"Aislynn, your notion isn't silly," Selena said with the most soothing voice she could muster. "But I think this probably won't go right, because the water might have been contaminated enough that the level of real water have been lowered to a minimum. And besides, we don't know how the chemicals will react as this flood water have been contaminated with various potions." She stopped for a breath, waiting for someone to say that she could be entirely wrong.

Grace looked at Diane in amazement. She would never realise that it didn't reveal "water." Then she looked at Aislynn and Grace wondered again that what she was doing here? Why couldn't she never come up with such ideas, like checking if it was really water or that there wasn't water in water? And that girl (Selena) was probably right. "The water level must have been very low that the spell didn't reveal.Though, I suspect that it really is water.I mean it doesn't act like water and the spell didn't reveal too.But then it came from lake...What else can it be?" she trailed off, fully aware that she sounded like a stupid.

I know the order is changed, but this way is easier for me :P
 

"It could also have been my mistake," Diane told them. She pocketed her wand and knocked vials together as she moved things around. It was human to err. At least, it could only be that from her point of view. There weren't great quantities of any other liquid mentioned, and the water certainly couldn't be... could it?

"Ink," Diane asked, "Could it be ink?" She shook her head, "No, no, it cannot..." From that moment, she got to pacing from side to side. "It would not explain the appearance of lake material. The fact that there is lake kelp means it has been in contact with lake water at the very least. The presence of water is a must. And there was no alcohol from the ink listed. Truthfully, is as you say, it is possibly it has been compromised by the appearance of stronger liquids. Maybe it is an spongue effect." She was following the other's logic, but decidedly confused, when somebody else spoke.

"On the very contrary," Diane said smiling brightly. "It seems brilliant - and that is not a problem, I will provide," she assured the other girl (Selena). Her eyes returned to the first (Aislynn). "Let me make you a sample." Diane moved over and poured flood water in another vial, which she labeled FLOOD C.

She brought the vial to Aislynn. "It is a vial quantity of water, I hope it will be enough. This way, it will not matter if it gets contaminated by the anhydrous crystals. Ah, as you know the proceedings, please, carry them out as well." She handed it to her.


"Speaking of it... I also need to test for finner details of this water properties. Would somebody like to try heating both waters and time their vaporisation? But be very careful about adverse reactions," she added, and sighed. "Though, I suggest to test corrosion. It is probably better to priorize that."

She looked troubled, even now. "Nevertheless, I will try again with Scarpin's Revelaspell." She brought up her wand. "I had noticed before but, I was meaning to judge by the level of salt and minerals in the water, if it was ocean water running underground. I will try to get some more details, and another time to identify the spells affecting the water."

Her wand was finite incantatem the revelaspell, and pointing her wand again. Now you looked at it, she had also placed a second sheet of glass while she talked and had set an sample of normal lake water, or so she expected. Thus, she pointed her wand to target, one time each: "SpeRevelio... SpeRevelio..."

"Hmm," Anna said, thinking carefully about what Diane had said about the lack of water in the water. She brought up a really good point, but from what Anna could tell, there was definitely water present...the spell just hadn't revealed it. "The substance really does resemble water, though," she said, leaning over and closely examining it. "Does SpeRevelio just reveal what's been added to a substance, or does it reveal every single component? I'm thinking it just told us the ingredients that had been added to the water." Anna shrugged, not really sure of either option. She glanced towards Professor Kazimeriz, wondering if he had an opinion one way or the way other. If he did, she doubted he'd speak up and share it. He seemed to really want the students to lead this while he did the supervising. "I guess...maybe we could try the spell again. You looked to have done a really good job to me, though."

Anna blinked at Aislynn's suggestion, then glanced up at her with a rather expressionless face. Aislynn must be incredibly gifted in the art of potion making to be able to come up with an answer like that. Anna hadn't even understood half the words she'd said. It sounded like a really good idea, though. "No, no, wait. I don't think we should just forget that. It sounds like a really good idea," she said, nodding her head in approval. "Where would we obtain those materials, though?" she asked, glancing up at Professor Kazimeriz. If he had some in stock, he'd have to agree to let them use some of it. Selena and Grace seemed to be okay with Aislynn's idea, too, as did Diane who was currently trying SpeRevelio again. Anna turned to watch and wait for the ingredients to once again be revealed.

"Well we could separate the water molecules from all the other substances," Aislynn said. "All we would have to do is heat the lake water and use the perspired substance to test to see if it's water or not."

Aislynn took the vial, but she was very nervous about testing her theory. She looked at the vial of water and it almost seemed like a bomb to her. She was nervous about trying something wrong--actually, she was nervous about failing.

Aislynn smiled. She was shocked that so many people were up for trying her idea. "It's really all about chemistry," she said. "It's muggle science. Maybe that's what we've been missing though. We've been so focused on a magical solution, perhaps it's more of a hands on answer." She grabbed a burner and got it started. "We could try evaporating the water or substance, whatever it may be. Couldn't we also test the water with gillyweed?"

She hoped she made sense. She almost felt like she was confusing herself. This whole experiment really depended on Professor Kazimeriz, whether he would allow it and whether or not he had the materials to test it.

Kazimeriz listened to the students theorize and discuss, a little burst of pride welling up in the centenarian's heart. Bless them, they were using critial thinking. Thinking about process. It pleased the professor greatly.

"You are all analyzing the situation well, though remember that in a laboratory setting, to do a true test you need to compare and contrast the difference between the lake-water and the flood water. To do this, you need to perform the same tests upon the control subject-- in this case, the lake water - as you do the test subject. Also, if you would like to confirm the presence of water in the potion, you could simply perform a hot air charm on a small sample from both the control and test subjects. This would evaporate any actual water content from the samples." Kazimeriz was fairly certain that there was water in both samples, but it seemed to interest the children and it was a good thing for them to learn.

He contemplated for a moment. "What is most interesting to me at this juncture, however, is not what is revealed- namely, the contaminants in the flood water- but rather what is not present. Specifically, Scarpin's Revelaspell shows not only ingredients in a potion but any spells, charms or hexes that have been incorporated into the substance by any wizard's wand at any time. Keeping in mind that many of your professors were down in the flood waters, attempting to battle them with various charms and spells to no avail... And yet, there is no direct evidence of those attacks in this sample. Fascinating." Kazimeriz said. "What is this telling us about this sample?" He looked to the students for their thoughts.

"Yes," Diane said, blinking with amazement. "Yes, that was exactly what I was thinking." Her more edginess was showing again. That something troubling her became more evident. "Or maybe not exactly, but close enough."

Her eyes moved away... then she just chuckled, shaking her head. "The water has a neutralizing effect. It nullifies magic." She was back to calm, back to smile, and back looking at the professor. "Gringott's waterfall."

She let that speak for itself and now turned to observe the glowing of her spells, as they were still deciphering the components of both lake and flood water on their respective glass sheets. She did not mean to scare the others, but that could mean extremely bad news.

No - she shook her head. "A magic-concealing charm maybe." Hopefully. She had been wrong before.

"Professor," she turned to him, suddenly. "I heard the water passed to solid state-- I mean, was frozen over at the Entrance Hall. Do you happen to know if any of the professors were involved in that?"

Kazimeriz raised an eyebrow. Gringott's waterfall, indeed. Magic concealing charms, or neutralizing? Hm... Perhaps. Perhaps. Or perhaps something far more insidious. "I was not present in the entrance hall and regrettably, I do not know if the frozen state was created or a naturally occurring phenomenon. But it is a very good question to ask, Miss Entelequia. Miss Greingoth- you were undoubtedly in said hall at the time of the flooding, if your track record for being in the right place at the right time bears out. Do you know the answer to Miss Entelequia's question?" And just as important: where were Lawson and Truebridge when the hall iced over? Or when it flooded? And what were they up to?

Wow. Maybe she really did have a record for always being in the right place at the right time. No wonder Professor Kazimeriz was so leary of her. Even though she did mean well and was only trying to help, she indeed was always near the scene of the crime, so to speak. She glanced over at him, then slowly nodded her head. "I---I was indeed in the Great Hall during that time, sir. Only, I arrived just after the water froze. It remained in that state for quite a while, and my friends and I were even able to assist a few students during that time. There were a few quite unlucky in getting their feet stuck in the water when it froze over," she replied. "Once it melted, though, the water rose at an unbelievable rate. There were grindylows. It was horrible, sir." She shivered and closed her eyes, trying hard to block out the memories of the grindylow attaching itself to her robes and trying its hardest to pull her down. Thank Merlin Cope and Rob had been there to pull her safety.

"I have a few ideas as to what's causing this flooding, though," she said, opening her eyes again. "Myrtle was in the Great Hall during the time the water was frozen over. She and I briefly talked, and I ended up asking her if she'd seen anything unusual that may be associated with the flooding. She told me that she hadn't seen anything, but she had heard something," she continued. "It was just the way she stressed the word heard that made me think the answer to this flood lies within something we can hear better than we can see."

She took a deep breath, then added, "A few days ago a sort of loud wailing noise could be heard from down by the lake. I remembered what Myrtle told me, and I thought that maybe...just maybe...she's heard the wailing sound, too. It's hard to explain, but there were cries...and a sort-of...maybe...a word. I've been thinking about this a lot, sir, and...I think we need to search the lake. Only, we don't need to search the lake for water...we need to search the lake for a creature. Why would a creature make such horrible wailing sounds in the lake? I think...because maybe it doesn't belong there. I think the lake is currently a home to a creature it's not meant to serve as a home to. I think that's what's causing the flood." She grew quiet and simply stared at him. He probably thought she'd literally lost her mind at this point. "Will...will you all come search with me at some point? Maybe after we finish in here?" she asked, looking at all the students and at Professor Kazimeriz.

Diane tilted her head. Myrtle again. And there was that other fact. Wailing, wailing... "What if," she began, "It is not water to begin with indeed. What you said about a creature, what if it is... body fluid?" She paused in consideration, but just noticed it could be read either way. She gave a little cough and elaborated: "Tears, that is."

Which, again, could be confirmed by the presence of salt in the flood water. Her eyes turned again to the two glowing samples. When troubled like this, the spell seemed to take an eternity to finish up.

"Ah, miss," she addressed Aislynn again. "What about the hot air charm the professor mentioned? Could you perform it? It would need to be 100 degrees celcius exactly. Or use your method, I am sure the professor possesses anhydrous crystals. Whichever way is easier for you."


ooc: Just a reminder, I am waiting the narrator again to confirm again the no-water part, and for the results on lake water.
(Also, people, we are bouncing ideas back and forwards, so those who are silent, dont be intimidated to participate.)

The water stirred again... another hue of vapor hovered above the water. Again, it displayed many of the potions that had been spilt in the dungeons, glass fragments, algae, lake kelp, hair potions, the remains of a dead fish, ink, green soot from the slytherin fireplace, lamp oil, muffin traces and the shedded skin of a grindylow which seemed to be shredding to pieces.

Kazimeriz raised an eyebrow, feeling a why-am-I-not-surprised bit of disdain. Of COURSE the girl had been there. She was always at the scene of every crime, and perhaps even had a hand in this whole mess. Still... It was an interesting story, to be sure. And an interesting theory.

Unless of course it was Greingoth herself... who did she hang out with? Was she close to Truebridge or Lawson? Could she be possibly even under an imperius curse, working for them to undermine the investigation and continue this mad flooding?

!!!

That was it! The Greingoth girl was there, at the scene of every crime...er... flooding. She was interested in DADA, as he had recalled when he taught her. Lawson and Truebridge could easily have coerced her -- knowingly or magically-- to assist them. It all made perfect sense. And here she was, perhaps attempting to undermine their investigation with talk of wailing creatures in the lake!

He considered Greingoth's story coupled with Entelequia's theory. It would be good to humor Greingoth, lest she suspect he was on to her, Truebridge and Lawson. And perhaps she was an unwilling victim, under the imperius curse. Truebridge possibly even had been the one responsible for the killing of the Avis child last term... Perhaps he had unwittingly learned too much about Truebridge's plan, and had been about to let the headmaster know of it...?

One thing was clear: there was something truly insidious afoot. Truebridge was the most obvious suspect. Perhaps the former actor was 'acting' even now, while gathering his forces to try to take over the school and ...perhaps he was even seeking a magical archaeological artifact, something truly dark so that he could gain power. That would explain why he had taken Kettleburn under his wing, arranging for his internship... It all makes sense. the potions master thought.

Perhaps Truebridge had visions of himself as the 'next' dark lord. Many had tried to bring the Death Eaters back over the years, perhaps he was another of these ambitious fools. But he wouldn't succeed. Not on Kazimeriz's watch!

Kazimeriz furrowed his brows. He could 'act', too. And it would be necessary if he were to stop Truebridge's ascent as an evil leader. He watched the spell reveal the contents again, thinking quickly.

It would be best to investigate all angles... besides, perhaps there was a creature in peril, crying, somehow involved in this as Entelequia and Greingoth surmised. It was never good to eliminate possibilities in an investigation, even if he was certain in his heart that Truebridge was behind it all.

"The contents reveal what we already knew: this substance is lake water, contaminated due to flooding. But your comments about odd sounds and Myrtle's observations intrigues me; I suspect we are dealing with something sinister here... something dark. I suggest that you form a search party and seek out Myrtle. Bring her here, that we might..."Interrogate her."interview her." He waved his wand, returning the water samples to their respective phials. "She may be the key we need to solving this mystery."

He nodded; this was the most logical course of action. In spite of the possible danger, Kazimeriz began to feel like his younger self again, excited at the prospect of action-- of facing down a potential dark foe and conquering him. Just as he had so often when he had been young-- when he was an Auror.

Hogwarts needed him. And he was ready to fight for the school-- for the students.

For the first time in a long time, the old man truly felt alive.

Don't be scared! It's just an overly-long post...
 

OOC: For the lake water the same, then? I'm guessing so.


Diane turned at seeing the raising vapour display the components and affected-by-spell results. She sighed, feeling a bit disappointed. "I don't suppose the water - or whatever it is - can be analysed in any more depth than this."

But no spell nor specifically nature-altering ingredients? That left them with little to work on. "Could it be the mix of potions are affecting the results? If the ingredients for one and another got mixed and made a new potion, capable of blocking the analysing magic, it would work the same as Gringott's Thief Downfall: nullify."

She asked this and made hand gestures to accompany her thoughts, but her eyes and expressions were somewhere else altogether.

There was a strange glint which Diane did not know how to read in the professor's eyes. She exchanged a look with the Gryffindor Prefect, and her eyes returned to space. "We can do that," she offered and asked around, "Does everyone agree?" To be quite honest, she preferred staying to work more on the potions, but guess for that she needed more information.

Diane tilted her head suddenly, with a deep frown that did not go with her face. “The ingredients fused together… Why some of them did not and remain separate from the main flood mix, and those are the ones listed by SpeRevelio? Why didn't the lake kelp fuse, or the remains of that dead fish, and some of the potions?”

She was kind of pacing back and forwards by now. "If some obvious components of lake water, like water itself, mixed together forming a new potion, is that why water is not listed? If the water of the potions listed doesn’t show either, is because they are ingredients inside ingredients… Is that why?”

She was kind of asking these questions half to herself, scratching the side of her face pensively. "Some spells affect the water, some does not. Some ingredients show, some does not. Something is affecting the water, however. Even if it's not us."

Diane stopped suddenly and tilted her head the other side, looking at them. "Are you following me? Ah, sorry to bring you to go through this once more but, bear with me for a second," she said. "If we identify the ingredients that should be there, but are not shown, we may identify which are the ingredients of this bigger mix already fused."

However, she was not very optimistic. That would work if the lake sample would have showed results different from the one of the flood... and if the spell would have showed with more detail things like, which potions exactly were there - other than hair products - in the dungeon mix.

... Or it may be the exact opposite way round. The common thing would be to think those listed were the ones that made the 'potion'. That if the corrosive nature of the water did not eliminate the components to begin with.

It was difficult to tell with this 'water'. Normal rules did not seem to apply.

"Ah, somebody else may want to try SpeRevelio and find out what potions are there." She wasn't very confident in her performance any more. "Provided we know that, we may come up with a counter-potion, we may know what ingredients to suppress, or what spells may work against the water. That’s the theory of it, at least– Professor, I'm afraid we need your help for that. We would need a complete list of potions in the Dungeons. Is that... possible?

“You will have time to gather that while we look for Myrtle." She had the impression catching a ghost would be like… well, yeah.

Kazimeriz smiled gently at the girl. "Your critical thinking skills are excellent. However, I am afraid you are encumbered by the limits of your year. Specifically, your youth and inexperience limits your ability to draw the necessary conclusions." Firstie.

"Scarpin's Revelaspell is a wonderful tool, but it is only a tool- it is imperfect. If simply waving our wands over the potions revealed every nuance of whatever we were analzying, well, every potion master and apothecary would be out of business. Specifically, what we are unable to account for by Scarpin's is all of the variables that are described in Golpalott's Laws of Potioneers. When you advance into N.E.W.T. level studies -- and I have no doubt with your talent that you will -- you will learn more about this. As a N.E.W.T. student, Miss Greingoth is no doubt familiar with the many Laws of Golpalott... One of these is Golpalott's third law, which focuses on antidotes and compound potions but which can easily be applied to this experiment."

Kazimeriz surveyed his students. He knew some of this might be over the younger students' heads, but he felt the need to at least introduce the concepts. "Golpalott's third law states that "The antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components." Simply put, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts in a poison-- in fact, in any compound potion, this is true. Therefore, in working with antidotes for blended poisons or while resolving any compound potion, we must consider a fifth element, known as quintessence, that is borne of the secondary interactions of each individual blend of ingredients coupled with the source of magic itself-- that is, the potioneer brewing the potion in question. The nature of this quintessence is something that will never be revealed by Scarpin's or any other analytical tool; this is why it is so important to educate yourselves on the nature of each ingredient and how they interrelate."

"Further, if this sample has, by nature of its components or by virtue of dark magic, produced an effect like the Gringott's waterfall-- nullifying magical attempts to break down its initial purposing -- we would be unable to discern that through a simple test like Scarpin's Revelaspell. We would need to utilize much more intensive methods of magical investigation."

"As for a complete list of potions in the dungeon, as much as I would like that to be possible, I cannot give this to you. First, there are too many variables to consider- contaminants and such-- that could be considered 'ingredients' but are not, strictly speaking, part of my catalogue. Second, there were things being brewed in my lab that were highly sensitive and confidential; I simply cannot divulge them to this group at this time. I assure you, however, that the potions in question - in single ingredient or blended form - would not have altered the magical behavior of the water in a way consistent with the floodwaters."

Kazimeriz contemplated for a moment. "I am only here in the capacity of an advisor; my interest is in seeing you experiment and learn, not to do the work for you. However..." Kazimeriz drew his wand. He uncorked the flood water and poured a bit of the sample out, waving his wand slightly as he did so. The sample hovered in the air, an amorphous blob of water, levitating as though in some sort of amoeba-shaped invisible trap. He analyzed it, his hands and wand mere inches from the subject as though he were holding it without touching it.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and then narrowed sharply. He returned the same to its phial once more.

"Find Myrtle." was all he said, his voice urgent.

Kidnap Myrtle >d
 

Cam was silent for most of the time. His brain just went dead from all of the complicated and long, long, long words the students and the professors were using. DID THEY EXPECT HIM TO UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS?! Yes, this lab was just packed with smart people so all he could do was stay quiet really, he didn't want to be some sort of a nuisance in their work, right??

He looked at Anna when she talked about a wailing scream. His first thought was Myrtle. Eugugh. She was sosososooooo annoying--he was glad she barely even knew him. Then again, why would Myrtle tell Anna she heard it too? So it couldn't have been her really. "Could've been a Selkie," he snickered, though he took his guess quite seriously. AH! They were REVOLTING! Why else would there have been Grindylows at the tables?! 'Cause they sent 'em there, duhh duhduhdudhuuhhhh. That DADA homework proved to be some help with merpeople and he quite already knew Mermish was some sort of a screeching sound above water.

Yup. Yup. Or maybe he was just plain crazy.

Diane did another Revelaspell, so he focused his eyes on the sample of water again, wondering if anything new would show up. Nope. Same thing. He looked at the professor to see what he would say. Find Myrtle? MYRTLE?! He was still a bit scared of ghosts. They were flesh-eating monsters. But he liked stalking people, even ghosts!

Yes, Cam was a master of stalking. He smirked and looked back at Diane and then straight at the professor. So... many... words... to... comprehend!!! So the Revelaspell couldn't reveal all of the things that was in the sample? WHY DID MAGIC HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED.

"Off to kidnap--ah--I mean find Myrtle then?" Now? He looked at the others.

Find Myrtle

Daniel had felt a tap on the back. Not the tap that saying congratulations but much more of a wake up. He had felt that he was petrified and was revived by the voice of Kazimeriz ordering to find Myrtle.

And get her to him? How could he expect us to find a moaning ghost and worst, to bring her to him.

Daniel cleared his throat and spoke, "I think we should split up." he said, "Myrtle is often in the Prefects bath or the girls bathroom." he added.

"Yes, you are right," Diane agreed with a complacent smile. "It is because I am lacking on academic experience." She said this, but, it didn't hold all true; she was a tad bit more familiar with Golpalott's third law that she cared to disclose at this minute.

Nonetheless, it was brilliant to listen to the explanations. She paid the attention a todder would have for a fairies story... that is borne of the secondary interactions of each individual blend of ingredients coupled with the source of magic itself... It was absolutely facinating. Of course, you do not need to nullify the whole of a potion to change its effects, but not knowing the ingredients and attempting an antidote could cause... fatalities. Indeed.

...there are too many variables to consider- contaminants and such-- that could be considered 'ingredients' but are not, strictly speaking, part of my catalogue. Yes, yes, which was why it would have been helpful to have the sample for the lake be different to the sample from the flood. But, of course, it was a little bit more complicated than that. Second, there were things being brewed in my lab that were highly sensitive and confidential; I simply cannot divulge them to this group at this time. Now here, that had her raise an eyebrow. She said nothing. She only watched as the professor performed another kind of spell... what a handy thing, she will need to learn that one too--

Diane was momentarily startled by the professor's urgent call, which got her moving even before realizing where she was supposed to go. "We split alright, but first we need to go through the DADA professor's offices. We need a spell to hold a ghost," she told then, getting her bag over her shoulders.

"NO!" Kazimeriz said, his eyes wide. "Do not attempt to capture or contain Miss Myrtle. You must convince her to come willingly." And for Merlin's sake, do not involve Truebridge or Lawson. "This is a mission of finesse, and one that must be handled delicately. I ask that you merely seek out Myrtle, and politely bring her to us for a small conversation."

So we will not kidnap Myrtle.

One confusing thought. why do they need Myrtle. "Professor, may I ask? Why do we need Myrtle?" he said valiantly.

And to think that we need her to come with them in a graceful manner. That would be a blast if she would come in with them with just a simple plea.

Anna blinked when Diane mentioned the flooding being body fluid. Eww. Did she mean...oh, thank Merlin. "That's good thinking, Diane. Tears...that's a thought," she said, nodding her head. "Do you think maybe the creature may be thrashing about so much that it's unintentionally causing the lake water to spill over into the school? But then...why is it that it sometimes only effects certain areas but not others?" She released a deep sigh, then wrinkled her forehead in a mixture of confusion and frustration. "For example...Mr. Masterson's hut. The water was inside the hut, yet it wasn't anywhere outside the hut. It was like it grew from thin air. Why, Professor Lawson and I had to ride a broom to the hut's roof in an attempt to rescue the groundskeeper."

She diverted her attention to the phial when SpeRevelio started to work its magic. Potions...glass...algae...lake kelp...dead fish...ink...soot...lamp oil...muffin traces...and...*shiver*, grindylow skin. "It's all the same...," she mumbled, shaking her head as she pondered the results. With the sudden feeling as if she were being watched, Anna blinked then glanced up. Of course. She eyed Professor Kazimeriz in an attempt to read into his expression, but she really came up with nothing. He was suspicious of her...but why? Had she really left that ill of an impression on him?

He wanted them to locate Myrtle? But...but...finding Myrtle was usually incredibly difficult, as she only appeared when she typically really wanted to. It was unlikely she'd agree to just merely stroll along. Nevertheless, it was what needed to be done. Just how they'd go about that was beyond her. "I agree," she spoke up, replying to Diane's suggestion that they all head out to find Myrtle. "Myrtle is usually very difficult to convince, though. She has a mind of her own, she does. We'll have to do some heavy convincing. Any ideas on how we should go about asking her? It's unlikely she'll just simply agree."

She listened to her groupmate's suggestions, nodding as they spoke. It all seemed easier said than done, though. Finding Myrtle was one thing, but convincing her to come along to the Potions Lab was another ordeal altogether. "Alright, well, if we split up, I can search the Prefect's bathroom with one group, while the other group searches the girl's bathroom. There's also the lake to consider," she said. "Shall we go and then return to the analyzation once we've retrieved her?"

Daniel nodded at Anna's suggestions. He then considered going with her to ask something or just wanted to come with her.

"Yes, I volunteer to go with Anna." he said. But deep inside he doesn't really want to go to the girl's bathroom. That's why.

"Myrtle was the one who heard ...whatever it is she heard. She may have the answers to our questions, and if properly convinced, she may be willing to help resolve the mystery." Kazimeriz said simply.

Kazimeriz's eyes narrowed. Lawson, again. She is obviously either in collusion with them or being used by them. he thought. "How fortunate it was that you were right in the right place at the right time with Professor Lawson when the flooding occurred. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened to poor Mr. Masterson." Kazimeriz said sarcastically.

"Play to her weakness, Greingoth." Kazimeriz said shortly, looking pointedly at Kaiser and then returning his gaze to Greingoth. He hoped it would be fairly obvious what Myrtle's weakness was.

"Please return to this lab with her and we can go forward from that point. Go now-- do not dally, we have much to learn if we are to solve this. Work as a team, and recruit any students who might be of help to you. Go, go!" Kazimeriz said impatiently, taking the water from the flood sample again and analyzing it further with that same hovering technique.

Cam found it incredibly confusing. Myrtle. That crazy emotional ghost could have been anywhere, he seriously didn't know where she was. He sighed and looked over at Diane when she mentioned talking to Lawson about a spell that could capture ghosts. Oooooh! Oh yeahhhh, they were going to be a group of ghost bustah'ss! All they needed was a vacuum, right? Or would ghosts simply pass through it. Eh.

He jumped at Kazi who told them not to use any spell against her. WHOAH. He never knew the old man could muster up that loud of a voice! Cam didn't know why they couldn't but if it was Kazi's orders, they'd just have to follow it. Bleh. Harder work. Facing Anna and nodding at her suggestions, he stayed where he was. Prefect's Bathroom or the Girl's Loo?!? WHUT?

"Wait... so I'm NOT a girl," well that was obvious wasn't it, "and I'm NOT a Prefect or a Captain." Sooooo... he was confused. He looked at Kazi who nodded them off to go, so... was he SUPPOSE to go or not?! Guh. Cam looked at Anna, deciding to follow her off to the Prefect's bathroom. WELL HE WASN'T GOING TO THE GIRLS' LOO WAS HE?!

Nope he could just not.

Finding Myrtle could be quite a task, as who knows when someone'll accidentally let slip something that the ghost considered an insult. Selena remembered that she once saw Myrtle hovering around as she was walking around the lake, so she said in a quiet voice, "Well, as everyone seemingly is heading to either the Prefects' bathroom or the girls', I'll go towards the lake. I remembered seeing her down there once. Anyone with me?" She glanced around for support, as she was no master of pleading and reasoning with that whiny, crybaby of a ghost. Puppy eyes - Kat's failproof option - probably won't work, nor threatening her with Peeves...

"Actually, I think I might hold off on searching the prefect's bathroom. If I go there, I'll have to go alone...or just with Jack. That's not to say I'm scared to go alone, but rather, I'd like to work with the entire group instead of just by myself or with just one other," she said. She really hoped everyone could get the opportunity to work with the whole team and have everyone involved. After all, working together was so much better than trying everything alone. "You're welcome to come with me wherever I go, though. Thanks, Daniel!"

Great. Just great. She'd unintentionally managed to give Professor Kazimeriz even more reason to suspect that she was the culprit behind all this crazy flooding. She didn't respond to that particular comment, for she sort of believed it would just get her deeper and deeper into trouble with him. So instead, her eyes just flickered away from him momentarily, and she simply listened as he continued to talk.

"Boys," she mouthed, realization dawning of her. Of course! There was nothing that attracted Myrtle more than a boy! Of course, Anna really didn't blame her much when it came to that particular topic, but it was true that the mere presence of a boy was enough to convince Myrtle of most anything. She nodded her head to the professor, indicating that she understood what he'd meant.

"That's alright, Cam. It works out perfectly that you're a boy. I actually have an idea," she said, looking at each person in the group as she talked. "Myrtle...like boys. A lot. I believe we can convince her to come along by utilizing you boys as, well...bait." Idea after idea flashed through her mind, and she sincerely hoped that at least one of them would work. "You boys can wait outside the bathroom, while we girls go inside the bathroom and search for her...and have a little chat with her, of course. But...how will we use you as bait? You could...you know...write her a little poem. We can tell her that you've written her one, and...you'd like to read it to her...in the Potion's Lab."

"You do realize, though, that in order to convince her to actually remain in the Potions lab once she gets here, we'll...have to actually write a poem and then get you boys to read it to her." She glanced around at all the boys, hoping they'd agree. "Dan? Jack? Cam?" As she waited for their reply, she nodded towards Selena, who'd volunteered to head down to the lake. "That sounds like a good idea, Selena. Since we're splitting up, let's meet back here in...half an hour. Does that sound okay? Hopefully one of us will have located Myrtle by then. How about this, though. We're leaving out the prefect's bathroom, though? Do you guys think I should check in there, too?"