Isabelle listened to all of these theories. She still had her own. Isabelle didn't care how weird it sounded. "I still think it's an alien communicator," she stated to all the younger people that had gathered around her and her fellow Slytherin. "I don't care what you all think," like maybe thinking that Izzy was some crazy Seventh Year Slytherin who didn't know anything at all. Which could be a bit true.

Then she heard the other theory. It was controlling the creatures. "Genius little kid," she said to the younger Hufflepuff. Now it was time to combine the theories. "It's aliens communicating with the forbidden forest animals and somehow influencing them to come out of the forest," okay well now Isabelle sounded like a bit of a psycho, but whatever.

Nate looked down at the shining orb. He had to hold in the expression and motion of oh shiny object! Anyways he then knew what question he should ask "Orb thing if you can here us move left for yes and right for no. So here is the question. Are you the thing that is making all of the creatures flee from the forest? If so tell us now." Nate was curios to find this whole thing out. Then he remembered about the book. "Guys I have another question to ask it." Nate said as he was pulling out the book from it's bag. "Orb do you know about this book?" Nate asked while holding it int front of the orb.

QUOTE Anna Bananna

"Alright, well...have at it," she said. "Ask anyway." Then she bent down and pushed the orb forward with a little roll. "See where it leads you..."

Wait, Stop what are you doing! Olivia ran after the orb and grabbed it. We were just about to ask it a question!

Olivia liked this seventh year, she diddnt take things too seriously. Unlike Olivia who sneered when Nate was called a genius. The Slytherin tried!

She giggled at Isabele's responce.


QUOTE Natethegreat

Olivia had an answer to this question "Well a few days ago, I lost my Pygmy Puff. So maybe we should ask if it knows where it is.".
Olivia sighed, she wanted to keep the orb but the better thing to to would be to tell a teacher, she just diddnt know which one would know what to do with it. "I dont think the others will want to look in the library. "but which teacher are we going to go to, the headmaster?" Olivia replied.

Nate had been leaning on the wall, simply watching the controlled chaos unfold. It was unlike him not to just jump right in on something when it was starting to happen, but he still held back as long as he could. Eventually, he lost his control. "Guys, do any of you actually know anything about the orb? Or are we just hypothesizing here? If it's just that, I have my own theory," he introduced, not even bothering with a name, or even a reason to be there. It was down to business for the Ravenclaw. "I think this little orb has nothing to do with the creatures leaving the Forbidden Forest. I think that there's actually something else in the forest that was driving the creatures out, and it's using this seemingly harmless orb as a decoy. Although..." he turned to face the older Slytherin "...I think it could, somehow, possibly, maybe, by some chance have to do slightly with aliens." There. That was sufficiently vague and confusing. The one thing Nate didn't try to do, beside confuse everyone and thrust himself into the conversation, was reach for the orb. That could start a fight for all he knew. Or it could just decide to blow up and they'd all die.

Nate got slightly more worried. He decided to ask all of them a question. "Have any of you heard of a book called the book of mysteria?" Nate was curios if that was helping to cause this to. Nate thought. He did have it in the vegetable patch. Then again the creatures were there before him. Nate started to really think about this one.

Nate looked a but puzzled, still watching the orb as the Hufflepuff asked his question. "The Book of Mysteria? No... Why? Is it important?" he asked.

"An alien communicator?" Sierra asked, in her are-you-freaking-kidding-me tone. "Well if the aliens are trying to communicate with us, they're doing a lousy job at it. Their communicator is running away." ... She'd roll her eyes, but this girl was a Slytherin, so Sierra would actually be decent for a little while.



Sierra just shrugged. If this lot wanted to get their pants in a twist over this orb, then they could have at it. She tuned out during the whole question asking thing. What did they think this was? A gift from Merlin? Something told Sierra that if Merlin had something to say, he find a much better way of doing it than through a runaway ball.

Tuning back in, she said, "We could take it to our Head of House." Then again, that would mean Sierra would have to put much more consideration into this orb than she wanted to. Alien communicator? A message from the beyond? Nothing really added up to her...



"So if there's some other force doing something ridiculous and idiotic to the creatures, why are we all standing around fussing over this orb?" she asked. "I say we just let it go. I'd be interested to see where it was heading..." Unless it rolled right on into the Forbidden Forest. Then it could go hiking all on its own.



Again, Sierra shrugged. "Nope, ...why?" she asked. Were they now looking for answers in some library book? She was no Ravenclaw... Couldn't they just forget the orb and leave the creatures alone? Who cared if they roamed wild and free? So as long as they didn't get near Sierra, she could care less what they did. She and creatures went together like...well, orbs and castles.

Once the orb was out of the Slytherin's hands and down on the ground again, it immediately dimmed into a dark, dark color and remained perfectly still. It was as if the orb could hear the children's thoughts and had decided, for some reason, not to play along with their hypotheses and games.

After a few very dull moments, the orb did roll once more, however, but only from one Slytherin female to the other. It seemed to rotate between the one named Isabelle and the one named Olivia, as if it were wanting to be plucked up off the ground again.

The orb's wish was quickly answered by the girl named Olivia, who picked it up suddenly. The little white bulb started glowing brightly once more, its light so shiny and warm that it just invited all the students to stare at it.

Nate looked at the orb very very closely. He didn't like that thing. Uh-uh. Not at all. He thought that this thing should be brought to one of the teachers. Maybe even the headmaster. They should know what to do with it. Even better they should know what it is. Especially Thereos. He studies this type of stuff right? So why can't we take it to him. Problem solved. Why can't we just do that Nate thought. It would be the easiest solution.

Alyssa was walking in the corridor when she saw a group of students looking down at something. She saw Sierra standing there along with Nate and some other students. Something was shining brightly like a light bulb. She peeked over Sierra's shoulder to see....an orb!! She looked at all the faces of the students and they were all staring down at it...like they were in awe...or mesmerized by it's light. She tugged on Sierra's sleeve and asked her,"What is that thing all of you are staring at? Where did it come from?"

That was kind of creepy, the orb just turned a dark shade. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all, maybe it was totally harmless. But she still asked it a question to be sure. "Do you know anything about where Flippert is?" she asked it quietly. The second year was being very nieve about the whole ordeal, but she was very curious as well. This thing better not fall into the wrong hands.

Nate was still a bit transfixed on the ball, especially as the light levels emanating from it changes so drastically. "So, what were you saying about this Book of Mysteria? It sounds like fiction to me," he said matter-of-factly. Even though he believed in magic (he sort of had to, being a wizard and all), he was still skeptical of divination. After all, it wasn't the most proven branch of magic, like charms and transfiguration were. Those actually worked. As he stood there, watching the orb glow brighter and brighter in the Slytherin's hands, Nate leaned over and whispered into Jez's ear, "This thing seems to have a sentience all its own..."

You know what, this wasn't such a big deal after all. She was getting way too carried away with something that diddn't even concearn her. Olivia just set it back on the ground, before it could answer her quetion. Maybe it would just roll away by it's self. "Never mind, It probly won't answer anyway". She noticed that it seemed to glow more when the people were holding it or talking to it.

Sierra's eyes flickered back to the orb. An orb. What in the name of Merlin was an orb anyway? Sure, it looked like a glowing ball, but what was an orb? Sierra took a tiny step toward the orb and looked at it some more. "It's almost like it's trying to tell us something," she said, pointing to the orb. "It keeps dulling then growing brighter."



Sierra was so mesmerized by the sight of the orb that she jumped just a little when someone tugged on her sleeve. Turning around just enough to see who it was, Sierra spotted Alyssa, that Puffer she'd been in class with for at least a few years now. "An orb," Sierra said with a shrug. "That's all we know, ...and it came rolling down the corridor." Truth. No one seemed to know much else, except that one of the Ravenclaws found it a few days earlier.



Then suddenly, and for no real reason that Sierra could see, the Slytherin with the orb suddenly released it, just like Sierra had some time earlier. She looked down at the orb then back up to the girl. "I don't know. Maybe it'll start rolling on its own again. It seemed to be heading somewhere earlier...," she said aloud. She still thought they should just let it go and see where it went.

Jez had been silent while the other students examined the ball. She nodded when Nate whispered to her, but mostly her attention was fixed on the orb. As soon as the Slytherin girl set it down, Jez picked it up again. "It's not going to tell us anything," she said flatly. "Not in a crystal ball way, anyway. It might have a mind of its own," she nodded to the fourth-year girl, "it might not. But we're not going to find out just by looking at it rolling around and hope it does something significant."

Jez took a deep breath, not quite believing she was saying this. "I'm going to take it to the Headmaster. Tate'll know what to do with it - I hope. Anyone want to come?" She glanced around at the others. Nate, had her back, she knew that, but just in case anyone else wanted to come ... open-ended invitation.

"Let's go then, it looks like nobody else is listening to us," Nate said, turning away from the group of other students and leading off toward the steps down to the second floor. That orb was weird in every way. Nate quickly reminded himself what he knew about the orb. Okay, it was in the Forbidden Forest, it gets brighter when it's being held, and it seems to have a mind of its own. But how did we get it, again? He decided that it'd be better to ask Jez, she was smart. "Jez, how did we get here?" He stopped in his tracks at the top of the steps, looking confused. "Seriously, how did we get here?" Nate had no clue. All he knew was that he was standing by some stairs inside Hogwarts castle.

Jez followed Nate to the stairs, and was about to reply when she froze. Just froze. Like she'd been turned to stone. After a few minutes of staring at Nate, her eyes glazed over like she was in another world entirely, she seemed to come to herself again. "We walked, mate," she said casually, like no time at all had passed. "Waaaaaalked. You know, thing you do with your feet." She smiled at him, completely unaware that five minutes of her life had passed without her realising. She walked on past the stairs, then turned back, rubbing her forehead with the hand not clutching the orb. "I ... what are we doing again?" she asked, closing her eyes and trying to remember. She had been ... by the statue ... then walked to the stairs ... hadn't something gone on at the statue? A conversation, a meeting ... Jez didn't know.
She stepped back, disorientated. What was going on here? "Nate, I think I've finally cracked," she mumbled, sitting down on a step and leaning against the banister.

Nate sighed when Jez sat down, and sat himself down right next to her. "No, Jez, you haven't cracked. You can't crack, because you're too crazy as it is! Come on, let's just go up the common room. Maybe you need some rest," he said, sitting there next to Jez for a moment and then standing up and tugging lightly on Jez's sleeve. "Come on, the up stairs are this way!" he teased, still trying to help Jez up. They still had to get to the seventh floor from wherever they were at. Granted, Nate didn't know what floor they were on, but he would recognize the seventh floor when he got there. "Jez? Jez? Come on, stop falling asleep!" Jez was being so lazy today...

Jez rolled her eyes, finally letting herself be pulled up. "What are those Muggle moving staircases called again?" she asked, starting to climb beside Nate. "At times like this I wish our ones could be more like them." When the staircase actually took you where you wanted to go.
"Come on!" she said, suddenly really wanting to get up to the dorms. She took the stairs two at a time, glancing over her shoulder once to check if Nate was following her, then continuing her climb.

OOC: I've posted in the common room

Alyssa nodded. Sierra was smart, so she would know what she was talking about. So she waited with the others to see whether the orb would start rolling to. One thing was for sure though. She made sure not to stare too much at it especially when it started to glow again.

Sierra turned her head to look in the direction of the two Ravenclaws. They were...heading off with the orb? Her eyebrows narrowed inward in slight annoyance. So much for group work... Meh. She was trying hard not to get too annoyed, though. Ravenclaws were generally the ones that didn't annoy her, and she didn't want to eliminate everyone out there from her inner circle of...acquaintances.

So she turned back around to face the others, but as soon as she did, she froze in place, her body no longer moving. She wasn't even blinking. It was as if she was permanently lost in a movement that happened seconds and seconds ago.

Alyssa looked as the Raveclaws left with the Orb. "I thought we were going to fo...." Alyssa couldn't finish her sentence because she somehow couldn't. She looked at Sierra and noticed that she wasn't moving at all. 'Is the same thing happening to me? It can't be because I can still think. Maybe it's because I didn't stare at the Orb as long as she did. But I can't move!!' Alyssa thought to herself.

Sierra remained there, frozen in time, for who knew how long. Not her. When she came to, she wrinkled her eyebrows inward and looked around the area. Spotting a nearly Puffer, she said, "How'd I get here?" Wasn't she just in the common room seconds earlier? Not even realizing the state the other girl was in, Sierra gave a quick "See ya," then headed off down the corridor.

OOC: I'm sorry, but I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back until March 30. I didn't want to leave you hanging that long, so I decloned.

Alyssa stood there frozen in time and then suddenly she wasn't. She looked all around her and saw Sierra walking off. Alyssa couldn't even remember why she was even standing here. Had she been talking to Sierra? She couldn't even remember but when the Slytherin said goodbye, she automatically replied,"Yeah see ya" before continuing down the corridor.