"It's ok. Nobody likes being hurt," Nate said sympathetically. "Do you need a hug?"

"I ..." Jez was actually taken aback by the question. A hug? Jez wasn't the huggy sort. "Yes." Wow, the word had just stepped out of her mouth without them meaning to. "Please don't tell Scott, okay?" she asked, biting her lip. "I don't want him to get awkward around me. I need friends, not a boyfriend." As shown by Nate, her friend to who she could tell things.

Nate hugged Jez sympathetically, then said to her, "No, I won't tell Scott." Actually, I'll be telling him later tonight, in the dorm. he thought, but his dishonesty didn't show: Nate was an exceptionally good actor. "We ought to go sit down and wait for Headmaster Tate to come out of his office. Or back to it, depending on where Tate is at the moment," he said, guiding Jez over to the chairs.

Tate paused to stare at the two chattering first years who had tried to interrupt his conversation with Miss Storm with their own highly important conversation. Hmmm. "That was bad judgment on his part. Clever of you, really. You must have realized that you can't easily challenge a Gryffindor with a 'dare' and expect him to be able to pass it up easily. If only Lafay had taken away points, you could have successfully set the Gryffindors back even further. Clever girl. You should have been a Slytherin."

He tapped his chin with one finger. "You don't honestly think the punishment is unfair, do you?"

Jezabel glanced at the gargoyle as they moved to let someone out. Oh good, the Headmaster had come. She smiled at him, hoping he'd speak to them after he'd finished his conversation.

Kelsey rushed over here from the three broomsticks. Maybe if she solved a mystery she could make up for all the trouble caused by her. She jiggled with excitement as she waited for the headmaster.

Cassie's head turned in the direction that the head master's did to see what had distracted him. Ickle first years..oh. She was so caught up in fixing Josh's detention thing that she varely even noticed them. They were adorable..but no time to pinch cheeks..Josh..right. She nodded at the first half of the professor's statement but stopped to shake her head. No no, she didn't want to set anybody back. She was a Puff through and through not a scheming Slytherin. She shot the headmaster a look of horror." NO no Professor..I mean I know he would have taken the dare but I didn't expect him to get into trouble for it and..err..it wasn't professor Lafay this time..it was Professor face of evilGlass." You sir are crazy for hiring her.

Was this a trick question? She didn't answer right away instead she looked at him then back to the first years..."Yeah I think it's unfair. He didn't break any rules, he just kind of made a fool of himself." And they all loved him for that."Which he does all the time anyways. And besides, class hadn't even started yet."

"Rules are rules, unfortunately. You may not have intended to encourage him into trouble, but Mr. Carter made up his own mind to follow through when he knew there was a dress code in place. As a seventh year and potentially a role model... although really, I fear for the sanity of anyone fool enough to think he is suitable for such... but I digress." Tate shrugged. He was so helpful.

"We need him to be better. He is no longer a child, and having a friend talk him out of trouble won't help him learn that."

Cassie cringed slightly at the Headmaster's words. Had Josh really dug himself into such a deep hole with ALL of the authority figures at Hogwarts? She should have known this would have been mission impossible." But technically he didn't break any rules..I mean the shoes were black." Did she accidentally misread or skip the section where it said boys couldn't wear heels? In any case she braced herself from Tate's answer, flinching before he even replied.

Sigh. Right. The headmaster's last few words were the nails in Josh's coffin. Clearly she had already lost this case." Well can it at least not be something really harsh? I mean Professor Glass is one scary lady."

"There are a lot of scary women in the school right now," Tate muttered. "I will defer to her judgement, unless she is causing him undue harm or injury. You're a good friend to him, though." Better than the little lion cub git deserved, to be honest.

Cassie sighed. Well She tried. She wasn't sure how she would face Josh with the news of her failure but meh, she could do nothing about it now.

"O.k Professor, I understand and thanks for your time."

She was of course majorly bummed though and disappointed that she hadn't gotten the chance to see inside the Headmaster's office. She really wanted to see what it looked like in there.

Could she just like flick the ear of one of those little firstie's waiting? Just to blow off some steam? Maybe further down the corridor when Tate was out of sight.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked away from the gargoyles. Now to find Josh.

Presley watched the conversation interestedly. She thought it was very diplomatic of the professor. Besides letting the girl down, and insulting women at the school. The conversation wrapped up, and Presley was next in line. However, hers was more of a "sit down and talk to the headmaster" conversation, and there were others here that could be quick about what they needed. "Sir, I'm next, but mine might take a while. So when you've got a moment, do you think we could speak privately?" There. Nice and polite.

Tate watched the Hufflepuff girl leave before glancing at the next in line. "You've been very patient. If you're willing, maybe you can head upstairs to the office while I send these first years on their way." Multi-tasking. He was awesome like that.

"Excuse me, Headmaster," said Nate as he saw the older Hufflepuff leave, and then a girl who seemed to be a second year Claw step up and talk to the Headmaster, "We're just looking to give a brief report, shouldn't be long..." He looked down. He didn't like to be pushy, but he was anyways.

"I find it hard to believe you lot are done already," Tate responded jovially, giving Miss Black an apologetic look. Just ONE moment, please. "Remember that this is quality work that is rewarded, not the first slapdash experience you have. If you haven't had full success, or you think you can do better, wouldn't you prefer taking the whole month?"

"It's not the whole thing yet!" blurted Jez. Her cheeks went red. "What I mean is ..." she stammered, realising she'd been quite rude. "We just wanted to tell you that we've broken up an agrument already. In the Great Hall. It invloved pie." She gestured to Nate, who's upper body was mostly covered in pie. "And I prevented an argument at the Waterfall earlier today," she said, feeling a bit proud of that bit. Even though it was quite small. "We're still keeping up the T.O.P.," she continued. "And I kind of wanted to ask a question?" She glanced at Nate. Wpuld he nessesarily agree with her idea? "Can you continue the T.O.P. even after we've served our ..." she searched for the right word. "Punishment? Can we have more members, maybe? Kind of like a club?" She waited with bated breath for the headmaster's reply.

Nate smiled and nodded furiously. "Yeah, I like that idea! We can keep it up all seven years we're here, too!" he added.

Presley smiled at the Headmaster. So far, so good. He had all but thanked her for her patience. This conversation might have more of a positive possibility that Presley had previously thought. "Of course. Thank you, sir." She nodded politely, then turned, passed the gargoyles, and climbed the stair to the Headmasters office.

"Those sound like good activities so far," Tate mused with a slow nod of his head. He would be curious to know how they were 'preventing' arguments, but he wasn't going to interrogate them twice. Just at the end of this blamed experiment.

"I have no issue with you continuing to act in the interest of keeping the peace, but I won't be able to continue offering points. You'd have to do it for intrinsic worth."

"That's understandable," Nate said, becoming very businesslike. "We came up here today, Headmaster, to replied that there was a potential food fight at the Ravenclaw table, and we managed to stop it, even if it did mean turning the perpetrators on us... Oh, Scott, Jez, Jordan, Pam, and I were all there for this. Jordan was the one who was knocked out in the bushes for most of our duel in the courtyard," he added swiftly, trying to keep Headmaster Tate's attention long enough to report briefly what had happened and who had been there.

"They threw food at you instead, didn't they?" Tate was mighty amused by that attempt in peacekeeping, and his grin showed it. Stepping in to stop a fight and getting caught in the crosshairs, so to speak. That seemed just about right.

"It sounds like you're on the right track. Remember the idea is to get people talking, and I think you'll be fine."

"Ok, of course, thank you Headmaster!" said Nate, smiling at Headmater Tate's grin. "So, should we go, then, or is there more to tend to?"

"Yep." Jez nodded. "The girl threw a pie at the boy just when I arrived, and then at the very end the same girl threw pie on every one of us first-years!" Jez was rather indignant about that. She still had pie in her hair. Ah well, it needed a wash anyway.
Jez grinned at Tate. "Thank you!" she said gratefully. Yes! The T.O.P.s were going to go on - even though there wouldn't be any house points involved. And seeing Nate appreciate her suggestion was nice too. Maybe they could even recruit more members. Jez already had a few people in mind. She was already planning in her head ...

"No, you two are dismissed," Tate gave them both a wave. "Keep it up, and I'll see you again soon." And now he had a Ravenclaw to chat with up in his office. He took the stairs and the gargoyles jumped shut behind him.

Victoria have never been to the headmaster's office before, nor anything near it. She's kind of scared and nervous at the same time. Victoria always thought of headmasters as big and scary, and sometimes pretty impatient. But she had to talk to the headmaster, and what choice does she have if she wants to keep her dog.