Lyra quickly turned her head towards Banana with a gasping look of shock on her face. "My shoe? My sh-shoe?" She was dumbfounded. No...really...she was not dumb...just amazed that the Head Girl wanted her to use her shoes. "I'll have you know these shoes were expensive!" She placed her hands on her hips as if she couldn't believe what Banana was saying.

"And I'll have you know, they are good for something." She just...wasn't going to say at the moment. Well...she could...tell...one...little...secret. "They are good for catching attention when needed." She leaned her hand against the door and pulled off one shoe.

"So what...I just...start banging with my heel?" She looked at Banana as she couldn't do it! She couldn't RUIN her pair of shoes. "Here you do it! I can't...watch!"

"Expensive? Expensive. Lyra Noir!" Anna fussed. "There is a man inside that hut whose currently in grave danger!" She made a face at her best friend, then held out her hand, waiting for the high heel to be placed inside it. She had to take a moment to stop and laugh lightly at the way Lyra was acting. Only Lyra Noir would do and say such things at a time like this. It was for that reason, too, that Anna called the girl one of her very best friends. "Banging with your heel? Erm, I don't know...just...yeah. Do something!" she exclaimed. When the girl finally handed over the shoe, Anna studied it for a few moments before speaking up once again. "Oh, I know! Why don't we tie a note onto the spike of the shoe and then toss the shoe through the chimney? Erm...just kidding," Anna said, mumbling the last few words. "Okay, erm, should I just bang? Maybe we can knock the door out or something. I'm sure at a time like this, he wouldn't mind losing his door and all..."

Sprinting across the grounds and causing himself great pain in doing so, Marcus finally skidded to a halt just outside the groundskeeper's hut to see the Head Girl and another girl he had yet to meet. If he had to guess he would say that she was easily a seventh year. Good. Two girls with experience.

Then.

Again.

Maybe.

Not.

"What are you two doing? There is a man trapped inside with water rising and you're banging on the door with the heel of a shoe?" Marcus shook his head and flicked his wrist,his wand sliding into his hand. "Are you two witches or not? Get out your wands and give me a hand."

He strode up to the window and looked inside, all the while mumbling under his breath at the whole shoe incident. "yeah let's save the day with a shoe, for Merlin's sake!" He peered inside the window to see if he could see the groundskeeper. "Neo, Neo can you hear me? We may need to blast the door open."

Roma romped all the way towards the front door of the hut, weaving in and around the people already there. Ears pulled back, she climbed the front stairs to the door where she immediately started to scratch at it upon arrival. She barked, whined, and continued to scratch.

Constantine gave up trying to open a window when he heard a scratching at his door. And then barking. It was Roma.

"Oh thank god," he breathed, heading towards the door and squatting down a bit, pressing his ear to the door. "ROMA," he called through the door, hoping she could hear him. "Roma, it's going to be okay," he spoke loudly, his best attempt to soothe her. "I promise, everything will be fine...I'll get out of here and we can go play catch or something..." Constantine shivered from the cold water; it was getting higher and these doors wouldn't open...he was starting to doubt if he'd be able to get out. "Just...stay here, Roma...don't leave. Just stay by the door...speak to me...let me know you're okay..." Ugh, his heart seemed to break a little at the sound of her whine in response.

And then he heard Lawson's voice. Blast the door open? "We've TRIED," he called back. "It was the second thing I tried!"

Anna blinked and froze in place when a booming voice demanded to know what they were doing. "Erm...gum?" she suggested, nodding to the bottom of Lyra's shoe. She tossed the shoe back in her friend's direction and then added, "...all off now, Lyra!" With that done, Anna retrieved her wand and held it forward, ready for pretty much anything and everything that might happen. As she said earlier, the craziest and wildest things tended to happen at this school. One never knew just what to expect now-a-days. Wonder if Potter and Weasley ever had this much trouble? Oh, yeah...that Not-to-be-named dude.

"Right...witches," Anna said to her professor, her wand still held high. She made a face at Lyra and then added, "Yeah, Lyra! Save the day with a shoe! What were you thinking?!?!" She winked at her best friend then, remembering that this was no time for a joke, refocused on what she was supposed to be doing.

"Roma! Roma, are you alright?" Anna asked, spotting the groundskeeper's dog nearby. "Oh, Roma. It's alright, girl. We're going to get him out soon. I promise!" I hope...

"Yeah! Yeah! Through the chi-WHAT?" Lyra paused as her mouth was still moving but not a single word was heard. And then she placed her hand over her chest as Banana was only kidding. "Thank GAWD!" She turned on her....heel and faced....



...Professor Lawson. Kisser man! The one she saw in the greenhouse that lovely, fine, splendid day! "ProFESSor," Lyra huffed as she was NOT a dumb dumb! "I'll have you know that...my shoe could have saved the day." She was not going to stand by and allow him to talk to her this way. Well, he was her professor but...

"We've already tried magic, your royalness! It doesn't work, which is where the wonderful Ravenclaw went to fetch...someone," should have pointed out who NOT to get. "I just didn't know she was going to bring us...you." She peeked at the professor through her green eyes. Finish the sentence! FINISH! "I mean you are still hurt...and all."

And blasting the door would be a wonderful idea but...how? "If magic doesn't work then, how will you blast the door?"

Thank you Mr. Groundskeeper for showing that using the shoe was not such a bad thing for what the girls had on them at the moment. And, yay for Roma coming to the rescue.

"I'll have you know there is NO gum on my shoe and it was Banana that suggested we use the shoe since it is pointy at the end and can have the force to at least go thru the door and provide a way to knock it down."

Save the day with the shoe, she mocked Banana then stuck out her tongue. "That was Your thought Banana. I was just willing to save Mr. Groundskeeper any way we could at this moment." She then turned back to Lawson as she still wondered if blasting would be out of the question.

Satine was getting really tired of running everywhere...she ran up to the hut and was confused to see Anna and Lyra talking about shoes...how awkward she thought...but then focused back on the task at hand..

"Professor Lawson, I've run all of over the castle trying to find prefects and Professors and hopefully some will be headed down here soon." she caught her breath for a second....

"But there's more...I went to Professor Vindictus' to get help and it appears that he's locked in his office also and Professor Kazi is in there too...and it's flooding also but they can't get out." she was getting really tired of being the bearer of bad news today....hopefully no one would be mad at the messenger...

He heard Neo's voice call out to him. Right they had already tried that and it hadn't worked. Okay so what could they do that would work? He unfortunately had never seen anything like this before and that girl's constant sniping in his ear was not helping one little bit.

"Save your dramatics for when we have got the groundskeeper out, would you please. Then you can have as much of a go at me as you like but for now think of way to get him out. Something other than your shoe, which clearly was doing nothing but making a lot of noise." Marcus, knew exactly what he would like to do with that shoe at the moment but it would not be appropriate saying it out loud.

He pulled a knife from his pocket and stepped up to the door, maybe magic wouldn't work but perhaps good old fashioned muggle lock picking might do the trick. He slipped the knife into the door jam and jiggled it around hoping that it might do the trick. "How's it going in there Neo?" he called out, hoping that the water hadn't risen anymore.

Marcus turned toward Satine and grimaced. "Brilliant, bloody brilliant. Well I only have one set of hands and can only do one thing at a time. As soon as we get Mr Masterton out then we'll head over there and hope it's not too late." Oh he should have stayed in the hospital ward, he was in no mood for this.

Was the professor giving her permission for sharing her thoughts after the man was saved from the little hut? Oh goodie! Just what she wanted to hear, but she was NOT going to do that and waste her breath on the man. She didn't like him and that was that!

HA!

"The little Ravenclaw girl suggested going up to the chimney to see if that would help." That would be fun to call a broom and fly up there, something she'd done before.

"Oh, bloody freaking fabulous," Constantine called back to Lawson, shivering a little bit more. "You know, it's just a NORMAL day when I get locked in my head with water rising out of no where. I'm just PEACHY keen..." he sighed, getting to his feet.

Was he irritated? Justttt a touch.

The water had reached his neck, and threatened to submerge him. It splashed everywhere.

Anna blinked and looked at the professor in pure shock. He was surely letting Lyra have it. Could you blame him, though? She'd had a near fit a few moments ago. Anna playfully stuck out her tongue at her best friend and mouthed the word, 'Burned' to her. It was a good thing the two were such good friends, or else Lyra just might take her little jokes to heart. She started to make a few comments on what Lyra had said to her, but she didn't want to get girl started on another rant. Some things were better left unsaid.

Anna watched as the professor tried his hand at pretty much breaking into the place muggle burglar style. Something told Anna it wasn't going to work, though. I mean, this water seemed to be controlled by magic, and magic didn't play well with simple spells or muggle methods of doing things. "No sir, you have more than one set of hands. We'll help you. Do you think we'll just have to get something bigger and sharper and tear the door down?" she asked.

Marcus turned to the seventh year and gave her a tiny smirk. "Well my dear what are you waiting for? Summon a broom and fly down the chimney. Or are you too worried about getting your clothes dirty?"

Mmmhmm the girl was a princess and was indeed no help at all quite frankly. He sighed deeply when he heard Neo's voice. "Dude, we are all stressed and are trying our hardest to get you out but nothing seems to be working." He walked around and looked in the window and could see that the water had risen to neck level. He cursed under his breath, they wouldn't be able to even smash a window now.

"What did you have in mind Anna?" In other words don't just stand there and talk about it, go and get something to use. If they couldn't blast the door with magic then he doubted very much that they would be able to tear the door down either. Bloody hell, he was at a loss as to what to do.

Satine was honestly growing tired of all the stressed induced banter and said, "Accio Broom" to summon a broom from the broomshed. She was still young and hoped that it worked for her. Her mom had taught her lots of spells over the years and this one was her favorite.

She waited patently for the broom to get to her, "Well I'll summon a broom and fly up there. I may be a first year but I'm not really scared of anything..." she looked at the other three..."Anyone care to join me?" she said with a mischievous smile. "We may as well try it then sit around and talk about it." she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Constantine's heart was pounding a mile a minute. The water was up to his neck...what if they didn't get the door open in time? Madison...Roma...my child... He closed eyes and then opened them again; for once in his life, he was scared.

Lyra's eyes narrowed at the crusty DADA Professor. He was arrogant and full of...HUFF...well she had no idea but she did NOT like this man! She then looked to Satine and smiled. What a brave girl but Lyra was not in the mood to ride a broom. No! She could think of other things to do with that broom at the moment as her green eyes shifted towards Professor Lawson.

If he was so all high and mighty, why didn't he have a solution? The water had to be getting higher and there was no time to play games. "If there was something around here that we could use to break down the door, like a muggle axe or block of wood or...just something! Anything!" Well, this professor was no help at all.

"How would flying up to the chimney help, though? Anna politely asked. She glanced through a nearby window and wrinkled her face in worry as she thought about the poor groundskeeper inside the hut. "If the water is as high as it seems to be, then the other end of the chimney, the part that comes out inside the hut, is far underwater by now. That's means it's unlikely we'd be able to rescue him or get him to hear us from there." She shrugged, then turned back to the door, the panicked look still showing all over her face. She honestly had no idea what to do. Hopefully the professor would think of something soon. She placed her hands on the door handle and began to tug with all her might. "Lyra! Satine! Help me!" she exclaimed.

As Satine listened a broom flew into her range and she grabbed it ready to do what needed to be done...she might be a first year but her parents had raised her to act and think older...there was a life in there that needed saving...enough with the talking....

Anna did have a good point....but she knew banging anything against the door wouldn't work...she had already tried breaking the window with a shovel and it didn't even scratch it...

Satine had an idea...and like in the cartoons it almost felt like a lightbulb lite up in her head..."It seems that the windows and door are bespelled so I don't know if trying to break them down is the answer....Why don't we ask...well..really yell at Mr. Masterson to swim to the chimney and then up as far as the water has come...someone can fly over the chimney and put a rope down the chimney and once he gets a hold of it we can fly up up and away with him holding on...." she really hoped it was a feasible idea...it was atleast in her head....

The more this Ravenclaw spoke, the more Lyra liked her. She was smart and well...she was a Ravenclaw, as anyone who knew Lyra would know that she adored Ravenclaws because of one in particular. This had to the be answer. It had to work.

"Satine, you can't do it by yourself. You need someone who is strong or at least two people to help." Lyra looked to the Professor who was out of the question. So much for a knight in shining armour. His was tarnished beyond words.

Lawson turned to look at the the older girl with a slightly incredulous look on his face. "An axe? Oh yes that's really going to work. The blasting spell won't work but an axe would? Oh that's about as good as using the heel of your shoe." He let out a snort and turned back to the window and peered inside once again. That was Annie's mini-me right there, no wonder he didn't like the girl.

Marcus listened to both Anna and Satine. The older girl was right, if the water was up to neck level then it would be in the chimney as well. Satine had a good idea though. "Yes very good Satine but I am going to have to ask Anna to help me out here. No offense but you are too young for this kind of thing and I need someone with a little more experience." He looked at Anna and raised an eyebrow. "Just leave your shoes on okay?"

"Oh, well...hmm. Now that you've put it that way...," Anna said, looking up and studying the chimney for a moment. It did seem like their only shot at the moment. The problem would be getting the professor to hear the idea and then to get him to agree to swim up the chimney. "I'll fly up and help you pull him up, Satine. It'll definitely take more than one of us to tug him by rope. If we're going to do this, though, we better get a move on. I don't think we have much time to waste."

Anna grew quiet when Professor Lawson starting talking. Hopefully he would at least agree to Satine's idea or have some other plan up his sleeve. Anna nodded when he mentioned her assisting him. Of course she'd assist him. If they didn't act soon, the groundskeeper might...might... Anna just couldn't finish that thought. Instead, she glanced down at her shoes, studying them for a moment and deciding that she'd in no way desire to take them off. "Yup, of course sir. I'm not the one with high-heeled shoes on," she said, with a nervous laugh.

Satine completely agreed with Professor Lawson and Lyra...as much as she wanted to go up there she was too tiny to be of any help....so trying to hide her disappointment at her size she still said..."I completely understand." she said to Professor Lawson and turning to Anna..."Here you might as well take this broom since it's already been summoned...it obviously wants to help out." she handed the broom to her..."I'm going to see if there is any rope around here that we can use." she sloshed away looking for some rope around the hut.

Almost as if fate was on their side for once...she saw some rope tied to a clothesline...she quickly untied it and ran around the front to hand it to Professor Lawson and Anna....

"Right let's go Anna. Er...you can ride up front, not particularly good on brooms myself." He gave an embarrassed sort of chuckle and threw his leg over the broomstick.

"Thanks Satine" he said as he took hold of the rope and slipped it over his shoulders. He took a deep breath and counted to ten in his head. He really hated flying, hated it...with a passion. Um...where exactly was he supposed to hold on? He looked around wildly, with his hands in the air unsure of where to put them exactly.

Satine watched Professor Lawson slowly raise up on the broom..."Let me know when ya'll are ready for me to yell at Mr. Masterson to swim down to the chimney....and good luck you two..." she said with a thumbs up...

She looked at Lyra..."I sure hope this works...I'm afraid we're running out of time.." she knew there was worry in her face but she couldn't break down right now...too much to do to help make sure the Mr. Masterson didn't....well...to make sure that Mr. Masterson lived...always think positive..she thought..

She got as close as she could to the door and waited for the signal from Professor Lawson.

"Yup, I'll get up front. I don't mind a bit. Anything in the name of Mr. Constantine "Neo" Masterson," she said, making a weak attempt at a smile. At this particular moment in time, Anna sort of felt like a woman in her twenties, climbing aboard a motorcycle with the man of her dreams and then darting dangerously down the street in pursuit of a man they must save from danger. True, she wasn't a woman in her twenties, nor was Professor Lawson the man of her dreams, but they were in pursuit of a man they must save from danger, so her little daydream wasn't too far-fetched. Oh, and one must keep in mind that this school broom wasnt exactly a shiny new motorcycle.

Realizing she'd been standing still as a board and daydreaming for a full minute or so, Anna quickly cleared her throat, then climbed aboard the motorcycle...erm, broom. "Alright, sir! Hang on tight! Mr. Masterson, here we come!" she called out. "Anything else before I kick off the ground?"