"Slow down, son," Tate was tempted to jump to his feet, but he maintained his seat and leaned forward, elbows to knees. "Slow down and just tell me what's happened. Professor Kapoor sent you? Because... someone's been injured?"

All good guesses. But who was Alexa and what had happened to her?

Sabel had to put a hand to his forehead, though whether it was to try and organize his thoughts, to keep from passing out, or to keep from hurling all over the Professor was a toss up; it might have been a combination of all three for all he knew. Gulping back a large amount of air he tried to slow down, only that was like putting the double fast-forward option on a movie to just fast-forward; it wasn't much help.

"Alexa...she's a second year...Gryffindor house...she drank pumpkin juice...she thought my cat was you...she likes butterflies...she doesn't like Duskurk...she spoke old English once..."

Wait...something was out of order. He swallowed the pocket of air and nearly hurled. "Kennedy...her last name is Kennedy."

He suddenly felt sick, the images returning to his mind's eye, playing slowly on repeat. "I was at the sleepover and left the hall for a sec, and she was standing there in the Enterance, bloodied in her pj's." His voice shook slightly with the overwhelming magnitude of it all. "She's with Professor Kapoor and Lorcan...I don't know his last name. They're taking her to the hospital wing when its...less full."

He finally looked at the Professor, surprised at how blurry and wet the room had become. "Professor Kapoor asked me to come and get you...."

"Another one," he mused, rubbing his chin. "Thank you for letting me know, my boy. I'll be along shortly. Why don't you have a seat here and tell me what you remember about her injuries?" And perhaps the boy wouldn't pass out.

Having walked rather quickly (that, or the children were simply slow or had lack there of of exercise), Constantine neared the seating area in no time. But, the man already seemed to have a visitor, so he quietly stepped off to the side and made motions to the other arriving students to keep their voices down.

Ivory was so busy following Mr.Masterson that when he came to an abrupt, sudden halt she found she couldn't stop in time. The result being her running right smack into his back.

Shaking her head a bit, and grimacing at the slight mud and twigs now on his robes, she took a cautious step back, careful not to step on anyone's toes.

Mumbling a quick "sorry", she stared wide eyed as he made motions in the air.

Oooh. Be quiet. Yes. Alright.

Nodding her head affirmatively, she brought up her hand and mimed the universal sign of zipping her mouth closed and throwing away the key.

Feeling a little worse for wear, she looked down hoping she wasn't tracking in too much mud from her excursion into the forest. Uhhh...oh well. Maybe she'd have a chance to apologize for that later after all who cared about a little mud when there were people missing.

Destiny never walked so fast in her life.

She saw Ivory walk into Masterson, and would have laughed if it was under any other circumstances, but nothing was really funny at the moment. Destiny could clean Ivory up for her, and was about to ask if she wanted her too, when she saw the Groundskeeper sorta tell them to be quiet.

Nodding her head to tell that she understood, Destiny stood next to Ivory and just looked at her. Maybe she would know that the look meant she could clean her up..but it was highly unlikely.

Jack wasn't sure if he was just supposed to...escort, or if he was allowed to stay. He REALLY wanted to stay there and find out more about Reese's badge, to see if he could find any connections that might help him figure out what happened to his poor girlfriend. He didn't know what to do, though, so he just stood there awkwardly towards the back, waiting to see what would happen.

He realized he was staring at the Headmaster. Or rather he realized he was staring through tears at the Headmaster. For a moment it was shocked silence at the demeanour of the man, for a moment he was able to compose himself. That was until the man spoke.

"How can you sit there and be so calm?! How can you tell me to sit there and be calm with you when one of your students has come back into your school as torn up as a cat's scratching post littered with too much catnip! When she's oozing puss out her eye and goodness knows if there's even an eye left! When she's bleeding so profusely out her back and arms you can't tell where the blood is coming from! When her hands and feet are swollen so much she can't walk or pick anything up! When she passes out because there is too much pain! How can you sit there and be so calm when even one of your students is like this! But that's not even the case! There's more!"

He realized he had been yelling at the Headmaster, and that there were other people in the room with them now. A shaky hand went to cover his mouth as his stomach did a terrifying lurch, and he knew, eventually, he was going to have to let go of his dinner. Why did he suddenly feel betrayed by the Headmaster? Or was it just the overwhelming stress of it all? It felt like a nightmare.

Ivory turned slightly as she felt someone walk up behind her.

Ooooh...it was her fellow explorer of the wilderness.

She'd been about to give the girl (whom she very well remembered meeting all that time ago in Diagon Alley) a smile that showed she was happy she wasn't here alone, when she noticed the girl was just staring at her.

Or more precisely...staring at the muddy,twiggy,leafy, mess that was her. Blushing and feeling awfully self conscious at the moment, she tried to brush off what she could. If Destiny was staring that meant the Headmaster surely would as well.

If only she was more confident with her vanishing charm or even her cleaning charms.

Ivory was sure that if she could read minds, it would be Destiny wondering why on Merlin's blue berry she hadn't cleaned herself up yet...or maybe she just felt sorry for her.
Yeah, that was probably it..her lower lip began to jut out slowly.

Swallowing her pride, she was about to open her mouth and ask her when she remember the 'throwing away the key' thing.

Hoping Destiny would understand and maybe find it in her heart to help her, at least with her hair and face...and probably her shoes since they were trekking mud all over the place, she started making her own version of elaborate sign language.

Pointing to Destiny, she mimed taking out her wand and pointing it at herself. Putting on a happy expression, she removed a leaf from her hair and flicked it away. Wondering if maybe that was to vague she did the wand motion again and then mimed scrubbing her face.

Did she even make sense? She didn't know...odds were Destiny thought she was crazy and Ivory was losing cool points in the process.

Darn it all. She'd been hoping on being friends one day.

Waiting with a funny grimace on her face, she wondered if maybe the two girls could become friends and maybe laugh about this ... in the very distant future.

Still stumbling over her darn long robe, Miranda huffed as she followed Masterson up to the Headmaster's office. She had never ever been here before, and it was scary. Not just because it was the headmaster, but because... she was close to finding out what had happened to them all.

She really hoped Oliver had followed them, because she didn't know any of these students and the Slytherin had been there in the Hospital Wing with her. He off all these people in this room would understand.

And so she stood by the entrance, chewing on her thumb nail and waited for whatever it was to come.

Okay.

Destiny felt like such a creeper just staring at Ivory like that, but she wasn't allowed to talk..right? Or she could talk, only it was supposed to be quiet.. It didn't matter though, it seemed the girl knew why she was staring.

Phew.

And then Ivory was being a mime. Mime's were totally cool, and Destiny wished she could do the whole girl in a box thing. Nodding that she understood, Destiny pulled out her wand and was shocked that Ivory trusted her. Ehh, not that there would be any reason not to trust her..right? Riiiight.

And now she had to talk..but her voice would be blocked out by the boy yelling, and she was being nice and helping, so no trouble there. Muttering the few cleaning spells she knew, Destiny pointed her wand at all the mud and twigs that were hanging off Ivory.

Sometimes it felt good to be nice!

Just not all the time, and no one better find out about that..

Tate spotted the Groundskeeper and a group of students in his wake, and he raised a hand in greeting. Just... one... minute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

He realized he was staring at the Headmaster. Or rather he realized he was staring through tears at the Headmaster. For a moment it was shocked silence at the demeanour of the man, for a moment he was able to compose himself. That was until the man spoke.

"How can you sit there and be so calm?! How can you tell me to sit there and be calm with you when one of your students has come back into your school as torn up as a cat's scratching post littered with too much catnip! When she's oozing puss out her eye and goodness knows if there's even an eye left! When she's bleeding so profusely out her back and arms you can't tell where the blood is coming from! When her hands and feet are swollen so much she can't walk or pick anything up! When she passes out because there is too much pain! How can you sit there and be so calm when even one of your students is like this! But that's not even the case! There's more!"

He realized he had been yelling at the Headmaster, and that there were other people in the room with them now. A shaky hand went to cover his mouth as his stomach did a terrifying lurch, and he knew, eventually, he was going to have to let go of his dinner. Why did he suddenly feel betrayed by the Headmaster? Or was it just the overwhelming stress of it all? It felt like a nightmare.

"Because I'm not a healer, son, and because here... where we're alone and quiet and you have a moment to collect yourself, we have a chance for you to tell me what you've seen and heard. Your friend is not the first to show up injured, and so I'm gathering the data in order to figure out how to protect the rest of you. So while you think that its a shame that I'm not rushing off to hover over someone I cannot help, I'm insisting on discussing this here. Because THERE... you'll lose your cool and start to worry and probably vomit on both of us."

Which, by the way... would suck. A lot.

"So let's try again, and then we'll hear out Mr. Masterson, and then we'll go see your friend."

In a sudden instant, the Headmaster had made him feel like a child throwing a temper tantrum; an he knew he had acted as nothing more. Bowing his head in sligt shame and with a small nod of understanding, Sabel ran his hand to cover his eyes, his voice dropping to an unsteady quiet, forcing himself to do as Tate asked. He wasn't helping anyone the way he had been going before. "I don't know what happened. I left the Great Hall and she was standing there in the Entrance. Lorcan was there first. She said she couldn't remember anything. She has cuts and scrapes everywhere, a bad one on her arm and her eye is gushing some sort of puss. Her hands and feet were swollen and she was covered in dirt and leaves and twigs, her clothes tattered. I tried to wrap some of her wounds, and she passed out as soon as I started, she was in so much pain. Professor Kapoor took us to his office and patched her up a little, and asked me to come tell you what had happened."

Which he had done in completely the wrong way. One day he would apologize for his outburst, for his insensitivity to the situation. Just...not today. Today he just wanted things to make sense. "That's all I know, Sir."

Ok.. so when Oliver wasn't heard over the commotion in the classroom, his determined Slytherin brain kicked into gear. If this was about what he thought it was about, then he had as much right to be there as the rest of the kids.

So off he snuck from the CoMC lesson and followed the rest of the students, silently willing Miranda to turn around and see him. No such luck... and they were outside the Headmaster's office before he knew it.

He wandered up to Miranda and tapped her hand gently with his to get her attention. Smirk gone, he gave her a soft smile. She could keep his robes for all he cared. The green suited her. “Alright?” He whispered to her. Shame he was so tall.. he stuck out like a sore thumb.

SPOILER!!: Destiny Being Nice *gasp* jk ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by destinyjazzhands

Okay.

Destiny felt like such a creeper just staring at Ivory like that, but she wasn't allowed to talk..right? Or she could talk, only it was supposed to be quiet.. It didn't matter though, it seemed the girl knew why she was staring.

Phew.

And then Ivory was being a mime. Mime's were totally cool, and Destiny wished she could do the whole girl in a box thing. Nodding that she understood, Destiny pulled out her wand and was shocked that Ivory trusted her. Ehh, not that there would be any reason not to trust her..right? Riiiight.

And now she had to talk..but her voice would be blocked out by the boy yelling, and she was being nice and helping, so no trouble there. Muttering the few cleaning spells she knew, Destiny pointed her wand at all the mud and twigs that were hanging off Ivory.

Sometimes it felt good to be nice!

Just not all the time, and no one better find out about that..

Just when Ivory was about to start feeling like an idiot, Destiny nodded and all was right with the world...well you know just for that moment.

Conveniently, Sabel took that precise moment to start yelling at the headmaster a fact that she couldn't resist the need to look at him wide-eyed. She was sure he had his reasons...but having never met the man personally she didn't exactly know if it was alright to do that.

Turning back, she realized that Destiny had used the distraction as a means to zap a few cleaning spells at her and now not only was her hair free of twigs and leaves and her face clean of mud but even her shoes were free of the wet soil from the forest. Sure her robes still looked like she fallen face first in the mud (which she had) but it was a subtle dirty with no clumps of mud sticking here and there.

Grinning at Destiny gratefully, Ivory shot forward quickly and gave her a lightning fast hug, quickly stepping back and trying to look as if the little exchange hadn't happened and they were both cool-just in case Destiny didn't want a reputation of a nice person who helped people out...

Although now that Ivory knew it was there...well that would have to be dealt with another time, under better friendly circumstances.

"Good. Very good information. And you say Professor Kapoor was taking her to the infirmary?" Which is where he was going next, apparently. "I'm going to speak to Mr. Masterson. You're welcome to stay, unless you'd like to go wait for me in the infirmary."

He gestured to the Groundskeeper, inviting him over. "Mr. Masterson... I hope you can make it fast. We have an issue."

Still chewing on her nail, Miranda wondered what the boy who was currently speaking to the Headmaster was...doing. Speaking focourse but about what?

Trying to take deep breaths to calm her heart, it didn't help when suddenly she felt something on her hand. Flinching, she breathed out as she saw it wa Oliver and quickly took his hand. Yep, he was staying rrright here because he also wanted to know what the hell had happened to them all.
She nodded at his question, and looked towards where the headmaster would be.

"You ready for this?" She asked him quietly. Miranda definitely was not.

Gulp.

Oliver looked at Miranda as she took his hand. He gave hers a quick reassuring squeeze and smiled at her before it faded on his lips and his expression became something more pensive.

He merely nodded to Miranda's question. Yep. He was ready. Whatever was going on. It was likely they could leave here as clueless as when they arrived, but he wasn't going to say that to her. “Are you?” He asked sensing the tension radiating from her. Miranda was a very strong girl. She could do this.

Destiny folded her arms and admired her..cleaning work. Yes, she was like an expert at cleaning, but she was not one to brag, not a lot anyway. And sometimes that sort of expertise comes in handy, like right now.

It was a shame Destiny never learned any sewing spells. She would have fixed Ivory's robes up, and possibly her own last term. But there was always summer spent with her grandmother, and sure enough, that batty old woman knew some sewing spells.. if Destiny asks her on a day she takes her medication.

Stowing her wand back in her pocket, Destiny turned back to the Headmaster and the yelling boy, only to be hugged by Ivory. Well, that was totally unsuspected..

Ughhh..

The niceness Destiny showed was way too obvious, and now Ivory knew she could be nice. She would totally blame it on the situation she was in..it made her brain do wonky things, like being nice. She patted Ivory on the back while in the hug, because she had NO idea what she was supposed to do.

She just knew no one better find out about this..no one.

Nodding a little bit, Sabel offered a small confirmation that Kapoor was moving Alexa o the infirmary before he shifted somewhere off to the side and out of the way, working on collecting himself back together. Headmaster Tate was right; it didn't make sense to be panicking and stressing about something they had no immediate control over, and that would just freak others out. Especially Alexa...

Wiping a hand down his face as he took a shaky breath, he let his eyes trail over the others that had arrived. There were, he blinked, quite a few. He only recgonized Ivory, but the disturbed expressions and glances of apprehension were all too familiar. His eyes flicked back to Tate and for a moment he pitied the man; he had a lot on his plate.

He reminded himself never to become a Headmaster.

Carter arrived with the rest of the group. He looked at his fellow housemate and teammate. That poor guy must have been going crazy thinking about Reese. He then looked over at Destiny and Ivory. He gave a little nod to Destiny. This was the first time he'd ever seen her without Evelyn. Crazy.

Constantine strode over to where Tate was situated. The Headmaster's comment made Neo throw him a look. A look that told him to get in line. "Please, tell me something I don't know." Rummaging in his pocket, he pulled out a parchment, followed by a Slytherin badge, a piece of school robes. "Two regular students failed to show up for a Care of Magical Creatures class today. One of them being the female Slytherin prefect, as Professor Lawson told me."'

He handled all the bits and pieces that Masterson handed over, lingering on the parchment. Well... it was helpful to FIND clues, but knowing what they meant...

"Where were these found?"

Carter looked at the others before clearing his throat. "In the Forbidden Forest, sir." he said. "A little ways in."

"In the forest," he answered. "Found by those students over there." He jabbed a thumb at them and then decided to correct himself. "Well...not by all of them. Some of them...I don't know why they came. And, I believe Miss BelCanto has tagged along with my permission in hope of getting some answers." Constantine shook his head. "I haven't clue what they might mean..."