wibble. "Can I --- can I come to the Common Room?!"

She hadn't been in her own House room for yeaaaaaaars. Not since she was well, a real, live breathing 'Claw.

"Of course you can come to the Common Room," Vindictus automatically replied. "Hogwarts is your home after all. Just, erm, try not to get the Study Tables wet or the Ravenclaws might get mad."