Cheesy.

Yes that was a good way to descrive the words Matt spoke regarind his girlfriend, all that she is and all that she's done for him. Still -- Damien was happy for the guy It was nice having someone like that. To make you feel that way. He figured that's why he liked Isobel so much and why they were together. Though Damien wasn't the ideal boyfriend, she still stuck by him amazingly enough. "That's really great to hear, mate," he said nodding his head once. "A girl to keep you grounded and make you feel the way you do is always a nice way to go. 'Spose that's why I wanted to be with Isobel --"

But then the eerie sound that caught Matt's attention suddenly caught Damien's as well. Turning on his heels, the Hufflepuff drew his wand out at the ready, slightly diagonal from where his friend stoo. "Oye," he said, voice low. "You aren't expexting anyone, are yeh Better yet, you don't know of anything that we wont expect do you?"

Only in the dungeons --

Before there was a chance to reply to the other conversation going on about their lives, Matt was just distracted by the sudden noises coming from the dungeon; merlin what now? Was he scared right now? Maybe a little. It was the fear of the unknown and the fact that he couldn't seem two feet in front of him. "No I don't know of anything that could possibly be down here dude, but I don't advise us just standing here. We need to go find out what's going on." He lead the charge by casting lumos so that he could actually see and not end up running into Damien or falling on the floor, either way it wouldn't be good. If there really was something down here, they'd find it. Or not.

Wonderful

Now the two detective boys were on another search, this time for something possibly dangerous. Matt ignited his wand and walked past Damien, as he was about to protest this seek and destory (or whatever this was they were doing), but his friend kept walking. Taking a deep breath, the Hufflpuff muttered Lumos, igniting his own wand, and keeping it lit behind him -- at least this way between the two of them, ether Matt would see what was infront, or Damien would see what was behind.

"Don't the dungeons have random this and that wandering about?" he asked, his voice still low so they could hear what was going on behind and infront.

"This wasn't exlactly what I thought we'd be doing down here,' he added as an afterthought. But still, he had to laugh. Really, who else would he wander around the dungeons of the castle with, if not Matt?

Boy Wonders to the rescue.

Wait.. had the sound stopped? Odd. Matt hoped that he wasn't just losing his mind and hearing things.. again. He slowly walked forward, trying to make sure that there weren't any noises that could possibly throw the Slytherpuff detectives off the trail of this mystery. "Well they do, it's merely impossible to track everything that can possibly be down here; though in my time living down here.. I haven't come across any random sounds that have caused me to be this curious." His voice was almost in a whisper as he replied to Damien's earlier question which seemed to go over his head thanks to being concerned about exactly what was going on here.

"You're not the only one thinking that dude, but it's much better than standing around here and doing nothing. This is for the sake of Hogwarts safety man. Simple as that." Okay he might have been a little dramatic but there was always a chance of something big being down here that could have posed a risk to everyone, he just didn't know. At least not yet.

It could very well be another student -- a first year, trying to find their way back to the Slytherin Common Room. Damien wouldn't blame the poor bloke if they couldn't find it -- it was impossible to see anything down here. Matt was clearly in a zone of somesort, determined to figure out what was making the mysterious sound. He wondered if his friend would become an auror or something of the like. Matt always stood out (to Damien, at least) to be one who resues. One who eliminates danger wherever or whatever it may be. And this -- this insanity they were doing together right now -- classic Matt.

But only in Damien's opinion.

He felt a draft, but merely shrugged it off, his wand still ignited and glancing back and fourth behind the boys, as Matt lead the way. "Good thing these corridors are narrow," he said looking up to the cieling and then to either side. "Might make things difficult if we were in such an open space --"

Merlin this was ridiculous. One minute the sound was there and the next, the only sound that had been heard was the whispers of their conversation which had been just proving the point that this might have been a lost cause. But one thing that Matt never did was give up, no those words didn't exist in his vocabulary since if you gave up with trying to uncover a mystery; then it would still remain. "It definitely would, the sound could have come from anywhere though. But because of the fact that these corridors are narrow, the sound bounces off the walls.. allowing us to track it slightly better." He wasn't about to be on a wild goose chase here. Not when there was studying for NEWTs to happen.

Wait.. what was that? Not again.

True, the sound could have come from anywhere, but at least with the narrowed-ness (not even a word) or the corridors, the sound could be easier to track. According to detective Matt, that is. Truth be told, the boys hadn't heard the sound for a few moments. Perhaps it was something coming from elsewhere, or was a figment of their imagination. Damien was slightly relieved -- perhaps they could go grab some food in the kitchen after this debacle was over with. His courched, ready-to-attack position relaxed a little at first, and then completely, though his wand was still ignited. He was about to call off the search when --

Damien heard the echo of sound again.

He crouched back down, wand at the ready, still lighting the path behind them. "How long is this corridor again?" he whispered.

India was dancing, and singing well she had been now she was just strolling down the dungeon hallway an umbrella in hand. The spokes and the tip of the frog-eye scraping against the ceiling.

"This girls a super freak" she sang out as the tune to Rick James' song Super Freak ran rampant through her head. It was addicting and made her want to pull a Little Miss Sunshine and dance in a unitard on a stage...but it only worked if you had a pot belly and were wearing clothing that was oh so bad for a Sunshine Competition...god she'd loved that old movie when she found it. "Super Freak, Super Freak that girl is super freaky". Pausing she took a glass jar out of her bag and began scraping some mold and green algae like moss off the wall.

Someone asked for mud facials in the dorm tonight so...she was doing that. The organic Yes, mud...this is mud... way when really you put the slimy potion on your face and it just tightens your skin. Or turns it green. Either or. But she'd say 'Oh its supposed to do that' when she grabs the antidote for the other potion...heh.

Dancing scraping slime off walls. Yeah this wasn't unnatural at all. It was very natural. Atleast for her.

Because like the song said. She was a super freak.

The scratching sound that was originally heard had gotten louder which only meant one thing. Whatever it was, they were close to it. Matt was about to move forward when he heard Damien's footsteps behind him, he turned around and without any words; told his Hufflepuff counterpart to stay where he was. It all came down to this, the Slytherin seventh year versus the mysterious sound. Huh that sounded like a comic book title. He walked forward, the wand still in front of him; he was going to see whatever this thing was before it had a chance to strike.

But as he walked forward, he came across Dia with an umbrella that appeared to be scratching at the ceiling of the corridor. Wait, was that where the sound was coming from? "Dude, what exactly are you doing with an umbrella down here?" The curiosity happened to get the best of him and he couldn't help but ask. It was a completely valid question too.

So as Matt ventured forward, Damien stayed put, wand still at the ready. Just in case whatever was coming after them magically appeared behind them. He never thought to look infront of him, but figured Matt would've had things well in hand up there.

And then he heard Matt's voice mention -- an umbrella??

He turned around and walked up the corridor where Matt was talking to a girl around their age. Sure enough she had an umbrella in hand, making a sort of scratch/scrape notice along the stone walls of the corridor.

"Is she the mysterious sound?" he asked.

India glanced at Matt and couldn't help to control the laughter that came. "Why do I have an umbrella? Oh...I don't want the muck on the ceiling falling one me today...never know whats in it" she glanced at the jar in her hand and quickly tucked it into her bag. Right.

So not collecting wall goop. Nope. Not at all.

And then another person their age walked up - hufflepuff she recognized him from a class or somewhere? The great hall maybe.

"She has a name. I'm India Johanson" she smiled. Her Australian accent pouring through in her words. Had he noticed I was dancing and singing to a song from the 19-whatevers? She thought biting her lip and cocking her head to the side like a confused or rightfully puzzled puppy.

"Mysterious sound? I didn't hear anything?"

As soon as he heard Damien ask about Dia possibly being the source of the mysterious sound, Matt merely raised an eyebrow; had the mystery been solved already? He lowered the wand and quickly casted finite so that the corridor would go dark once again, now that he knew that there wasn't anything to be scared of. "Well that does make sense, however odd it might sound." He noticed the jar that she had put away rather quickly and it definitely arose some suspicion, there was another explanation for what she was doing down here with an umbrella but the question was what.

"You didn't? Well.. that must be because you were causing the sound." He was sure of it. There wasn't the proof though and he wasn't content with wrapping this whole mystery up until there was the actual proof that she had been the one that caused the sound which began this whole investigation.

Dia scrunched her forehead for a second when thinking. Maybe the umbrella was scraping. Oooh poor froggie! She thought biting her lip. "Um, maybe my frog's eye hit the roof?" She offered with a shrug of the shoulder.

Or it was me scraping on the walls with this little knife...but thats another story. She thought smiling nervously. They couldn't see her face could they? Right. It was so dark right now.

Dark? That wasn't good was it. The drip drip drooop sound of water falling from the room started again. Humph. And now the answer for the umbrella. They were under the lake. Lake means water. Water means pressure which means wet drippy-rocks...and eventual crashing of rocks.

EEP. She didn't want a cave in. Not good.

The dark also meant something else. The spray she'd sprayed on the wall to make the viable tufted Barbula moss - the kind she was trying to transport and grow in her dorm and use for potions. The moss on the wall began to glow bright green.

Merlins Beard. Not now. Not when people were around. People who'd go all you know herbs?

Arabella-Marie smiled at Laci and said "Well my favourite thing to do at Hogwarts is to play qudditch but i also love to explore the castle and try to find places that havent been discovered yet"

Aria had never been to this part of the castle. She's been quite lazy and considering that this is where Hunter lives, she didn't she want to run into him just yet. Yes, she was still very upset with him but who wouldn't be? He nearly killed her! Either way she decided to explore the dungeons even if she happened to run into Hunter.

Hunter flounced out of the Slytherin Common Room and into the dungeon corridor. He wanted to get a bit of exercise in before he found his way towards the great hall for dinner. He had been eating a whole lot more ever since the incident the other day. Every time Aria even entered his mind, he would go down to the great hall to get something to eat. Right after though, he'd spend hours walking around the school trying to burn calories. Normally, he'd go down to the lake and swim for a few hours but after the last time he went there, he could barely even get near it. 'I can't even imagine how Aria must feel right now.' At least once a day he would think about her and he'd play the whole thing back in his head. How he pushed her, how she rolled in, how he stood there and just watched. Of all the things he could've done, he WATCHED. What a horrible person he was. Luckily, Mikey jumped in just in time. Now he was kind of scared of what the girl would do to him if she ever saw him again.

Just the thinking about the whole thing all over again killed him so he decided he would skip the exercise for the day and just go straight towards the great hall. A snack right before dinner wouldn't hurt much. As he walked down the hall he noticed someone further down who looked all too familiar. "Of course." He said to himself, almost yelling at the world for doing this to him. Hunter sauntered up to Aria and just looked at her, waiting for her first words to hit him. Nothing could be worse than what he was already expecting.

Of course Hunter would be there, he did live in the dungeons after all. Aria just rolled her eyes as he made his way over to her. She expected him to say something to her but he just stood there staring at her. "You know people usually start conversations with a greeting. Why are you staring set me like that?" She looked him over and couldn't help but notice his facial expression. Did Hunter Pierce feel bad about pushing her into the lake? Nahhh. "So I see you've been stuffing your face, fatty" She said as she patted his stomach.

Okay. Yeah. This was definitely unexpected. She wasn't even being mean to him! Well...she was...but it was her usual mean! Real mean would just be ignoring him altogether. When she called him fatty and patted his noexistent stomach/abs he forced his smile back down. "Um...uh...I....and you're..." That wasn't going to work out. He took a step back and breathed. There. "Excuse me, ma'am, but you know as well as I do that I am so far away from being fat. That'll never change!" Now he really was smiling. He hadn't really gained any weight.

Then he stood in silence for a second, trying to figure out why exactly she wasn't yelling at him uncontrollably. "Uh...so...what're you doing down here, darling? Got lonely?" He winked at her because he knew that would get something out of her.

Why was he acting so weird? In all the time that she's known Hunter she has never seen him act like this. Then again she hasn't known him very long. AShe cringed when he called her ma'am. "Ewwww don't call me that. It makes me feel old" Usually people call grandmas ma'am right? "Riiiiiight" she rolled her eyes and leaned on a wall nearby. "Oh yes I was very lonely and I just couldn't stay away from you so I fame to ask you if you wanted to push me into the lake again." she rolled her eyes again.

He couldn't help but laugh at Aria. Old? "Well, you are old. But you already know that, don't you?" The girl had to be older than him. His young good looks couldn't compare to her older-not-quite-as-young-as-Hunter good looks! And then Aria decided it was finally time to mention her near-death experience. Hunter stepped back further from her, but in doing so he tripped over his foot and fell backwards on his butt. "Aria, you have no idea how sorry I am. Really and truly and honestly." He slid back so that he could lean his head up against the wall. "You said you could swim." Suddenly his stomach growled and he had a huge craving for a turkey leg.

Old? Aria wasn't old! She was barely 15! "I'm not old " she said as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah yeah you keep saying sorry but I think you need to make it up to me" Now how would he make it up to her? Maybe she'll make him carry her books around for her. Or even better make him her personal slave. "If Mikey knew that I was lying then I would've thought you would take the hint too" Boys these days...

"And I bet you're still older than me." It was still hard to be sure with how the girl acted towards everything though. They were fifth years, not first years, after all. Not that he was really any better.' Hunter looked up at Aria, wondering how serious she could possibly be. "I really didn't know you were lying!" It's never good to lie because it gets a person in trouble. Did she not learn that when she was younger? He sighed and then decided the least he could do was pay her back. "Alright, fine. What is it you want me to do?" Maybe it would involve food because the longer he sat there the hungrier he grew. "Mikey's different! We grew up differently!" That probably didn't matter much but it was still worth a try. Hunter rubbed his temples, feeling a massive headache slowly coming on. "Sit down, would you? Looking up at you and arguing is giving me a headache."

Cornelius found that note in his dorm just an hour ago. It was sitting on his bed (most mysteriously), waiting for him with a blue ribbon wrapped around it. And he couldn't stop smiling. What was wrong with him?

In his hands he clutched the hand-drawn map Aspen had been kind enough to include in her note, instructing him on where to turn and how to find his way into the dungeons. As he entered the Dungeon corridor, he was slightly unsure if he was in the right place. The map seemed to end where he was, but part of him was worried that maybe he had stopped too soon or had gone too far.

And so there he stood, dressed in his weekend, casual muggle clothes of a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, one hand holding onto this map of Aspen's and the other running through his short hair absentmindedly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius found that note in his dorm just an hour ago. It was sitting on his bed (most mysteriously), waiting for him with a blue ribbon wrapped around it. And he couldn't stop smiling. What was wrong with him?

In his hands he clutched the hand-drawn map Aspen had been kind enough to include in her note, instructing him on where to turn and how to find his way into the dungeons. As he entered the Dungeon corridor, he was slightly unsure if he was in the right place. The map seemed to end where he was, but part of him was worried that maybe he had stopped too soon or had gone too far.

And so there he stood, dressed in his weekend, casual muggle clothes of a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, one hand holding onto this map of Aspen's and the other running through his short hair absentmindedly.

Aspen was at least marginally aware that asking her new friend to meet her in THE creepiest part of the castle was probably a weird idea. When you add that she had extinguished most of the torches in this certain stretch of the corridor - AND that she was clutching a bat in her hands, blanketed in total darkness.... well, the weird and creepy was adding up.

"This way," Aspen whispered, her voice carrying in waves of echoes from herself to Cornelius. He was partly lit still, having just entered the corridor, so she had no problem spotting him once he arrived. For once, he seemed worried. "Come this way. Your eyes will adjust. About ten big steps will do it."

Cornelius gave a jump of his shoulders as he suddenly heard Aspen's whisper, instructing him farther into the dark corridor. This was a more creepy meet up than he had expected, and so he stared into the darkness with slight alarm on his expression for a moment before listening to Aspen's reassuring words as she instructed him forward and assured him that his eyes would adjust with ten big steps.

"Okay..." he muttered with a weak smile, still unable to see Aspen at all in the mostly unlit corridor. Instinctively, he outstretched both of his hands before him as he took those ten large steps into the dark, tucking the map into his back pocket so his hands were free to do so.

It was around the seventh step that he began to worry that maybe he had passed by Aspen entirely, now immersed in total darkness as his hands moved through the air slowly, searching for either Aspen herself or a wall to guide himself. "Aspen?" he finally called softly, pausing in his steps.