Suits of Armor
 

The castle houses several suits of armor but, this one seems to be a particularly popular place for meetings between friends.

Varius was in the corridor that had a bunch of suits of armour. Goodness knows why the founders of this castle thought 'hm let's have a bunch of metal knights lined up against these walls!'. Varius would bet money on it being Rowena. She would be awkward like that.

Anyway, Varius had opened his book of Hogwarts, a History and turned to his page where he noticed a loose piece of parchment. Apparently some alumni students had placed lickable licorice inside some armour and or course Varius had to investigate!!!

Cy was wandering, because that was what he did when he was bored. He really couldn’t sit still for more than five minutes, and after starting at his Transfiguration textbook for twenty seconds he decided it was time to push homework off to another time.

Somehow, he’d managed to find himself on the third floor, in front of some odd suits of armor. The stopped and crossed his arms in contemplation… those might prove useful in a war. Especially against Katie, and there would be enough for Legend and Mat to have their own suit too. PERFECT. He was took three steps towards them when he noticed another kid there, READING.

Cy hated reading. But, apparently reading floated this guys boat and there was nothing too wrong with that. Back to the mission.

“’Ay!” The young Australian exclaimed, as he approached ‘the other guy’… he couldn’t be too much older than himself. “Ah’ we aloud to take these? I need ‘em, mate.” His dark eyes rolled over in the direction of the suits of armor.

Varius had been very busy on his mission. He opened every possible flap in the armour and stuck his hand in any available hole. Was there anyway he could dismantle parts to get a thorough search? It was going to hard getting licorice like this!

Just as he had finished inspecting his first armour a first year, Hufflepuff he believed, began speaking to him. What was it he was saying? Varius couldn't understand him... he was talking funny. "Excuse me? You want... takeout?" Varius asked confused, "You're in the wrong place for takeout, chuck. But if you ask the elves nicely they might make you some chinese foods or something," he rubbed the boys head, as was his normal, before setting off to the next suit.

Cyrus blinked at the bloke a few times, takeout? Whenever his mom was actually home she always ordered take out because she couldn’t cook to save her life. But takeout had NOTHING to do with this armor. His eyebrow shot up and his dark eyes shot in the boys direction. Was he deaf? “No no no, mate I’m not hungry. Liiiisten. You see, there’s this girl named Katie and she’s meanah’ than cat pee.” He nodded once, promptly. “I need to take this armor so I can take her down once an’ for’all. Not thah’ I need the bloody armor, I jus’ wanna look cool while doing at yah’ know.” The Aussie grinned proudly, unaware of the fact that he talked too much.

“So, you wanna help me swipe it?” His brown eyes flew back over to the armor. Honestly, there was no way two 12 and unders could pull it any further than an inch.

Then, some random girl had popped up where he and this ‘other bloke’ were. She was just… staring. Cy’s brow furrowed a bit in annoyance. “You like what yah’ see?” Cyrus grinned wryly, his sarcasm kicking in fully.

So the boy WAS talking english and Varius was getting the hang of this accent he seemed to have. He must be from like, Liverpool, or something. "So you want to take the armour... to beat a mean person... someone who is meaner than Caprice?" This was getting easier, right? But who was Caprice.

"Well," he began to respond, "I would love to help you out, but first! I am on a mission! You see this book here? Someone left a note in it that said they left lickable licorice in the armours! So I am here to find the licorice," he informed him whilst sticking his hand down yet another hole in the suit's armour.

That was when he noticed the girl and so had the little boy from Liverpool. "You can help search for the licorice too," he offered her, "But I get first dibs on whatever we find!"`

EEEK, I'm out for a bit guys. Be back in a few hours! :D
 

"Oh cat pee!" Varius exclaimed, finally getting what the boy was trying to say. Sheesh, this translating stuff was difficult! It didn't particularly help that the boy tended to ramble in that wonderful accent of his... about grandma's and mean pee and felines and the like.

"You are?" Varius sounded with excitement, "Great!!! Then after we get the licorice we'll go teach your cat peeing bully a lesson or too."

SEE!? The boy had the same question as him! How tha hell do you dismantle these things!? "I don't know how to take the parts off... i've just been sticking my hands in all the holes. Maybe if we pull hard enough the head or hands might come off," or completely collapse the whole structure... oh well, Varius was a fast runner, he could escape without detection.

Varius smiled, glad he was catching on to what this boy was saying. His accent was actually pretty neat. No one else around here had one like it and he pronounced words strangely which interested him, "You're from liverpool, right? Could you say 'Fish are friends not food!' Please!!!" And no, Varius had never seen Finding Nemo *innocent*.

"That old huh?" Varius said with interest as if the boy had actually given him an ancient figure as opposed to a generalised description. Heck, 21 was an old age for boys their age! "Do licorice not have sell-by dates? I don't wanna be poisoned... maybe we could give a piece to your meaner than cat pee person and see if they get sick... and if they do, we can laugh... if not, well, we have edible licorice!"

He watched as the boy tried to pull the arm off the suit of armour and failed, that is when he turned round to him for assistance. "Oh my name is Varius, yours?" He gripped tight onto the arm of the armour, "Let's hope this works... or at the very least doesn't topple the whole bloody thing... otherwise, get ready to run!"

"Melbourne? That's in like... New Zealand, right?" Varius wondered, clearly he was the worst geographer in the entire world of geographering. At least it explained the accent, which made sense. If you came from half way across the world, you would be hard to understand, right? Of course. JUSTIFIED! However, he couldn't help but burst out laughing when the boy recited what he had requested, "Thanks. I think that just made my day." He rubbed the boys head in thanks.

"Please to meet you Cy," he said genuinely as the boy grabbed hold of the arm as well. 1, 2, 3 and it was off! And the rest of the armour was in one place, which was a bonus!

Varius stuck his arm up the... well, arm, of the armour with no luck. "I think, we need to take the feet off. If the licorice was put in the armour, it would go straight to the bottom of it."

He nodded frantically in response to the fact he HAD actually found the parchment with the licorice secret in his Hogwarts, a History.

"You'll repair it for us?" Varius said with glee, "Awesome, because to be perfectly honest I hadn't quite thought that far."

Pondering on her request though, "You will get 10%, for your wand swishing-ness."

From her spot a good ways down the corridor, Anna Greingoth eyed Jacob Upstead's every move. She'd been instructed by Professor Lawson to keep an eye on him, so of course Anna was alert and ready for any possible action that could...and probably would...happen. For a professor to make the effort to ask for Anna's help, Jacob Upstead must seriously be up to no good.

As she watched the boy slide down the wall and then cast a spell, Anna figured now was as good a time as ever to confront him for a little casual conversation, so to speak. She click-clacked down the hallway, Head Girl badge pinned proudly on her chest, and came to a halt directly in front of him. "Hey, Jake," she greeted. Hmm...probably best to keep things polite and friendly. He seemed upset...irritated, even. "You alright?" she asked.

Becoming distracted by the distored reflection in the leg of the suit of arour he sat next to, Jake didn't really hear Anna make her way towards him, though he kind of saw it. Dragging his eyes away from the odd shapes and colours he could see, Jake glanced up at the girl.

Alright? Was he alright? Jake wasn't sure... so much had gone pear-shaped recently, including things in his own head. "No," he said simply, leaning back against the wall, tilting his head so he was looking up at the ceiling. Feeling suddenly nervous, Jake began to jiggle his foot around and tap his fingers on his wand.

Shifty, jumpy, dangerous.

Bathroom…bathroom…it appeared that thanks to a moving staircase, Daisy had been twisted around. She had thought she was on the 3rd floor, only to find she was on the second and she only discovered that because she passed by the large gargoyle that was further down the hallway.

And now she found herself surrounded by talking suits of armor.

She could hear soft voices bouncing off the metal and echoing just enough to make it hard to figure out what they were saying. Daisy rounded another corner and poked her head out.

There was nothing there. “Huh,” she said aloud to herself. “I didn’t know the suits of armor talked.”

She turned around and took yet another wrong turn. Only this time she found herself looking at two people talking. One was a fidgety boy she’d never seen before who was sitting on the floor. The other was Anna, the Head Girl and overly perky Gryffindor girl prefect.

“Hey Anna?” she called out, fighting the urge to do the potty dance while wondering if Anna had even the slightest idea what Daisy’s name was. Maybe Anna could help her find the bathroom, although, now that Daisy thought about it, the Head Girl looked a bit preoccupied.

Anna stood still and quiet while she waited for the young boy to answer her. He seemed hesitant to answer her question, although Anna imagined that could be because he was feeling a bit down and discouraged at the moment. Or, at least, that's how he appeared in Anna's eyes. She'd never seen Jake Upstead in a less-than-happy mood. He was usually laughing, cutting up, or full of life and energy. This Jake Upstead looked as if he'd lost his very best friend or something of the sort. She didn't imagine that even a chocolate frog would cure this little situation the boy had managed to get himself into.

When he finally answered, Anna sighed deeply and moved to stand a little closer. Her eyes briefly flickered to the nearby suits of armor, before turning back to Jake. "No? Well then perhaps I can help...and no, not because I feel like it's my job or something," she said, with a slight laugh. Even though she was Head Girl, she still wanted to help others just for the sole purpose of being nice. Besides, Professor Lawson had specifically asked Anna to look after Jake, so look after him she would. "What's happened? This surely isn't the Jake I've come to know..."

Anna continued to watch Jake until she heard another voice calling out down the corridors. Talking suits of armor? Maybe whoever was approaching had yet to see Anna and Jake talking amongst the statues. She glanced up and down the corridor, trying to put a face with the voice she was hearing. Suddenly, she found herself face to face with...ohh, she'd seen this one in the Common Room and in classes. Now what was her name?

"Hey," she greeted. She noticed the fact that the girl appeared to be a bit uncomfortable for some reason or another, although with Jake Upstead around, Anna really didn't blame her. "I'm sorry. I don't believe I know your name." Anna felt horrible for not knowing the girl's name when the girl had clearly known her's, but then again, it was always possible to meet a new face in the large castle.

Once again, Anna sighed as "new Jake" (yes, she refused to believe this was the Jake she'd always known) pretty much blew off her answer. What in the world had possibly gone wrong to cause such a dramatic change in Jake's life? Just the other day he'd been vanishing stinky, smelly, old shoes with her at the lake. Now, just a few days later, he was acting as if his entire world had come crumbling down at his feet. For a short, passing moment, Anna's eyes flickered up to the statues once again. She watched them as they contemplated Jake's current behavior. What had gone so wrong that had caused a professor to assign Anna the job of looking after this kid?

Just when Anna thought he'd never speak up and give her answers, he did. Her eyes shot from the statues back to the young Hufflepuff. "What's gone wrong, Jaco---Jake? That's what I just can't figure out. You've always been such a happy, go-lucky person, and now...I just don't know," she said, frowning at him. He just looked so lost and misunderstood. "What's caused you to be angry? And what do you mean by interfering teachers?"

Staring past Anna at first, Jake managed to refocus on the girl and fix his gaze there for a second, frowning slightly. "I don't know," he said, the tone of his voice becoming more impatient. "If I knew whyyyyy, I'd be fixing it," Jake pointed out, getting rid of the sheild charm and pushing himself up from the floor.

"Interfering teachers... Kazi, Lawson, Professor M-" he broke off. No, not Professor Morgan. She was the only that Jake liked to interfere for some reason. "Saying I'll end up in an early grave... saying I make myself the victim... I have to learn ways of looking out for myself. Lawson, he goes on about controlling emotions, but it's not that easy. I can't DO that..." Jake ranted on. "And... I don't want their help, if they're just going to be like that... I'd prefer to do it on my own, let them all hate me," he snapped, bitterly.

Stepping back, Jake put that shiny, shiny, shiny suit of armour in the space between him and Anna, but so they could still see each other.

Wow. This dude was bitter...seriously bitter. Anna bit her bottom lip while she considered what she should say to the young boy. He seemed so angry at the world in general right now, and sometimes when people got that way, it was best to back off. Anna made a promise to herself to make one final attempt, and if Jake didn't come through then, she'd turn around and leave him be. Perhaps he'd be able to cool down on his own sooner or later. Then again, though, this was Jake Upstead she was referring to. The boy did have a rather strange way of having trouble follow him with his every move.

"Don't you think they were only trying to help, Jake? Don't you think they meant well and just didn't want to see you hurt?" she asked, stepping a little closer. She glanced at the distorted reflection of herself bouncing off the shiny statue. Her eyes fell down to her Head Girl badge, and she suddenly felt the urge to remove it for the time-being. Maybe then Jake would get the impression that she was coming to him as a friend and not as a Head Girl. Eyes still on her reflection, Anna moved to unpin the badge, then stopped herself as a sudden thought occured to her. "Would you take my help, Jake?" she asked.