Time for homework, Bliss thought to herself miserably. She didn't like doing homework, but in the end in was worth it. She knew that. Plus, DADA was one of her favourite subjects aside from CoMC and Potions. They had learnt several spells in that last lesson and it was time to put them into practise. Deciding on the girls' bathroom was a strange choice, but it would hopefully be a quieter place to practise. She wouldn't get in other people's way and they wouldn't get in hers.

Bliss pushed the door open and pretty much stopped dead. For two reasons. One, water suddenly came and pretty much washed over her feet, there were puddles everywhere. She had no idea why, it didn't looked like an accident. If it was, the girl hanging from the wall would have cleared it up. And that was point two. There was a girl clinging to the wall. "Hey," Bliss called up, in case the girl hadn't noticed her. She shut the door behind and took a step further into the bathroom before continuing. "Are you practising the spells for DADA too?" She asked curiously, she assumed that the girl was. Why else would she be stuck to the walls?

Just chilling on the way, Kurumi slowly removed her wand hand from the wall and tested the durability of her charmwork. Seemed to be holding, but just to be safe Kurumi wouldn't climb any higher. Wand locked in her fingers Kurumi practiced the inverted U shape a few times before figuring she ought to give the spell a try. Worst that could happen would be that she would end up with sausage fingers again like Nessie had given her.

Just as Kurumi was about to speak, the door to the bathroom open and and Kurumi looked over her shoulder to see that she had been joined by a Hufflepuff. "Oh, hey Bliss," Kurumi said, waving slightly. "I am, you want to practice together?" They could probably turn it into some sort of game.

Wand still in her hand, Kurumi returned her attention to her own and practiced the wand movement again. Pausing for a moment with the wand movement, Kurumi muttered the incantation to herself. "Petrificus Digitirus...Petrificus Digitirus...Petrificus Digitirus." Kurumi was sort of just putting things off at the moment - the image of sausage fingers still rather prominent in her mind.

Myrtle had spent like a bunch of time in this bathroom already this term, and now was no different. Usually she was busy turning on all the taps and flooding the place, but right now? Right after her big part in trapping the ghosts?

Right now she was busy standing in front of one of the mirrors, brushing her hair with an imaginary transparent brush, of course. The ghost tightened up her pigtails and then ran her fingers through each, de-tangling them one at time.

She may or may not have been humming as well... hey, she was waiting for someone!

Following the crowd, Kurumi made her way to the girls' bathroom with the brooch levitating close beside her. She had administered a Polishing Charm several times to clean it up while on the way, but she hadn't really stopped to look and see if any of the runic writing was still on it. She was too busy keeping an eye out for any flesh eating plant vines or entities that were trying to take over the school. You know, just your average day walking the corridors of Hogwarts and all that.

Cautiously, the seventh year stepped into the girls' bathroom, making sure not to make too much noise and perhaps startle anyone inside. Right now they really could not afford Myrtle vanishing through a wall and running away. It still felt weird not having her familiar with her...although she wasn't so sure it would be a good thing if he were here. Chances are he would have peed on someone in frustration by now because of all the noise and movement.

Flicking her wand a bit more, Kurumi moved the brooch to the side so no one would accidentally run into and...get sucked in?

FREEDOM! That was what the common room smelled like instead of urine when the red head woman who smelled like pancakes had walked it and said the place was fixed. Whatever that meant. Human things were always speaking funny-like and only his Mistress ever made sense. Stopping mid-pee on someone's pillow, Walnut and bolted out of there as fast as he could to find his Mistress. Thankfully he had a strong sense of smell and was able to find here...in a bathroom?

How positively...human.

Strut!waddling his way in, the kneazle quickly brushed himself up against his Mistress' leg and began to purr. Feed us fish flakes now, please?

Feeling something rub her leg, Kurumi covered her mouth with one hand to muffle a squeak that almost slipped out as she looked down to see..."WALNUT!" she whispered as she bent down to pick up her kneazle and hug him close. THANK MERLIN!

It was only then that Kurumi noticed Myrtle...brushing her hair? Kurumi then glanced over at all the other student leaders and the Headmistress and in a low whisper asked, "Is she...getting ready for a date?" At least that is how she had seen girls in the dorms look when they were getting ready for dates.

Getting ready for a date .... WITH ISFRET?!

Eyeing the levitating brooch, Nessie walked along with the rest. That brooch all of a sudden now had a sort of frightening sense to it and the thought of touching it was terrifying. Best to stay away from it then. As for the panicking, Nessie felt a little calmer now. Her heart was still beating at a faster pace then usual, but she didn't feel the need to scream anymore. They had an adult with them and that meant things were a little more under control.

Softly and as quietly as she could Nessie followed after Kurumi into the girls bathroom. She almost burst into a fit of giggles when she saw what Moaning Myrtle was doing, but she knew that would frighten and possibly insult the ghost, so instead she tried her best to keep her mouth shut. It wasn't very easy, but the sight of Walnut distracted her and Puffles too.

At the sight of yet another cat the pygmy puff began bouncing up and down and tugging on his owner's shoulder. He was frightened. This one looked much brighter than the other two cats around, but either way he didn't like those weird creatures with their triangular ears.

They were vicious, okay?

What didn't these human people get about that? Could they not see these cats had paws and teeth that were dangerous? Once one even tried to eat him IT WAS AWESOME! ...for the cat that was. And some people still thought he was scary? Pshht! Puffles didn't understand these humans. He didn't even understand his own human half the time. She was really weird, but he did like her red hair, which was exactly why at the sight of all these cats he stayed hidden behind there slightly shaking from fear.

He was safe here, behind Nessie's hair right? He hoped so.

Feeling the little pygmy puff crawl even more behind her hair made Nessie sigh just a bit. She didn't mind him there, it just wasn't the most comfortable thing and right now with all the things that had just happened she wanted to have at least one thing her way. Argh! He was scared she had no option but to deal with him there. The red head instead turned her focus to what Kurumi was whispering.

Ready for a date? Snort. The red head couldn't help it, it was funny.

Kurumi's question did make sense though, because many girls were like that right before seeing a boy they crushed on. Ness knew this from experiences of going to Mr. Williamsons classes last year."Might be. I know I'd do that if I were going on one." Ness whispered and then looked at the rest, waiting for their in put on this too.

Sierra was no longer in the mood to play games. She stalked into the bathroom, Hissy Fit directly behind her, and scanned the area for the loo-living ghost. The prefect was in full-on Slytherin mode, and she was prepared to go all 'cunning, ambitious, and determined' on this ghost.

...and there was the little transparent traitor herself. Sierra paused and listened to the discussion going on between Kurumi and Nessie. She wrinkled her nose at the very thought. A ghostly date? What did that consist of? Sierra sighed and turned back to the ghost.

Then she cleared her throat. "Err..., excuse me? Myrtle?" she asked. Right. She was in no mood to play games.

...unless Isfret came back out and that brooch started spinning again. Then it was three steps backward, turn around, and haul bananas.

It was a bad decision to put her cat down as she followed everyone out the spirit room. Now both of her cats were positioned at her feet making her stumble and grumble as she walked. When the second floor corridor came to view, she picked up Cuddles again and slowed her pace as they pushed open the door and into the girls' bathroom...

... where Myrtle was tending to her hair in front of a mirror. Huh. She definitely didn't expect to find the ghost here, in the most obvious place. And more importantly, she didn't expect her to be humming and so happy about it. Louisa moved to the side allowing the others behind her to walk in. No one talked for a second then Sierra cleared her throat and went ahead. This should be fun. The Ravenclaw kept quiet, cautious not to ruin whatever they did not plan on doing with the ghost. So she just stood there stroking the cat in her arms and feeling the other one's warm body pressed against her leg.

So Selina was not exactly well versed in the whole Muggle cinema thing, she was still confused how they put the people in the box thing, but she had seen enough scary muggle films with Kurumi to know that this was a bad idea. It was like in all of those movies when the dumb group of teenagers heard a scary noise and said "hey you know what would be smart? Investigating!" Yeah, all of THOSE idiots ended up dead. And now Selina was one of those idiots. Oh Merlin, WHY were they walking into the mouth of the wolf? Weren't they all supposed to be smarter then that? This was such a horrible idea. And the funny one always went first, which meant that Selina was done for. Ugh, sigh.

As they entered the bathroom, which Mrytle must have thought was a beauty salon, she saw that Walnut had arrived. OH THANK MERLIN! Walnut was more entertaining then Selina. Maybe he would go first and give Selina time to run. Yeah, they could totally do that... oh no, wait. Walnut was KURUMI'S cat and that would be bad. Darnit. Ugh, they were all goners.

Standing next to the cat, she just waited for Myrtle to answer Sierra's question. Eh, who cared anyway? They were all sitting ducks.

Anastasia almost wished she had worn flatter shoes as she crept into Myrtle's hidey hole bathroom. Then again, the more removed she was from the germs on this floor, the better. So what if the ghost heard her approaching. They needed ANSWERS.

Apparently Greingoth was thinking the same way. The Headmistress gave the Prefect a nod of approval and then cleared her throat.

"We'll only take a minute, Miss Myrtle..." she shivered internally at the fact that she was addressing a ghost so politely, "but we need to know more about this 'Isfret' friend of yours. How did he get here, WHY is he here, WHAT is he doing here, etc."

There was a long moment's pause during which the headmistress did NOT fail to notice the lack of boys present. Well that was hardly going to help their case; Myrtle was NOTORIOUS for only listening to the other gender. She had noticed it herself whenever the ghost had gone out of her way to visit her husband. So she tacked on a big smile and added, "Please."

Milton hardly knew what was going on anymore. He just knew they needed to get the ghosts OUT of the brooch, but apparently they had to talk to creepy old whiny Myrtle about that. Which brought them to the girls' bathroom. When they arrived, Milton stopped at the door way and narrowed his eyes. It smelled... GIRLY. Milton cautiously slipped his foot in the doorway and wiggled it a little to see if there was any anti-boy boundaries that would shoot him out of the bathroom. Since there wasn't any that he detected, Milton stepped fully into the bathroom and followed the girls and the headmistress.

And Myrtle was... doing her hair? Okay. That was a girly thing to do, he supposed. But no one was talking to her, except Sierra, but her Slytherin definitely wasn't showing enough. SIGH. Luckily, the headmistress spoke up. Milton crossed his arms and eyed the ghost. "Yeah. What she said. Please."

Following the parade of Prefects and Captains, lead by the Headmistress, Dylan sighed in relief. To be out of that room...The Slytherin felt he could actually breath...And he had not been out of line for his discomfort. But because of reasons...he was going to continue on with it just a bit...And the fact that they were now playing detective was not helping. He had homework to do...and a "care" not to give.

Honestly.

All the girls in the troupe seemed to be asking questions first...Of course, they were further into the bathroom and could see what Dylan couldn't. Apparently Myrtle was getting ready for a date...The Slytherin just stood there, amused for some reason. This whole thing was......weird. Didn't anyone else think it was just WEIRD?

...And then Milton was saying something and the Slytherin had to laugh. He'd read books about Myrtle, of course...She was probably the most...sensitive of all the ghosts at Hogwarts...and that type of thing needed to be dealt with in a certain way. Clearly, either he or Mildew would have to...handle this...She'd most likely be more... susceptible to them asking...

Nudging his way further into the bathroom, with apologizes to whomever had been standing there, he got a better view of what was happening within the bathroom. Yes, she was standing there...at the sink...brushing her hair. Sending a look at Mildew, Dylan arched his brow, nodding at Myrtle.

Come on, Milton...Charm her...

Even though the whole situation was creepy and weird...one could not help but to be amused. Had he fallen asleep and fallen into some freaky dream...because this definitely felt that way.

Myrtle sawwwwww the reflections of the intruders n her bathroom in the mirror she was looking into. She only pauseeeed in her hair-brushing, though, and slowly turned her head all the way around to blink owlishly at them.

So many GIRLS in this girls' bathroom. They didn't even have enough STALLS to accommodate them all. Myrtle let out a soft scoffing sound and swooped up to above eye-level for all the girrrrrrrrlssss trying to talk to her.

She was mostly ignoring all the Headmistress' questions, and hadn't even been planning to respond, but then a boyyyyyy spoke up. Ooh la la, when had theyyyy gotten there?

"This is just like old timessss," Myrtle bubbled, flicking one pigtail over her shoulder and floating down to stand next to the Quidditch captaaaaains. She fluttered her eyelashes at the one that hadn't spoken yet, too, just in case he got any ideas. Good ideas. "I haven't seen a REAL boy in my bathroom in YEARSSSSSSSSS."

She giggled again. "Isfret was here waaaaay before I got here," she informed the Headmistress in a snobbish tone. "He was here before any of us, and then the ghosts all turned their backs on him! So ruuuude! What was he SUPPOSED to do then?"

Kurumi edged towards Milton and sort of gave him a jab in the side while holding on to Walnut with her other arm. "Work the smirk," she whispered to him. He was supposed to be the smooth one, right?

And then Myrtle spoke - or wailed - at them about Isfret being at 'here' longer than any of the other ghosts. Here as in...Hogwarts here? Or in ghostly existence here? She was probably in over thinking mode again. Best to just shut up and ask what were probably the more important questions.

"Myrtle, what do you mean they turned their back on Isfret? Do you mean that they...abandoned him?"

Milton watched Myrtle come down and tried not to make a face at her. She was apparently their only key to learning about this Isfret dude and Merlin knew what would happen if Milton or anyone else offended her in the least bit. Old times? Real boy? Milton was assuming she meant LIVING boy...

He listened to Myrtle and eyed Kurumi when she jabbed him. "Ow," he grumbled under his breath. Wait... Work the smirk? Work the smirk?! Kurumi wanted Milton to flirt the answers out of Myrtle?! Ugh. Shudder. MEH.

Milton took a deep breath and turned to the ghost. "Myrtle," he said in an uncharacteristically kind voice... He edged closer to her and tried not to DIE. "How exactly did the ghosts turn their backs on Isfret? And why did they think he deserved it?"

Considering the WEIRD situation, all Dylan felt he could really do was eye Myrtle. He'd been correct in his thinking, of course...if her eyelash-batting was any indication. Yea, he was fighting a massive eyeroll at the moment. The power had shifted...and he felt more comfortable. It was easier for Dylan to deal when he knew someone (or in this case someTHING) liked him.

...and Cookie seemed to have picked up on the boy-craze...because she was nudging Mildew.

Yes, his competitor's voice did sound...nice...but didn't he know flirting was more than just a tone? SCOFF. As a Slytherin boy...who just happened to be best mate's with Richard Turner...he knew firsthand about these things.

Cue a secret smile and slight lip-biting action...

"You know, Myrtle..." The Slytherin hoped his voice was reflecting the proper interest. "...you do look really nice tonight. I hope we won't be holding you up too much..." ...because Dylan did NOT want to be here if this...Isfret showed up. He just might have a heart attack. COUGH. "You wouldn't mind helping us out...just a little bit, would you?" WINK.

Louisa couldn't help but feel smug that her suggestion was working oh-so-well so far. Even Mr. I-am-the-captain-and-hate-you-all was doing a great job of wooing the ghost. AND HE WINKED! Okay that SO should be put in the yearbook forever and ever. She turned a bit to contain the giggles starting to surface in her chest as both boys cautiously continued to talk to the ghost.

Wasn't it really obvious that Myrtle didn't want to reply to girls? The Ravenclaw leaned against one of the stall's door and waited. So far they knew that Isfret was here before any of the ghosts, and somehow they turned their backs on him. HMMM. Louisa failed to see why this was THEIR problem. Couldn't the ghosts go somewhere and, like, sort out their differences? She started playing with Viola by her feet, poking her gently with her toe.

LOLOLOLOLOL!

The fifth year couldn't help but smirk as she watched both Milton AND Dylan flirting with Myrtle. This was absolutely hillarious and she couldn't wait to talk about this in front of certain people.

Back to being serious though. Isfret. What did Myrtle know about him?

Renesmee now put on her serious face and actually fully listened to what was going on. Isfret was here long before any of them? Hmm..That must have been years and years ago. Pout. As for the ghosts turning their back on him there had to be a good reason for that. One that hopefully Myrtle knew.

All they now needed was for her to talk and seeing as Dylan and Milton seemed to be doing that with their flirting, Ness kept her mouth shut and just absorbed what was being said.

Selina could not believe that this was happening right now. For a minute she was convinced that she was going to die and was terrified at the prospect of that happening, now she was welcoming it. Milton and Dylan were making her sick. They were seriously going to try and charm a ghost? Ick. That was so disgusting. She was a ghost. Was Selina the ONLY one who knew that? Because apparently everyone else was one hundred percent okay with the fact that they were flirting up Myrtle... in a bathroom. Yeah, Selina was not so pleased.

The redhead crossed her arms and stood next to her best friend who was actually encouraging this behavior. It was just not right on so many levels, but she was not going to say anything about this just in case she messed up everyone's chances to get any information out of Myrtle. Everyone would be furious with her if she spoke up and the last thing she needed was someone chewing her ears off about how she ruined their only chance or something like that.

To be completely honest, the ghosts should have just all gotten along and the students would not have been dealing with this right now. They still had their whole lives ahead of them. The ghosts, not trying to be incentive, did not. They should have just left the students out of this and now Dylan AND Milton were in the line of fire. Why the captains? Why always the captains? It was like a bad, muggle movie.

Aww look at how sweet the Captains were beingggg! Myrtle was won over already, and just about melted when the Slytherin one WINKED at her. Hold the owl.....but she had always been partial to Slytherins....like that one time that one boy's snake had looked her in the eye...of course she hadn't lived to tell the tale, him being that Tom Riddle and all...but still. Slytherinnnnnns.

She let out a girly giggle and half-curtsied to the Slytherin. "BOYs are never a hold-up for meeeee, My Captain....of course I'll help you out." she giggled again and then tossed a pigtail toward the Ravenclaw, in case he wanted a 100+ year-old whiff of her perfume. Ghosts still smelled like what they died in, right?

Anyway, the Isfret storyyyy. BORING. Myrtle stifled a yawn before even beginning to talk, then talk she did. "A long long time ago, someone brought some Egyptian stuff to Hogwarts and the magic of the school woke up this ghost guyyyyyy named Isfret, who happened to live in this fancy schmancy brooch." Myrtle's grey eyes flicked toward the redhead who was obsessed with cheap jewellery. "Isfret was like a herrrrrrrrro at first to the ghosts, but then he went bad or something- like I said, I wasn't there, so I didn't get to hear the whole story -and the ghosts did this spelllllll to banish him."

She giggled. Again. "I guess it worked for a whileeee til Isfret got all powerful again. Then of course he had to come back. For revenge!" She tiltled her head sideways and made eyes at the Ravenclaw boyyyy. "Isn't that romaaaaantic?"

Yeah, Myrtle, that was real romantic. Snort. Bunz kept her mouth shut and only rolled her eyes to show her displeasure at having to deal with a ghost at all, though. This was the boys' show. Let them handle the pimply, undead teenager.

As for her... the redhead moved closer to the brooch again, intent on inspecting it for any clues that might be of use. This couldn't be the same brooch that Isfret had originally 'lived in', could it? Was Myrtle really telling the truth? If so, how in Hades were they to get the House Ghosts out of it again??! Only they could tell the spell that was used to shoo Isfret away the first time... right?

"I think there's something there," the redhead whispered, pointing to the brooch and mostly talking to the Hollyberry child. Could she read runes? How 'bout the Head Girl? Anyone? Know Runes?

Kurumi's attention was on Myrtle for the time being, trying to take in everything that was being said and maybe feed Milton some questions to ask because, well, he was Milton the Fake Ravenclaw. Then again, Dylan and him could surely handle this, right?

So many thoughts...so many questions...so many...

But then she was pulled away from that conversation when the Headmistress whispered to her. Reluctantly tearing her violet eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of her, Kurumi adjusted her hold on Walnut and stepped closer to the brooch and squinted just a bit. "I...I do think I see something..." she whispered back while her kneazle's tail swished back and forth. "Question will be whether these are runes or hieroglyphics since the brooch is originally from Egypt..." Kurumi furrowed her brow and took a closer look. "If it's runes I can manage...hieroglyphics would require some library research."

No.

Noooo freaking way.

Sierra did not come into this bathroom to feel sorry for some brooch-dwelling ghost who was out for revenge. Again, she was prepared to go all 'cunning, ambitious, and determined' on these ghosts, and there was no better time to start than now.

Either way, she was NOT about to patronize some ghost.



"...about as romantic as a flobberworm," Sierra remarked.

Just sayin'. "Okay, so look, I have an even better question," Sierra said, finally deciding to speak up. "So it's obvious that you've jumped ship and left Team Hogwarts," she pointed out. "So what's this Isfret have that's so appealing to you? I mean, ...why hang out with him?" Sierra chanced a step or two closer to Myrtle. "You're a Ravenclaw. You've got the smarts. Surely you're not basing this on his offer of friendship alone?" Come on, Claw. We've got a little more faith in you than that. "Think about it, Myrtle. How cool is your friend when nobody knew his name but you?"

She wasn't trying to taunt the ghost. Sierra was honestly wondering what this Isfret was offering.

As she spoke, she also may have scooted Milton and Dylan a little closer in Myrtle's direction. Here. Have a Quidditch captain or two, that scooting seemed to say.



"I think I can manage, too," Sierra said, moving away from Myrtle and a little closer to Sierra. "I mean, it's not my best subject, but I've got six years under my belt." Surely a sixth and seventh year could manage a simple rune reading. Or a difficult one, too, maybe...

Louisa's brow furrowed as Myrtle went on with her tale. Isfret lived in that brooch and a long time ago he awakened the magic in school before any of the ghosts. The alive Ravenclaw tried to remember anything like that taught in History class but nothing really rang a bell. She continued to stare at Myrtle for an extra moment when her attention snapped back to the headmistress saying she saw something on the brooch. Louisa put Cuddles down next to Viola and took a few steps forward, trying to take a peek at it.

Oh, Egyptian runes. That was challenging. "I can help with the research too. Are the runes or.. the symbols too complex to copy on a parchment?" She didn't see yet but since the brooch was too dangerous to carry around the school, Louisa figured it was the best option. "We should try do that and then move to the library and see what we can find there." Her eyes were on the headmistress. Yes? No? Another idea? The girls were useless sitting here anyways, Myrtle was ignoring them and swooning over the two captains.

Oh Merlin, they HAD to be joking. Not only were they in some horror movie scenario where they were dealing with the big, bad, Egyptian Mummy guy or something like that, but now they had to go to the library too? Nope, that was it. The redhead was just going to sit on the bathroom floor until Isfret came to get her because there was no way she was going to the library. That place was not her cup of tea and it was not a required class- The-History-Of-The-Creepy-Jewelry- so she really did not see the point of going to the library. Luckily for everyone Kurumi was well versed in the library, her best friend practically lived there, so with her spearheading the whole research aspect they were bound to find something. Except Selina was NOT going to the library. Kurumi and her helpers could do that all on their own.

Now if they were going to need some help with flying or yelling or eating Selina would have been the perfect person to help. However, the redhead had never been particularly good with runes, it was a lot of jumbled symbols for her, so she would be of no help. And she really did want to help and not die at the same time. It seemed like she was good for about nothing in this endeavor.

...Kitchens, maybe?

So she just stood their quietly as the two male captains flirted up a dead girl and the other prefects discussed going to the library to do some research on ancient symbols. Yep, just another day at Hogwarts.

See, Milton didn't care that he sucked at flirting with dead people. He was totally okay with that. So, props to you, Montmorency. Milton listened intently to Myrtle's whole [s]boring[s] story and crossed his arms over his chest. Yeah... SO romantic. Milton gave the ghost a LOOK, like she was crazy. Because, well, she was. "Right, well, thanks for that," he muttered and turned to the rest of the people with the brooch.

RUNES. Ugh. Milton wasn't good with runes among other things. "I have a question..." Milton said slowly, narrowing his eyes at the Headmistress. "How do we know you aren't all behind this, Truebridge?" HMMM? Milton gave her a LOOK and continued, "I mean, it IS kind of suspicious that you have this ghost-sucking brooch, right? And maybe your whole 'ohnoIlostmypreciousbrooch'-" said with an obnoxiously high pitched voice "-thing was all an ACT. HUH? And maybe you're working for this Isfret bloke to steal all the ghosts and eat professors and animals and WHAT'S NEXT, US?! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Especially at HOGWARTS. Way too mainstream.