Okay she was flattered because he said excellent and she liked that adjective especially if it was said to her. Did everyone else hear that? That her theory was excellent. Hopefully. The fourth-year leaned back on her seat her chin held up high. Yeah, compliments did that to her. Anyway, she kept her proud and smiling face she kept listening to the others' theories. Wow, everyone had this detective thingy in them. Interesting.

Cassia listened to the three options and considered what would she write about. Hmmm..She reached for her notebook and scribbled the three options and stared at them. Maybe that way it'd be easier to decide.

House-elves' names? See she was going to say the one she knew but they have already been mentioned. Back to her notebook. Unless they were going to do something else?

Kace listened intently to everyone's theories. Some of them were really interesting to listen to, other's made him really think about the problem at hand. He even listened to when the Professor was talking to them about their idea. Kace hoped they could get the house elves back.

Then he heard the Professor move on....So he had three options? Well two and three were pointless because he didn't know the names of the elves but he may try option one. He was good at writing letters. At least that is what his mother told him. Now how was he gonna write the letter.....but he had a question first.

He raised his hand. "Erghhh Professor do you think some the house elves will be offended if we send them letters asking about their lives?" I mean it was a legit question. He didn't wanna be rude.

Then he heard the older students like Minnie give their names. I mean he had seen Tinka around, Well Belle said she did and she said Tinka was a nice house elf. Maybe Kace would write a letter to her?

Now he was stuck between option 1 and 3....which to choose? Maybe one that seemed easier.

Well, this seemed like a very boring class today. As Tag received one of these parchments he let out a long sigh. Couldn't they do something more interesting? Any way, he eyed the parchment. For a second he thought that, maybe after writing their letter, the ink and the words will disappear once it is out of their sight. And, wasn't this Professor know to be shifty. Hmmm.

At last Tag decided to go with the theory of what happened to the elves and what he could do to bring them back. If Tag personally wrote to the elves and Vinteren was up to something, they may not receive it and Tag's work could be a waste. So that's why he chose the final option. He looked around himself and began to think up of theories before he wrote anything at all.

Right...So, Dylan had pulled out his special green ink for this one. He was going to write to whoever stole the deed, of course. There were things he needed to say as a concerned citizen of the wizarding world...because he was totally concerned. It might not have appeared as such...but yea.

Hmm.

Scribble, scribble...

Had to start with the date...and then the name. Naturally, he didn't know who'd stolen the deed...So, in place of that, Dylan had just written 'To whomever was brave enough to steal from Gringott's'. Seriously...they had a dragon guarding vaults and stuff. Dude had to be a brave soul to even consider doing that...

........or stupid. Whichever...or maybe both. Sounded like a Gryffindor to him...

Now, as for the content...Dylan thought on that a moment. He'd need to be diplomatic again. It was annoying when one couldn't just say what they wanted to. All these politics and whatnot...He didn't want to anger the person, either. Don't want them doing something like lashing out against the school...or him personally. Dylan really didn't want that to happen.

Meh. He'd wing it.

Scribble....scribble....scribble....scribble....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren

Um.....and this girl was......? Erik blinked at her jumping and shouting. Was she even old enough to go to this school?

"Sorry," he blinked at her blankly, "you father is...?" And he could help how?

OH man. Teehee! Look who knew MORE than the PROFESSOR. That had to be worth a point or two, no?

"His name is ALBERT. You probably call him MINISTER though, but I call him dad. He's got lots of names like that." BEAM. Merlin she was smart. Where was Toussaint to hear all this knowledge? ANYWAY YEAH so Zahra hadn't asked her dad were the house elves. See, they hadn't been here when she GOT here, so it wasn't like she knew to miss them or really think about them.

"Maybe they just went on vacation. I like the beach. This ONE time I got SOOOOOO sun burned! I was like LOB-STERRRRRR, Sir."

Oh man

Wait for this.

Gryffindor with a MILLION DOLLAR IDEA.

"Sir. We should go on a FIELD trip to the BEACH and SEE.... if the elves are there. No offense to your letter writing, I'm sure that'll work too, but it couldn't HURT to go LOOK for ourselves too. You know?"

YOU KNOW?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Oh, boring!

Theo huffed a tiny huff, then maneuvered himself into a position that was comfy for lots of writing. Theo sucked at writing, but when he had to do it, he liked having his own space and doing it in his own time. Not class time, blah. Anyway, he listened to all of the options and decided to go with the first one. Not that he knew any of the house elf's names other than Toddles. And Toddles didn't count, right?

He sighed, rested the side of his head lazily on the desk, and began writing. Well, I say writing, I mean doing a squiggly line across the top of his page.

Hmm, where to begin.

"WAKE UP, SLEEPY SLYTHERIN!" .....Zahra might have yelled at him. You know. Shook him a little. WAKEY WAKEY HAHAHHAHA.

....then she might have hugged him because that was NOT very nice of her, and nothing said SORRY I YELLED IN YOUR EAR like a HUUUUUG. HUUUUUUUGGGGINNGGGGGGG!!!!

Dylan was writing away...and 'winging it' just as he'd intended. Of course, now that he was rereading over his letter...Well, he was a little worried. It wasn't like him to care too much about opinions...but if the wrong person seen it...it could be very bad for him.

Sigh.

It was finished...but he didn't know about handing it over yet.

"Sir...I've written out my letter...but I'm concerned about who might read it." FROWN. "...I would hate to have repercussions brought down on me for expressing my thoughts and feelings."

Blink.

Could he get some reassurance here?

Theo jolted upright when something screamed in his ear. He wasn't SLEEPING... he was focussing. This is what he meant by doing assignments in his own space and time. The Slytherin GLARED at the girl, who he did not know. "WhatareyouDOING?!" Seriously.... what was.... she was....

HUGGING HIM?

WAHHAT... NOPE... "GRrnnymthhh, get off me!" Theo squirmed free and stood up with a stomp. He was not gonna stand for this, nope... "Professor, can I do my assignment in the library?" He would totally come back to class after he was finished.

Grumpy Theo was grumpy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Theo jolted upright when something screamed in his ear. He wasn't SLEEPING... he was focussing. This is what he meant by doing assignments in his own space and time. The Slytherin GLARED at the girl, who he did not know. "WhatareyouDOING?!" Seriously.... what was.... she was....

HUGGING HIM?

WAHHAT... NOPE... "GRrnnymthhh, get off me!" Theo squirmed free and stood up with a stomp. He was not gonna stand for this, nope... "Professor, can I do my assignment in the library?" He would totally come back to class after he was finished.

Grumpy Theo was grumpy.

O______________O

He was like HUGE big boy like JAKE her favorite Prefect, but Theo was a good HEAD and shoulders over Zahra and he was UNHAPPY. Anti-Happy. For the life of her she didn't know why though.

He PROBABLY just needed another HUG. Or maybe he was REALLY upset about the house elves? Awwwwwwww poor Slytherin. POOR SLYTHERIN.

"I'm sorry you're sad." SO Zahra stepped forward, arms spread, and gave his middle ANOTHER hug. "We'll find the elves." They WOULD! TOGETHER! HOGWARTS! GRYFFINDORRRRR!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze. IT'LL BE OKAY, SLYTHERIN. *HUUUGGGGGINNNGGGGG ALL THE HUUUUUUUGGGGSSSS*

"A shame indeed," Vinteren agreed mildly. The Slytherin was failing to evoke any display of emotion from the stoic Norwegian. "Yes," he nodded and pointed to the board, "Beezley is one of Hogwarts' elves." For the sake of this lesson, she was still a Hogwarts elf, even if she wasn't here in the castle at this very moment.

While most of the students quietly took to their parchments, Erik began walking around the classroom to observe what they were writing. The ability to work quietly in class and on task was part of their grade...as was producing work of some quality.

He paused by Roxanne Carter's niece and gave her parchment a stern tap. "You're going to need more detail vhan vhat." Significantly more. "Elaborate on whom you vhink is responsible. And vhy."

"Unfortunately, vere vhat vhe case, I vould not have you waste your time writing to vhem. I vould simply bring vhem back to Hogwarts," Erik sighed deeply at the Hufflepuff. "It is my hope vhat vhe owls vill have better luck finding vhem vhan any of us."

"What if vhey did?" Erik turned his cold blue eyes on the young boy and stared him down. "Vhat vould be quite vhe plot twist...interesting theory you have vhere."

And with it, he had just made the top of Vinteren's List.

"So ve haff Beezley, Nimma, Tinka, Quirly...Toddles of course...any others?" Wow, the Hogwarts students didn't even know the names of the elves they had enslaved and at their beck and call. The older students should be ashamed of themselves for not being able to name more than half the elves.

"I have a list going on vhe board," Erik pointed out with a wink to the Puff. He didn't blame the firstie for his ignorance; it was quite possible he had never even encountered a house elf during his short year here.

"Good question," Erik turned to face the asker. "I vould vhink vhey vould come back to whoever actually sent vhe owl on its way, unless you of course sign vhe letter and vhe elf addresses vhe reply back to you."

"I don't vhink so," Erik shrugged. "Most of vhe elves are happy enough to see you all vhen you visit vhem in vhe kitchens, no? I vould vhink vhey vould be touched to have not been forgotten by vhe students vhey so lovingly served."

...

She was the daughter of the British Minister of Magic, then. Well. Well. Well. That explained everything about her.

"My minister is not named Albert," Erik replied very quietly, taking a few steps toward the Gryffindor. "My minister is a woman." So clearly, his minister was not yours.

As for her field trip idea? "I vhink not," Erik waved a dismissive hand. "Vhere are no clues pointing to a house-elf vacation by vhe sea, but you are more vhan velcome to go vhere on your time to see if I'm wrong." His wave turned into a gesture for the door. "Might you care to start on your trip now?"

He wasn't finished with the Gryffindor yet but now the Slytherin captain had his attention with his letter. "If you're concerned about who might read it......vhy vouldn't you seal vhe letter?"

Seemed to be a simple solution to him.



First the outburst, then the second outburst, then the hug madness...and now the Snake wanted leave to do his sssignment in the library? Erik raised an eyebrow at all these...shenanigans happening in his presence and calmly shook his head.

"No, but Ms. Kettleburn may leave to begin her beach vacation now. Mr. Kinsley you have until vhe end of class to submit yours to my desk. Vhe same goes for the rest of you."

Erik had made his loop around the classroom and was back by vhe blackboards. "Up here you vill find a list of vhe house elves you may address. You have," he glanced at his watch, "about fifteen more minutes to finish up. Credit will only be given to completed letters. Please turn vhem in up here," he pat-patted his desk, "and resume your seat vhen you are done."

List of Hogwarts House Elves
Algamus – (male) head elf
Argyle – (female)
Beezley – (female)
Pips – (male)
Quirly – (female) fond of spatulas
Schmoop – (male)
Tinka – (female) attached to her whisk
Tippin – (male)
Nimma – (female) takes care of Toddles
Toddles – (male) baby elf. Don't write to him.

---

OOC: If you do wish to seal your letter, PM it to me so Erik won't read it. Your fifteen minute IC deadline is about 24 RL hours from now.

Minerva listened as the Elves were named. So many stayed hidden and didn't talk to the students. Minerva wondered why that was, but she wasn't one to have them do things for her either so she didn't have much interaction with them, but Tinka.. She had seen in classes and the kitchen. She felt wibbly thinking about it. She really really hoped Tinka was safe.


She turned to the parchment and began writing.. She would write to Tinka and hope for the best, but what if they were in danger, wouldn't the letters make it worse. She bit her lip at this thought. Tinka needed her whisk and she needed to be safe. She sighed and started writing.




Minerva finished looked it over again and got up. Walking it to the front she put it down and looked to Professor Vinteren, "Professor.. what if they are in danger and these letters make it worse?" She was super worried about this. "It is a good idea to try and find them though. I hope we get some answers. I just really hope they get them." She smiled again at him before heading back to her seat.

Who she thought was responsible and why? Well, that was getting into difficult and dangerous territory. But maybe it was time to let her inner Gryffindor shine for a bit? And speaking of Gryffindors, Sky couldn't help but chuckle a little at Vinteren's dismissal of the Minister's daughter. If that wasn't a subtle way of saying shove off, she didn't know what was.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. She thought over the assignment some more. And was coming up with more questions than answers. Man, she could really use a Ravenclaw right now. Finally, she just decided to put her confusion into words on the page.



Gulp.

Once she was done, Sky got out of her seat, and with a surprising calmness that hid how nervous she was, placed her parchment on top of the Puffers and returned to her seat. Could class be dismissed now.......?

Letter writing time!! OKAY!!

"Professor?" Lex stuck her hand up. "Is it fine if I write two letters? I'm not sure who I feel needs to be written to more." She waited a few seconds...just a few then decided it was okay because she'd already drawn two pieces of parchment and putting one back would be a waste. Not something she enjoyed. Ahem. The letters. The first she would address to the no good, rotten, low down, THIEVES who'd made her have burnt bread one too many times.



Now that she got that out of her system she could focus on a nicer message, one for the darling little house elves who needed to get home so Hogwarts wouldn't be a nightmare anymore. It was you know. It was like one of those horror films where kids had to do everything for themselves.

YES, those were horror films, they totally were.

Anyway. Next letter.



THERE! She hopped out of her seat and reached over to place the pieces of parchment on the desk before slumping back into her seat with a proud grin. "Be sure they get it Sir, I want both parties to read every last word." GRIN. HoM had never been this fun! Looking for dead people and writing letters to baddies! Total WIN!

Elise was tired and in absoloutely no mood to write a letter. If it meant saving the house elves, though, she'd do just about anything. She missed all the elves, even if she really didn't know all their names. It wasn't thaaat bad, though. She knew Tinka and Nimma. Just not Argy-something and a few others.

Scribbling a rather essay-like series of questions for the elves, she folded the paper into three just before the creepy professor managed to sneak up behind her. Then putting a nice seal on it, she slipped it into the tray labelled 'Tinka'. That should do it.

Time to write some letters. Letters to House Elves he didn't know.






Placing his quill back on his desk, Asher was happy with his letters. It was hard to write to someone he had never met.

He took his two letters up to the professor and placed them on his desk before returning to his seat.

As Kace was thinking of ideas to write to which house ef, he saw the names on the board. He was glad. He remembered Belle talking about Tinka and he thought he could write a letter to her. Belle told him she was nice and helpful. He would write her a letter to her.....

SPOILER!!: Letter!

Dear Tinka,

Hi i hope you are doing well. I hope you can come back to Hogwarts. Hogwarts needs you. I hope you remember my sister Belle Lecium, she used to be a prefect. She told me you were a sweet, caring elf. I wish i could see you and witness that. Please come back soon.

Your future friend,
Kace Leicum

There that letter seemed legit. He folded it and then put it onto the professor's desk. Then he returned to his seat and sat down.

The classroom suddenly became very cold as ice crept its way across the floor and up the legs of students' desks and chairs.

Rattle rattle rattle rattle.

Swooping into the classroom after easily opening the door with their awesome dementor abilities, the flock of hungry dementors came down upon the students.

Laura was writing her article to the house elves.



Just as she was finishing that she felt it get colder. "Eh Professor has someone..." Laura stopped when she spotted what was in the room. "Professor did you invite the Dementors?" the Professor could see them right? it wasn't just her that was seeing things again.

Minerva was sitting smiling toward the professor thinking about how awesome and stuff he was. She hoped that the elves got the letters and it was something just easy fixed. She was just sitting quietly when she shivered.. That was odd. She wasn't cold a moment ago, but she put it off and went back to her day dreaming smiling..

Shivering again Minerva looked up just to see the shadowy figures come into the room. She felt her self reach and grip at Ethan's arm. There is no way this was happening again.. She tried to keep focus and not let the bad in.. She was tired of bad... So so tired of bad. No she was happy and had nothing to worry about Awesome Super Amazing Professor was right here. He would save the day again just like he did with Hadley. She breathed and kept her positive as long as she could hold onto it.

Now it was time to actually write the letter and he didn't care at ALL if Vinteren read his letter at all, 'cause his was TO Vinteren. He was going to blame the Professor for stealing the elves so they could do this STUPID assignment of his, not that he really thought for a second that Vinteren stole the things, but this was a sneaky way of calling his assignment lame. Ugh. He didn't want to be here, yeah?

SPOILER!!: Letter Working

Quote:

Working Elves:
Algamus – (male) head elf
Argyle – (female)
Beezley – (female)
Pips – (male)
Quirly – (female) fond of spatulas
Schmoop – (male)
Tinka – (female) attached to her whisk
Tippin – (male)
Nimma – (female) takes care of Toddles
Toddles – (male) baby elf. Don't write to him

Dear Professor Vinteren,

I think you stole the elves. My proof? I don't have any besides the fact that I think this assignment is so tedious and BORING that only the crook himself would have someone write letters for ego inflation. That and also to take the heat off of yourself for the crime.

Honestly, taking the elves was really counterproductive because now you have to work in a school with turnstiles and dust everywhere, but hey, if you like that, whatever. Just, if you could return the elves so that I don't have to do my washing with a bunch of skirts that would be much appreciated. Doesn't help any man's game to wash underwear in front of their girlfriend.

So here is to getting the elves back as quickly as you feel like it.

Ascanius

His letter was UTTER rubbish and he knew it. There was no way that a Hogwarts Professor would actually steal the elves, but technically he was DOING the assignment and TWEAKING his Professor at the same time. It was a win-win. After all, he had to find some way to keep himself entertained in these classes.

....and then things got bad.

Really?! Did the school have no WARDS or something? This was starting to get ridiculous and he was too pretty to die. So could he run? Yeah. That seemed like a good idea aside from the anxiety.

Penelope wasn't really sure what she wanted to write... Definitely not gonna go with the writing to the people that took the elves, that seemed pointless, so that left the elves themselves or just writing out which theory she thought was right and why and all that stuff. And...the theory one seemed like a good one, since she wasn't sure whether the letters would actually get to the elves, and if it did, what if it didn't help? Just a letter wouldn't set them free, the person who owned them had to do that.

So the theory one seemed the best option to her. She picked up her quill and was about to do that...

...when she suddenly felt herself shivering. When had it gotten so cold...

Dear Merlin, not AGAIN.

Forrest studied the chart carefully, and decided to address a female. He didn't know elfish way actually, but females were the more emotional ones amog humans; so he figured they would try harder to return if they sensed they were needed. Speaking of need... He narrowed his eyes as he thought about it.

Nimma. She even had an emotional bond with this baby elf. She was their best shot.



He hoped he did the guilt-tripping well. He was re-reading the letter when it was cold all of a sudden. Like winter cold. He dropped the letter and looked at the windows, then heard the rattling. What was it? He hugged himself and tried to curl up in the desk, but it was no use. He was going to die here of cold. The rattling noise annoyed him and--his mouth dropped open at the black figures. He wanted to shriek, but no sound came out. What were they? They came here to eat them, didn't they? He felt so sad... he remembered how Jack used to taunt him... how his mother had shouted at him when he broke a china... how his father shied away from him because he was 'weird'... elves weren't coming anyway. They had abandoned them, and this letter was useless. He studied the nearest thing. Were those figures human? He honestly didn't know. He had never met a dementor before. And it hardly mattered, really. They were going to die here without any money anyway.

Could he cry now?

As Kace was about to sit down, he noticed the chill in the air. He thought to himself.."Oh no not again..." and then when the door opened he noticed the hooded creatures glide in. Good thing he was almost near the back of the classroom. But one of them was coming near him. He GULPED and felt all the happiness sucked out of him.

He was remembering his bad memories. He didn't wanna relive them. He remembered getting stung by a mass of bee's and remembering the pain. Then he revisited the time his aunt yelled at him and he was chased by her rottweiler. He bit into his arm but thankfully he go it out in time.

He was shaking and even tears were escaping and landing on his cheeks. He did not like these creatures at all. He hoped the professor would get rid of them soon. He felt like throwing up but he tried to keep it down.

So....seal it...? That was it?

Shrugging, he made a few changes to the body of the letter, just because he wasn't trying to be TOO rude, and bent to blow at the fresh ink. NO SMUDGES...The he started to carefully folding it up...

Digging into his bag of things, the Slytherin pulled out a black envelope and a sticker wax seal. It had to be a stick-em because Dylan obviously didn't have a wax stick with him...or a means to stamp it for that matter. So, it'd have to be a false seal...Also seeing as he didn't know how to seal it by magic...And if he did, he didn't remember.

Once the parchment had been folded up neatly, Dylan tucked it down into the envelope...and then peeled one of his stickers, quickly putting it in place. That would have to do...


There. Done. Perfect.

Suddenly...there was a coldness settling into the classroom, ice creeping its way along the floor and walls. He could feel it on the material of his pants...

STARE!

Oh, wait...

They were perfectly safe. Vinteren could do that awesome patronus-multiplication thing...So, all he'd have to do is break bad on these dementors. In fact, Dylan looked for him, frantically trying to figure out HOW they'd always managed to be wherever he was. HE DID NOT LIKE THEM LIKE THAT.

It was worse than a clingy ex-girlfriend...

He pulled his wand...but he didn't cast...Dylan didn't think he could handle seeing another dementor eat his patronus....

At least he put a list of all the elves they could send a letter. It was appreciated. Even though Nigel really thought his smile was creepy. So for that reason alone. Nigel was going to write his letter to Vinteren. Nigel still thought this assignment was pointless and an absurd waste of time.



Nigel was sure his letter was not the best he could have done. But he was bored. Plus he did just do the assignment. Nigel looked it over once more and felt it suddenly get cold in the class room. It was not winter. Sigh. Not again. Nigel looked up and saw them again.

Nigel was debating either follow Vinteren's instruction or cast a patronus when one got close to him. Though a Tactical Retreat sounded much better right now.

So letters. To house elves. Mo slumped his elbows against the desk and considered what he wanted to tell the elves. There were so many questions to ask, and so many things he'd like to know about how they got into this situation. Too many questions. And who said that elves would even have time to write back?

Who said they wrote letters? Or read them? HMM?

No, Mo was going to go straight to the source today.



He was just giving the note a second pass and deciding to take off everything about his sisters (and Cat) when the room went very very cold. OH NOT THIS AGAIN. Mo pushed back in his seat and considered how many younger students he could manhandle out of the room. It was sort of his gift.