Mia let Marie lead her over to the bench and she sat down heavily, letting out a long sigh. "But I can't help but care what they think. They're my friends. Or they were. They probably don't want to talk to me anymore." She lent placing her elbows on her knees and stared glumly at the floor.

How did everything just implode in such a short amount of time?

"You know how I feel about Nik. I am not going to stop seeing him because Salander and Matty are jealous." She wiped her face on her sleeve and sat up straighter. "I just...I feel bad that I have hurt their feelings even if it was unintentionally."

Mia leaned back and pressed her head against the stone wall. So much for avoiding angst. "And Matty made it sound as though I can't be friends with boys because they fall for you and you end up in this mess."

Which was stupid.

Eino was running down the hall with his robe flying behind him, his hood on, while holding a stick on his hand right hand, and a book on his left. "Come, Toby." He whispered to his friend to follow closely behind them. He ran down the stairs, but LO AND BEHOLD-- a mountain. A trap-- No,an obstacle! By the most horrifying and nastiest witch of them all, Morgan Le fay! "Toby, we must jump over the mountain!" Enormous and monstrous, bigger than Mt. Everest! Eino took a step back, readying himself for the biggest leap to have ever been leaped in the history of leaps! He bend his knees slightly and pushed his body upwards into the air and jumped two steps down. Toby followed behind him. Toby wasn't wearing his school uniform though, he was wearing a great armor, helmet, and carrying shield. The weight of all of his equipment slowed them down, so Eino had to be extra careful not to leave him behind.

Now that was done, but what other obstacles would Morgan Le Fay have for them on their journey to... To find, uh... "Toby, what do you suppose we are looking for?" He paused and waited for a reply. "And what do you suppose are we going to do there?" He paused again and listened attentively. "No, Toby we are not on a quest to find the ghosts anymore." Toby seemed to have forgotten too, but there was a turn of luck! "You're right!" Finally, that was figured out, but where would they find this great beastly and monstrous creature that had been sent by Morgan Le Fay to destroy Camelot this time? "You suppose we should ask the portraits, don't you?" He opened his copy of The Great Book of all Things That Were, That Weren't, That Had Been, and That Were To Become. He flipped through the pages and shouted, "Aha!" This frightened Toby, but only slightly, Toby should learn how to behave more like a knight, Eino thought. "Yes, we must ask the Great Teller of all Things, but first he must learn all things from the Great Knowledger of all Things, for he won't tell us anything. Now, don't disturb me while I conjure him, I should mess up if you do." Eino cleared his throat and waving his stick in a clockwise motion he chanted. "Hwæt! Primordial illumination, the fount of knowledge for all things, roar forth this once, and reveal thyself to us!" Flick. Flick. Flick. Eino walked a little closer to the portrait and poked it.

"Hey!" reprimanded the portrait. An old man with a fancy English styled mustache, very long with ribbons on the ends. "Mind ya!" The man said grumpily motioning for Eino to leave.

"Pardon me, O Great Teller, but we are on our way to find the great beast that has taken habitat within these castle walls! We must defeat it and bring peace to Camelot." He said kneeling and urging Toby to do the same.

"What rubbish is this! But you will leave me alone or I will drop this portrait right on top of that empty head of yours!" The man said adjusting the ribbons on his mustache and returning to his business.

"But if only you would take part in this quest, then you shall be glorified upon its completion and all the world will recognize you as the one who helped restore peace to the kingdom." Eino explained imploringly for the man's help.

"Oh, they would, wouldn't they?" He man said suspiciously, suddenly taking an interested in the quest. "The whole world, you mean to say? They would do so much as to recognize me as such. Yes, yes. A great beast you ask for?" He said attempting to recall anything in particular that could face such description, but 'a great beast' wouldn't do. "Nay, nay." The portrait object. "Do elaborate on this beast, go on, squire!"

"You see, this beast is gigantic. Yes, bigger than any men on earth! He has long fangs and claws. One should suppose that is breathes fire--"

"Well, does One suppose so?" The portrait interrupted.

"Suppose so what?"

"Does One suppose that it breathes fire?" He portrait barked impatiently.

"One does suppose sir. I suppose so, at least. As I was saying, as I suppose it does, besides supposing that it breathes fire it should also bear the strength of a hundred men... No, more than that!"

"Aha! I know this beast, I've seen it!" The man gave a single loud clap and he rejoined and drew closer to Eino (which didn't make a difference because he was still inside the portrait and no closer to Eino). "Yes, this beast walks within these walls..." He man said shivering. "It does indeed it does." He looked both sides to make sure no one was listening. "That Ministry man" He whispered.

"Calm down, Toby!" Eino said trying to control Toby's excitement. Now this was a very important bit of information, not to mention a terrible accusation. "Are you certain of this?" Eino didn't doubt it, he just wanted a confirmation.

"As sure as there are two ribbons decorating my mustache, and as sure as I am the most handsome man in the entire world because of them!"

Nothing could be more reassuring to Eino. "Thank you so much!" He said kneeling, and gesturing for Toby to mimic him. "Let's go, Toby."

"Don't forget about my world recogniztion, all those other promises, you hear. I shall remember you I've seen you walk around here before with a cactus on your hands!" Called the man as Eino and Toby walked away.

"How do you suppose we go about this, Toby?" Eino asked taking a seat on the corner of the hall with Toby beside him.

Hearing a lot of commotion, Kurumi made her way down the corridor until she saw Eino. Why wasn't she surprised?

Jumping a bit, the cactus she was holding jabbed her in the back. "Ouch!" she squeaked nearly dropping it, but managing to recover before Faustus 2 met the same fate as Faustus 1. Looking over her shoulder at the cactus, Kurumi sure hoped that this plan was going to work. She felt bad that Eino had let go of his pet cactus and assumed that he was going to come flying back to the top of the Owlery. Still, she was more concerned about him believing that Walnut could actually fly.

"Eino? What are you doing?" Kurumi asked taking a few steps closer to her Ravenclaw friend making sure that the cactus was still hidden behind her back. She needed to come up with a good story about how she had found him. Saying that she put in a special order with a plant shop was not going to cut it.

Eino and Sir Toby were both sitting on the corner of the corridor plotting their pilgrimage to the beast's lair, their ambush, and their celebration afterwards. Toby had a many great ideas but they were too obvious. Being a knight, of course, he would think of brute ways, but Eino wanted to approach this matter in a subtle manner. Perhaps they could lure the monstrous beast with jelly beans and capture it, then. No one can resist jelly beans. Well, maybe Morgan Le Fay, but she could resist the cuteness of puppies, too, and that wasn't alright. Hmmmm... Just as he was about to enter a deep process of contemplation he beheld with his very own eyes Fautus King Arthur, in all his majesty, and Walnut Merlin, in all his splendor, approaching him. Eino and Sir Toby both stood up and knelt on one knee before their majesties, placed their right hand on top of their heart, with their heads bent, looking down. "Your majesties, we are unworthy of your visit." Eino said and nudged Sir Toby to say something equatable to that. "What brings you to his horrid place?" He inquired with head still down. "And who is this lady that accompanies you?" Eino continued, referring to Kurumi, of course. "Oh!" Eino explained while removing his hood, how rude of him to have forgotten! He was still holding his book and his stick, nothing would make him part with them!

Hugo wandered on the first floor, when he heard familiar voices. He decided to check up on the voices, because you know, when there are voices in a school full of people, you should always go check on them. Hugo smiled as he saw Kurumi and Eino. What was Eino talking like? "Hey guys, what's going on?" he asked.

Kurumi raised an eyebrow at Eino. Now what sort of crazy universe had he got himself lost in? Not to mention why was he calling her a lady and calling Walnut majesty? Kurumi looked down at her cat who looked pleased as a peach to finally be called something worthy of his true nature. He was a king after all, king of the Gryffindor common room. Shaking her head for a moment, Kurumi brought Faustus 2 in front of her. She supposed she should play along and talk like some fair maiden?

"Dear good sir," she said with an added curtsy. "We have traveled from, um, the land of Courtyard so that you may once again find yourself in the company of..." Not knowing what to call the cactus, Kurumi instead presented the potted guy in outstretched arms. "His majesty?"

Keeping up with Eino was going to be exhausting. Not to mention, why was he talking as if there was another person with him? Was he talking about the portraits?

Still holding the cactus, Kurumi looked to her left to see Hugo had joined them. What was going on? Kurumi didn't have the slightest idea.

Eino and Sir Toby stood up. "Greetings, fair Lady of the Courtyard!" He said taking her hand and kissing it, then Sir Toby took his turn doing the same. Truly, Eino didn't know where this was but considering his Master, Merlin, was before them he should be very embarrassed to admit it, so he played along. This lady had traveled all the way from the land of the Courtyard with Merlin and King Arthur? Truly an honor! "What does your ladyship do here? This are dangerous plains, so unless you are ready to face the most monstrous of all creatures you must return home." Eino said very concerned for her safety, although they were in good hands considering King Arthur and Merlin were with them, but this was Eino's and Sir Toby's quest, not a job for his majesty.


Before Merlin and King Arthur could speak, an intruder appeared! Eino jumped to his feet, as did Sir Toby, hooded himself and pointed his stick at the intruder. Sir Toby unsheathed his sword and drew his shield up to his chest. "Friend or foe!?" Eino demanded apprehensively, looking intensively at the boy. Sir Toby didn't recognize him as friend either, and they had to be extra caution now they they had ventured into Morgan Le Fay's realm of darkness and evil. Eino had his spell book at hand, ready to conjure the most magnificent creatures to aide them in battle... just in case! Sir Toby stood steadfast, ready for anything!

"Lady, you should find refuge behind Sir Toby and I!" He urged her to hide behind them so that the three of them, that is Lady of the Courtyard, Merling, and King Arthur wouldn't be harmed.

Hugo jumped a little and instinctively grabbed his wand as Eino jumped to his feet and yelled at him. "WHAT THE HELL?" Hugo yelled as Eino pointed the stick at Hugo. What was with him this time? Had he forgotten Hugo even excisted after a couple weeks of not talking?

Kurumi giggled as Eino continued to call her fair lady. Sure, she was a bit timid and shy, but she wasn't exactly a weakling. She was very gifted in kendo after all. Still, did Eino really not recognize her? Had he brewed some sort of potion in the Ravenclaw common room that was making him hallucinate? It was kind of cute, in a weird way, just as long as he didn't do anything crazy.

＼(゜ロ＼)(／ロ゜)／

Now he was pointing a stick at Hugo?! Thinking quickly on her feet, Kurumi came up with a plan that should appease the knight inside Eino.

"Please, do not fear, um, good sir," Kurumi squeaked jumping in front of Hugo before Eino poked his eye out. "This is my companion and Sheriff of the Land of Couryard." Kurumi was searching her mind for books she had read that could possible help her appease Eino's imagination - besides, this was kind of fun playing make believe like all kids their age should do. The first book that popped into her head was Robin Hood and next The Once and Future King. Those two should give her enough material to work with. "We too are on a quest," she glanced at Hugo. His turn to think on his feet and hopefully he had caught on to the game by now. "Perhaps our quests are one and the same?"

Eino was very suspicious at this point, as was Sir Toby, because this boy standing in front of them was completely and utterly nonsensical. Eino had asked a simple question yet he had called upon hell? Maybe he was a black magic conjurer? Was he evoking a dark creatures from the dark abyss?! Was he... An apprentice of Morgan La Fey?! "Answer my question! Are you a friend or foe? What do you want from us?" He commanded maintaining eye contact with a boy so that he would be intimidated by Eino and his powerful magic, of Sir Toby too, even though Sir Toby seemed a little scare.



This set of news was very relieving to Eino. He put his staff away and Sir Toby sheathed his sword. Eino bowed slightly towards Hugo. "Greetings, Sheriff of the Courtyard." Seemingly, this Courtyard land was very famous, Eino would have to look into it. However, it was the second thing the Lady said that completely overjoyed Eino. "Splendid!" Eino returned to the corner with Sir Toby and motioned for Kurumi and Hugo to follow him. When they were gathered, Eino began, whispering, "We are on a quest to defeat the Great Monster of the Ministry that has been summoned by Morgan Le Fay to destroy this land. If you want to come with us you must prove yourselves worthy." Of course, not King Arthur and Merlin, they should not even be here, but alas danger is everywhere so it wouldn't make a difference. "We need to infiltrate his realm and capture it!" Eino snapped. This was an urgent matter and they couldn't waste anymore time.

Hugo hesitated for a second. Was this what kids their age were supposed to do? Hugo sighed as Eino put his stick away. "Yes... It is I, the err Sheriff of the Courtyard," he said and drew his wand-sword-stick-staff-thing. He bowed a little. "Let us defeat this... Great monster!"

Oh Merlin. Mia and her caring ways.

"Listen Mia, it's good that you care about what your friends think but really, you need to think about yourself a little more. If they were really your friends then they wouldn't be treating you like this. They would be happy for you that Nik is making you happy." Sure Marie knew that most of her friends didn't approve of her dating James but that didn't stop her. Then again, her friends also didn't talk mean about him to her either... which is a good thing because she would have no problem punching them in the nose if they did.

"Yes, I know how you feel about Nik and you shouldn't have to feel as if you should stop dating him just because some of your friends are jealous. And you shouldn't feel bad about hurting their feelings. It's not your fault the stupid boys wait until you are in a serious relationship to let you know they are interested in you." Really, boys can be so stupid sometimes.

"Matty is a fool if that's what he thinks. I think it's Matty that can't be friends with a girl because he falls for them. It's not your fault the boy is a... well never mind." Seriously, what kind of Neanderthal thinks like that? "I'll still punch him for you if you want me to. And then I'll go find Sal and punch him too." Seriously, those boys need to know that they can't go around making Marie's friend cry just because they weren't good enough to be the one Mia fell in love with.

Mia flinched slightly when Marie started to speak. The girl could be really scary sometimes especially when she got that look in her eye. The very look she was wearing right now. The one that said she was going to punch someone and very hard.

But what she was saying did make sense. Matty and Sal shouldbe happy if she was happy. And she was. Very happy.

"I know it's not my fault. I do. But I can't help feeling bad, it's just the way I am." Sometimes she wished she was a bit more like Marie. Well without the violence.

And there she went again with wanting to punch someone. Mia gave her a horrified look. "No!!" She squealed and then quickly got a grip on herself. "Marie, I don't want you to go around punching people for me." Merlin what would they think of then? That she was sending out her friend to hit them because they had upset her. "I...will try and sort this out." Mia had no idea how she was going to do that but it had to be better then punching someone, right?

Mmm. That breakfast had been nice, although Finn had actually never gotten out to the grounds to have that jog. That was day two of this week that he hadn't done the jog, and it was getting quite bad. If he kept this up he'd stop doing it altogether, and that would be really bad. He shrugged to himself, and decided that he would definitely go out tomorrow morning, he'd even head out a little earlier, just so if he got distracted he would still have time to get out, because then he might actually stand a chance of getting on that job.

But maybe it was a good thing that he was wondering along the first floor, because when he got near the portraits, he saw two girls that he recognized; Mia, and Marie. But something seemed up. Mia didn't look....her usual self, and he was sure he heard some mentions of punching. "Hey Girls...." He stopped walking infront of where they were sat, and watched them. "Is everything okay?"

So...who was Eino referring to? Who was this great monster they had to defeat. Eino couldn't possibly be thinking about seeking out the Chamber of Secrets and defeating the basilisk. Oh wait, that had already been defeated by Harry Potter. Unless...there was another one! Kurumi wasn't sure how far the line between fantasy and reality had been blurred. Best she kept her focus during this. And he was supposed to be the Ravenclaw!

Wait...Eino had just said the Great Monster of the Ministry...right? Was he talking about Mr. Ikenna?! But, he wasn't all that bad! He served really delicious green tea in his office.
Had Hugo caught on to who Eino was talking to? Kurumi wasn't sure how he felt about the man, but she had to admit she was interested to see how Mr. Ikenna would handle the three of them barging into his office pretending to be the Knights of the Roundtable.

Kurumi bent down and scooped up Walnut in her right hand while still holding the potted cactus that was Faustus 2 in her right. "Wait, dear Sheriff," Kurumi said nudging Hugo as best she could with her full hands. "He said that we first must prove ourselves worthy of the quest." Maybe Eino would say they were not worthy and save the two of them some humiliation.

Taking a few deep breaths, Mia was trying to figure out what else she could say to Marie to stop her from going on her punching rampage when a voice spoke in front of her.

Mia looked up to see Finn standing there and it brought the tears on again. Merlin was she making up for lost time or something? She had never cried so much in her life.

She shook her head while standing up and she threw herself into Finn's arms. "I'm having a really crappy day." Total understatement, that was.

Marie rolled her eyes at Mia when she said she didn't want her punching anyone for her. Pfft, like that would stop her. There was no stopping that girl once she had her mind made up.

Just as she was about to tell Mia that her friend was jumping up.... right into the arms of Finlay. "Oh hey Finn." She said as she stood up. "Um yeah, Mia's having a bit of a bad time right now. You think you can stay with her? I need to go... take care of something." Well she needed to take care of two somethings but for now she would focus on one of them.

Oh. Finn hadn't been expecting that, but it was good that he had good reflexes, because his arms managed to wrap about Mia as she practically jumped into his arms. Ahh. She was having a crappy day? He smiled softly, rubbing her back gently, as he glanced over at Marie. Maybe it was a good thing that he was here, it looked like Mia could do with a good hug. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked, as he looked down at Mia. He really didn't like seeing her like this, and so did hope that she would talk to him, then he'd be able to sort out whatever was wrong. He would totally got all prefect on whoever had upset her.

He looked up at Marie again as she spoke, and he nodded. "Sure." He wasn't going to leave her unless she was feeling happy again, and he kind of wanted to make sure she would.

She may have had her head buried in Finn's shoulder and probably dripping snot all over his robes but Mia didn't miss hearing what Marie said. Her head snapped up and she turned to see the girl running off down the corridor. "Marie." She groaned as she watched her friend. Mia really hoped that she didn't find Matty or Sal.

Turning back to Finn, Mia tried to give him a smile but it came out all wobbly. "Finn. Why are you boys so darn confusing?"

No, really. She wanted to know.

"Apparently and I am not sure how it happened but Sal seems to like me and he's not very happy that I am seeing Nik." She wiped her face with the handkerchief that Matty had given her. "He said some things and then took off."

Giving Mia a quick hug... and Finn too since Mia was attached to him, Marie turned to leave as soon as Finn said he would stay. "I'll see you later." She then ran off in search of those boys that had been foolish enough to make one of her friends cry.

Finn really didn't know what Marie was going off to do, but he had a feeling that Mia might not have liked it all that much, especially with the way that she had just groaned Marie's name. He had a feeling that th slytherin girl would be okay though. Well he hoped so anyway. And she was off down the corridor now, so there was nothing they could really do. He just hoped that she wouldn't get in too much trouble, that would be bad.

Why were boys so confusing? Finn laughed, nudging her back towards the bench. "I could ask you why girls are so confusing." He commented, hugging her a little tighter. "I think it's just in our nature. To be confusing idiots." Because he was sure he had confused quite a few girls over his time.

Oh. That was why she was upset. Finn smiled at her, wiping her cheeks gently. "If he's not happy for you then he's not really a good friend." Because Finn could see that Mia was very happy with Nik. "If your happy with Nik, then don't care about what anyone else thinks." He assured her with a smile. "Only what you think matters."

Gah! He was saying all the things Marie had just said to her. Still didn't make her feel any better though. "I am happy with Nik." Why did she have to keep repeating that? Did they not believe her?

"It's just that..." Mia looked up at him with a miserable expression on her face. "You know me Finn. I care about my friends and I can't stand the thought that I have hurt their feelings even when I haven't done anything."

Now that was the question she really needed to ask and who better than Finn, to ask. He knew her so well. "What am I doing Finn? Am I sending out signals that I shouldn't be?" Because she really needed to know that so she could stop it.

Hugo cleared his throat. This was all very unusual to Hugo, he hadn't played since he was like 9. "So how can we prove ourself worthy, Sir.....?" Hugo said and hoped he would get a name out of Eino. Sir Eino? Hugo thought and pointed his wand at his hand. "Orchideous," he said and in his hand, a bunch of flowers appeared out of thin air. Was that good enough? No, flowers weren't going to kill a monster. There he stood, awkwardly with a bunch of flowers in his hand, waiting for Eino to approve.

"I have realized that." Finlay murmured, as he pulled away with her, and motioned for her to join him on the bench again. "I'm glad he makes you happy." He really was, it was nice to see his Bestie so happy. "Like those other guys should be able to see that too." If not they weren't that good friends, not in his opinion anyway.

She looked so miserable, and Finn really did not like it. What made matters worse was that he really didn't know what to say to make her feel better, which made him feel really bad. "I'm sure it's partly there fault too." If they liked Mia that way, they had had enough time to tell her right? Although...he could've fallen into that category too, so he was really not going to think about that too much.

He thought about her question. "No...." He mused in the end, smiling at her softly. They were extremely close, and he didn't feel the need to behave like that around her did he. "A year ago....maybe." He paused to smirk at her, before his features softened as he smiled at her. "But right now I don't think you are..." The other boys maybe would disagree though...

"Noooo!" Complained Eino furiously, stomping his foot. "No magic!" Well, no real magic was allowed, only imaginary magic, because that kind was boundless and more fun. This behavior was very out of character, so Eino composed himself, and turned into Eino the Magic Apprentice and Knight in Training once again. Eino opened The Great Book of all Things That Were, That Weren't, That Had Been, and That Were To Become and revealed its contents to Hugo. In each page, a total of five hundred and seventy two, there was a nonsensical scribble of an incantation Eino had come up with, all written in crayons, very colorfully, along with a picture illustrating the effects of that spell. That particular page he showed Hugo, had a spell that would turn the target into a frog, and the illustration was a stick figure, with an arrow pointing to a frog, with some stars (as thought it were magic dust) surrounding both figures. Of course, not everyone could perform this type of magic, duh! Only Merlin, Morgan Le Fay, and other few wizards and witches.

"I asked The Great Teller of all Things," Eino said pointing to the portrait of the man with the long mustache and ribbons on it, "and he told me that the Great Monster of the Ministry has been sent by Morgan Le Fay and we must slay it." He didn't have to explain of all of this, it was common knowledge, really. Everyone knew about this evil and the necessity to disperse it. "Now, we must go." He said looking at Sir Toby who had been bored by all the talking he wanted some action! As if only he would actually partake in any action. "You may follow me if you would like, but you oughtn't if you should be a hindrance." Of course, this was not direct at King Arthur and Merlin, to which Eino and Sir Toby bowed before they went off into The Lair of the Great Monster of the Ministry!