Jenny smiled, she was very proud of herself now. "Thank you." She said, as politely as she could. She was excited.

With all the commotion and students and general sense of panic and fear, Sabel was beginning to feel queasy again. Putting a light hand on Alexa's shoulder, he turned to her and whispered quietly in her ear. "I'll be back...I...just need to get some air."

He hoped she understood. It wasn't that he was abandoning her, it was just that he needed, for two seconds, to get away and clear his head. She was taken care of here; there were lots of students and teachers who knew what she had gone through and would be able to help her better than he could. He still didn't understand fully what was going on.

Giving her hand a small squeeze, he gave her a reassuring smile and turned to head out to the gardens. Five minutes of fresh air and he would be back.

Listening to Sabel Alexa kind of slumped her shoulders a bit... she didn't think she could do it without Sabel there to support her. Nope. She watched him walk away and a tear fell her eye. She looked around to see if anyone was paying her any attention and started to slink backward. Turning she started to zig zag through the crowd of people, making her escape before she vomitted or something from nerves.

Reese was still nibbling on her cookie when she noticed Alexa eying it. Hmm, did she REALLY want to share it? Since she was nice, she was going to. But once she had broken the cookie in half, the little Gryffie girl was running off. She took a quick glance around the crowd in front of the Headmaster before turning around and following Alexa out of there.

Tate listened quietly to the students, but he figured they needed to vent more than they really desired a response from him. Surely they didn't think he'd let them wander through the village. Surely they didn't think he'd let anyone else get hurt... not on purpose! But they were scared and frustrated... he understood THAT.

"Perhaps this is a good time for us to head toward our classes and common rooms. I know we're fearful, but the staff will work out a schedule. I ask you lot to spread the word to stay indoors and not venture around by yourself. If you see someone wandering off, you must let us know immediately."

And that was a dismissal. He stood.

Lina sighed. Well, hopefully they would figure things out. "C'mon, Raiden. Let's get out of here. We'll figure something out, okay?" She gave him a reassuring smile.

The staff will work out a schedule.

Raiden bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, to keep from saying what he really wanted to say in response to that. How was a schedule going to find Cela? How was a schedule going to get the missing pieces of the puzzle together? A schedule.

If Lina hadn't been there, Raiden might've lost his mind.

"Right."

Eyes lingered on the Headmaster for a moment longer, with Raiden hoping that even if he didn't say what he was thinking that the man would understand it from the expression on the boy's face, before he turned and left the group. They would figure something out. There was no way he could just wander around waiting for something to happen.

Lina pat his back as he left, looking back at the others, then followed after him. There had to be something they could do.

Cadence ran, she sprinted as fast as she could, checking over her shoulder to make sure no one had followed her. She had run out the front doors, around the grounds, up to the owlery from the outside, and then back down to the second floor to the Headmaster's Office. As she approached she began screaming as loud as she cold, "Headmaster Tate! Please Come Quick! People in the castle! Attacking!" And then she collapsed in a chair in the waiting room, unable to get into his office, just praying that he had heard her.

Tate hadn't made it far. He seated himself once and then stood back up. No, don't STAY. She said "come quick" which meant... time to gooooo.

Wait. Attacking IN the castle?

"Take a deep breath, and then quickly as you can... I need you to tell me what you saw."

Cadence took a deep breath as instructed and spluttered the words. "Heard a lot of noise. Peaked through the door, People fighting. A bunch of students. Some surrounding a man dragging a blonde girl up the stairs out of the Entrance Hall. I ran out the front doors, through the owlery, and now I'm here. Please. People are getting hurt. I can't help. I lost my wand." her eyes begged him, beseeched him to do something, to protect them.

"You did well. Staying to fight might not have let any professors know. I want you to keep running UP the stairs if you can, knock on as many professors' doors as you can along the way, and then find a place to hide. You can't defend yourself without a wand, and I have a feeling... you aren't alone."

Really? What did they teach in this school when people were losing their wands??

Cadence nodded and turned to go. She would do this. She had to do this. Her friends could die. And with that, she printed out into the corridor, despite the fact that she knew there were bad people out there who probably want to get to her. Secret staircase time? I think so!

Ugh.

As her luck would have it, Gabriella just had to have chosen heels to wear to work this morning. When the Hufflepuff girl had come to call her to the battle scene, she'd had no time to run back to her quarters and grab a different pair of shoes. Reaching the headmaster's seating area, she frowned slightly as she realized how badly her feet hurt. Maybe she'd need a healer when this was all over.

She paused to catch her breath, her mind racing with thoughts of where to run next.

Lorcan came around the corner and realised that he was in the wrong place. He was disorientated. He groaned.

Thinking that sitting down would help for a while, he headed for the sofa and slumped into it, banging his injured shoulder. That did it, he started to cry. "That ruddy demented mare," he groused, "I don't know why I bother."

His right shoulder was oddly square, he held is arm to his chest. It was only when he wiped his eyes that he saw the pretty healer.

"S-sorry f-for s-swearing M-miss." He stuttered. "My-shoulder-is-all-funny-and-it-really-hurts-and-it's-my-wand-arm-and-it's-all-mad-and-the-ceiling-exploded-and-Lexi's-gone-mental-again-and-and-" His sentence tumbled out, desperate and almost non-senical.

"C-can you h-help me? Please?" And then he realised that she might want him to take off his shirt and he gulped, feeling sick.

ooc: Lorcan has a large burn scar on the forearm of his wand arm, one that he got in the summer so it is very noticeable. He's very ashamed of it.

Kay come around the corner and wondered why they had to go here. She looked around and saw a chair. 'I can get there' she thought. Walking and trying to take deep breaths, she continued to grab onto Rex. "Ma'am, I think I am in need of some help." Kay said as she sat down.

ooc: Kay has a broken nose, broken ribs, a cut on her head and was hit with two or more stunners. She has been bleeding for a long time and is dizzy and can't get enough air. Her boyfriend Rex has helped her here.

Gabriella had just decided to tear off her heels and take a run for it, when she heard the sound of a student's voice---apparently, a student who wasn't very happy at the moment either. Then again, who in their right mind was happy with a full-on battle scene unfolding right here inside the castle.

"Sure, sure. That's what I'm hear for," she said, approaching the boy and immediately examining his hurt shoulder. She blinked and jumped back a bit when she saw the large burn scar, but she quickly regained her composure. As she examined it, she tried to piece together some of what the boy had said. Lexi...exploded? Ceiling...mental? Or maybe it was the other way around...

Nevermind the burned shoulder, though. As Gabriella looked further, she could see that the boy's shoulder was badly dislocated. "This...may hurt for just a moment," she said, giving Lorcan an apologetic look. She quickly casted a useful little spell that would piece the shoulder back together. When she was done, she spread a bit of ointment on the boy's shoulder then wrapped the injured arm in a sling.

"Oh, dear," Gabriella said, her eyes growing wide as yet another student stumbled towards her. She left Lorcan's side to see to a girl with an obviously broken nose and maybe a few broken ribs, too. A quick examination showed the healer exactly what was wrong, and she set to work healing the girl right away. "Episkey!" she casted. The girl's nose immediately snapped right back into place.

She did the same for the ribs that were broken, although, healing them took a bit longer than healing the nose did. Although they were bleeding quite a bit, the cuts on the girl's head were fairly easy to heal. She used the same ointment she'd used on Lorcan to smooth along the cut on Kay's head. Finally, the healer handed the girl a phial of Strengthening Potion to help with the blood loss. "As soon as you drink this, you need to go lie down. There are no beds here, but we can always cast a cushioning charm if you can't make it to your common room."

Kay let the Healer do what she had to. Her nose popped and Kay "oohhhh!" She felt that and tightened her hold on Rex's hand "That hurt's." She said as the Healer fixed her ribs, she found that she could take a deep breath. That was good. The Healer was saying something about sleep. "Sleep? That would be good. I think here would be nice. Please." Kay was so tried she could keep her eyes open, and walking didn't sound good. "Can Rex stay with me?" Kay asked looking around her for the first time. She saw Lorcan and wonder if he was hurt or helping. Help would be nice, he was good with people. Kay thought fighting to keep her eyes open. "Rex, please don't go."

Gabriella nodded as the girl indicated that she needed sleep. Of course she needed sleep---she'd just been through a terrible ordeal. "Sure, dear. Let's get you into an area where there's not much traffic," she said. Gabriella gently guided Kay into a nearly deserted place in the second floor corridor. She casted a cushioning charm on the floor so it would feel like a bed. "Here you are, dear. Just stay here where you're out of the way of all the battle traffic."

When the healer said that she would help him and didn't chide him for swearing (since Lorcan considered ruddy a swear word) he tried to smile but could only manage a grimace. He saw her reaction to his burn scar and said quietly, "It's alright Miss, that doesn't hurt anymore." He avoided her eye.

When she cast the spell to put his shoulder right, he couldn't help but cry out in pain. "Ahhh! AHHH!" He tensed as she put the ointment on but was pleasantly surprised to feel the relief spreading through the joint. He blushed. "Sorry Miss, I suppose I'm a bit of a wuss."

When she put his arm in a sling, he asked; "Umm, Miss, how long will I need to have this on for?" He still couldn't look her in the eye. Not many people had seen the damage on his arm, in fact she was only the fourth person to see it. He was glad there was a battle, she probably wouldn't ask him. As that thought formed in his mind he felt guilty. People were getting hurt and he felt glad about it? He really was a git.

Jack's mind was still reeling over what he had just heard Cela tell Kazi. Everything from last year made sense now! Well, ALMOST everything...how had he gotten in the school to kill those poor students? Probably another student...

He shook his head. He didn't need to think about that now. He needed to get Jake to safety, so he could go find Reese and that maniac! "Healer Ashford! I've got another one," Jack said with a frown as he finished dragging the poor boy to the Seating Area.

He propped Jake up against the wall and frowned at him. "She'll get you to take that bloody potion," he mumbled. They were going to need one of those muggle tools to pry his mouth open at this point!

Even as Jack propped Jake up, the boy began to slide down the wall, putting more weight onto arm with the broken elbow but not feeling any pain.

As if on cue, Jake's eyes snapped open again and things were clear in his head.

"Samuel. Protect Samuel," he said clearly, trying to get up, and then... his mind filled up with that same confusion again. He slumped back again, grabbing Jack's sleeve with his own good hand. "Jahhhke... Jahhhck... Rrrruh-eeeee...ss..."

Now he was awake, the confusion was back. Surely now they would realise his mind was totally messed uuuuup.

GAH! This was so confusing. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice protested that he KNEW he shouldn't have come here. And then the pain in his arm that was now bent beneath him made it self known, and Jake gave a strangled cry.

It wasn't fair her legs were so short! Running after the two boys as fast as she could, only to turn around and reholster the wand she had dropped when she tried to force Jake's jaw open, the Hufflepuff finally caught up, stopping besides Jack in front of the Gargoyle statue that had, last year, been covered in those bad posters.

Bad posters...Sam Huxley. The Hufflepuff Killer. Cela - she hadn't been studying after all. Mind whirling with all this new information - feeling like it was going to overflow - Wesley clenched her teeth, squeezing her eyes into tiny slits.

Not now.

Now was Jake. Now was doing what she had promised Jack she would do. Because - if every other promise she had made this year had failed - this one would not.

"No Jake," Wesley said as she crouched back down, trying to be stern and comforting at the same time (and also trying not to squeal in delight that the boy was, in fact, not dead), "You need to stay still. You're hurt."

When he cried out again, as if in answer, the Hufflepuff gently attempted to pry the boy's hand off of Head Boy Jack's sleeve. "Reese'll be fine. I-," about to say the word 'promise,' Wesley stopped, "I...I can feel it." She could. Reese was a prefect. Prefects were strong. They didn't die.

Jake blinked at Wesley as she tried to speak to him, the confusion in his mind greater than ever before. And then he saw it... her wand.

Jake's eyes, which were currently the victims of blurred vision, glazed over and with his good arm, the right one, he pulled the wand out of Wesley's holster and held it to his own throat.

"Sonorus! SAMUEL! GET OUT! YOU HAVE TO RUN! THEY'RE... THEY'RE... THEY KN-"

Before he could properly finish, Jake felt something in him waver. The skilled part of his brain, the one that was under control, non-verbally ended the spell on his throat, as if it knew the boy was about to snap out of it, and telling the whole castle any more would be back.

With that, the boy dropped the wand and, now he was properly back, he groaned in pain and despair...

"Wwwhat dd-d-did I dddo thuhh-that ffffor?" he groaned, wincing at the pain in his face and grasping his shattered elbow.

He'd thrown off the Imperius Curse... he was back.

Hearing Jake's voice reverberating off of the walls, Iliana's heart skipped a beat and she stopped dead in her tracks. She had NO idea what it meant but she KNEW something was wrong.

"I'm coming Jakey," she whispered, pushing on.

When she finally made it outside of the Headmaster's office, (it took her quite awhile in her condition) she leaned up against the doorway and said, "Someone take him... Please."