Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren

Ow owwwww, somebody was feeling feisty today. Erik was, admittedly, bothered by the kick to his leg, because she aimed her foot just right with those pointy-toed shoes and he didn't even try to move away in time. He barely winced though, as he still foun this all too funny to do anything but laugh.

And laugh and laugh a little louder. He stood up before she could kick him again. "What if I did enjoy that?" Erik asked quietly, his blue eyes still twinkling. "You haff to learn to take a joke, Ivy. That vosn't very nice of you." Always with the kicking. He stood very close to her just face to face, and gave her a contemplating look. "But vhat am I going to do about it?"

Kick her out of the office, probably. Heh!

Nothing? Sigh.

All he was doing was laughing and laughing and quite frankly, this was where Ivy's amusement tank started to run low. Learn to take a joke, pfff. She'd been taking his 'jokes' for the last ten minutes and she didn't want to take any anymore.

Ivy narrowed her eyes as he stepped closer and watched her with that look. Why was he asking her? "You tell me," she said flatly. "It's your office. You're the one complaining." And just a few minutes ago he said he enjoyed her company. Hmph.

Aw she was pouting now. Real pouting. Erik tried to tone down his smirk just for that. "Vell if you're going to be grumpy with me, I might as well send you back to your own office," he said softly, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her around so she was facing the door.

He leaned in to her shoulder and ear. "And that wasn't complaining, dear. Just being observant." His leg was complaining though. Throbbing, actually. So he could thank her for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren

Aw she was pouting now. Real pouting. Erik tried to tone down his smirk just for that. "Vell if you're going to be grumpy with me, I might as well send you back to your own office," he said softly, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her around so she was facing the door.

He leaned in to her shoulder and ear. "And that wasn't complaining, dear. Just being observant." His leg was complaining though. Throbbing, actually. So he could thank her for that.

Mmmmmhm, Ivy glared some more. But... wait, he was serious? Ivy blinked at the door that she was now facing and dropped her hands to her side. Well, fine... Two could play this game.

Ivy somewhat lightly jabbed her elbow into his ribs. "Fine," she said, turning out of his hands and faced him. She placed a kiss on Erik's cheek. "I'll see you around, then"

And with that, Ivy let herself out of his office, shutting the door behind her.

Wait for it...

That was no light elbow jab. Good Odin, Erik was glad to see her leave. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out," he murmured as she left. With all her kicking and punching and elbowing, he was lucky she left him in once piece.

He, meanwhile, shook his head and returned to his desk. Well now he didn't feel like reading, thanks, Knox.

Ivy smirked as the door shut. Oh, she wouldn't let the door hit her.

Backing up several feet, a safe distance away from the door, Ivy glanced around before removing her wand from its holster. Heh. Here we go...

"Confringo!" Ivy watched the spell hit Erik's door and quickly covered her face as it exploded into a hundred pieces. After a moment, she uncovered her face and looked in through the shattered door way and smirked at Erik. With a little finger-wiggle wave, Ivy winked at him and then sauntered away, back towards her office.

It was a good thing Erik had sat down at his desk, because he was not expecting Ivy to blast open his door on her way out. He dove under his desk instinctively at the first sound of the door exploding into pieces, peeking up only when it seemed to have stopped and the coast was clear.

And there she was, waving good-bye at him. He had the nerve to give her a wave too, albeit of a more vulgar kind. But then he sank back into his desk chair and surveyed the mess from a safe distance. Well well well. It wasn't that bad, really. It was almost amusing, had it not been for the fact that now he'd have to clean this mess all up and find a new door somewhere.

By Odin though, she had a temper on her. He'd just have to get her back for that one. Yes, he'd get her back.

It was a rather curious thing. The gems had been taken by the goblin but the thing didn't seem very careful about keeping an eye on them, either that or Lex was good at taking things that didn't belong to her. At the moment she was more inclined to believe she was good at swiping because it not being very careful meant they probably weren't worth all that much. That would have been a waste and would have gone against what Lottie said.

Only one way to figure it out though--actually more than one but she liked this way best because she got to see Mr. Vinteren again. GRIN.

There was one gem in her pocket, yup, a single yellow one, just in case. Lex turned to Lottie before knocking on the door. "So we're clear, we just want to know the value, we don't actually have anymore and we wouldn't know where to find the rest even if we wanted to."

For all she knew, he might have been obligated to report the fact that they'd taken them and she didn't want to lose the others, especially the blue ones. Those she was keeping forever. Then she knocked...and knock...and okay maybe there was a series of more knocks after that.

Lottie wanted Ivy Knox, but Lex was determined for Lottie to meet this Vinteren guy. She was already missing Scabior. Remember Scabior? Exactly, he was her former History of Magic Professor, and she didn't care for the one taking his place.

Plus, he wasn't a Professor. He was another Ivy Knox.

Regardless, he was the chosen one for this job, and Lex was doing all the knocking, okay? Okay. So, Lottie just stood there next to Lex and nodded, "Exactly that. We know nothing else." Granted, they could say that they'd found it when the Goblin had disappeared with the gems, and were simply wondering how much had the Goblin taken, in terms of galleons.

But, yeah, we wait.

Erik had just been about to leave his office, in the interest of doing things, when he heard a knock on his new door.

Curious, he wasn't expecting anyone. He opened the door anyway and raised his brows at the sight of the two little girls standing there. "Alexa, and Miss..." someone new, from the badger house. Okay then. "Good to see you. Please, come in." Erik stepped to the side to permit them entry.

See that? She and Lottie had an understanding. They always had an understanding when it came to certain things because so many of their views were shared. She gave her one more nod of confirmation just before the door swung open...nice looking door too. Now if only she could get one of those for her dorm. She was working on making it look better and as pretty as the unicorn and thestral would make it look, the door would have been a nice touch.

"Hello Sir!" He said it was good to see her. Eeep! She BEAMed up at him and waited for Lottie to introduce herself. She would have done it for her but Lottie was an independent type of person who'd probably have liked to get her name out on her own.

Lex walked inside and took a look around. Wooooow, it was nice in there. How very fitting considering who this office belonged to. She waited for Lottie a bit before she began. "We were wondering if you'd be able to estimate a value for us. You own fine things so you'd know fine things, right?" A fair assumption if you asked her.

This was already a bad idea, can't you see?

Oh, hello Vinteren guy. Alexa, eh? Lottie sort of smirked at his greeting to Lex and simply stated her name, FAMILY name, "Wisteria," yes, Miss Wisteria. This one was not going to be calling her Lotus. She nodded as she went inside, a smile in place, of course.

Did she mean the smile? Probably not, but how could he know? Exactly.

Was Lex going to do all the talking? Sure, why not? Lottie nodded in Lex's direction and the smile dissipated a bit. "We found a stone...a gem of sorts...," was she giving too much away? Nah.

She took her time eyeing Scabior's former office. SIGH.

Miss Wisteria. Right, so she was related to a plant. Erik knew better than to trust people related to or even remotely connected to plants, so he was going to be keeping his eye on this one. What if she was man-eating?

He focused instead on the Gryffindor, whom he knew and actually liked, since she was doing all the talking. "I do own fine things," Erik replied, with some caution, "but I'm not sure I vould know the value of a gemstone." He wasn't a jeweller, even if he did know how to pick out nice jewellery. Ahem.

"Vhy don't you have a seat?" Erik gestured toward the blue-green comfortable couch, while he himself retreated to his desk chair.

Lex's attention turned momentarily from the talk of jewels and the like when she was offered a seat--one that could almost pass for blue, it was blue you know, just...it had something else mixed in it that made it...not blue? Eh! It still looked comfy so she plopped down in it. Yup, definitely comfy. She'd need one of these for her dorm as well.

His answer caused her to eye Lottie for a moment. He was potentially of no use to them, was Lottie willing to make the walk to Knox's office? If so then she'd need to go get Felix because he would have wanted to see the woman that wand-handled him. It helped him get closure.

"Well, we don't want an exact value or anything like that." Lex shifted a bit in her seat, getting more comfortable as she did. Him being able to look at a gem then instantly know the value would have been EPIC but not something they anticipated in the first place so this was still fine. "Just want to know if it looks like something that could be valuable." And with that she pulled the yellow jewel that had once resided in the Hufflepuff Hourglass from her pocket and placed it on his desk.

Surely he could make a guess?

We're keeping an eye on those who are not exactly Professors, you knoooow? It was easy, there were only two. Very suspicious people, if you ask her.

Seriously? Her smirk was definitely showing now, but was quickly concealed. I TOLD YOU, Lex. That's what she wanted to say, but she simply took a seat next to the Gryffindor girl on the blue-green couch. The color you're looking for, Lex, is yellow. Blue + Yellow = Green. HOWEVER, there's more blue than yellow, reason why Lottie actually sat on it.

ANYWAY. This was bound to be amusing, especially now that Vinteren had very suspicious blue eyes on him. Eyes that were watching his every move, and was rather creepy, truth be told, which is why he settled on looking at the topaz...oh, no, wait, the bookcase was probably more interesting.

Let's be quick about it, shall we, Vinteren?

Erik recognised the stone immediately when it was placed on his desk. His face remained impassive and blank, however, as he picked up the yellow topaz gem and held it up to the light. He had always wondered if the gems in the hourglasses were real, and now that he had one in his hand...yes, they were definitely real.

They were worth something too. Erik wasn't sure whether he should reveal that to Alexa and her friend, however. Hmm. He continued to admire the gem and the way the light refracted off it as he twirled it between two of his fingers. For a person with morals, surely there was some moral dilemma here, in whether or not to enable the girl to sell off a piece of Hogwarts' history....

Then again, Erik was a person without morals. So he really didn't see the harm in allowing a wise kid to profit from the school's financial troubles. He set the gem back on the desk where Alexa could reach it and made eye contact with her and her friend. "As a loose, one carat gem," and it was, by his estimation, at least one carat, "this vould be worth anywhere from 10 to 15 galleons, depending on vhe colour, clarity of the topaz and who is buying vhe gem. Vhis one is particularly valuable for its vibrant colour." Erik raised an eyebrow. "Do you haff more of these, Miss Cambridge?"

You know, he knew someone who might like a brilliant blue sapphire. But really...-cough-...he didn't anything about gems.

Lex leaned forward in her seat and watched him assess the jewel. Must have had at least some value if he was eyeing it so much so she would wait. Hey look Lottie, how often did you see a patient Lex? Now if only this wasn't taking so long.

Her eyes drifted over to the girl who was also watching the topaz jewel. Trying to guess the value herself? Knowing Lottie she'd probably think it wasn't valuable simply because of the colour. Oh! But that wasn't the case! 10-15 galleons. Lex bit her lip so she wouldn't end up grinning uncontrollably. 10-15 and they had quite a bit of them! Her gaze fell on the jewel, she reached over and pocketed it again. The colour added to the value, heh, hear that Lotus? They'd make a good amount getting rid of these.

Refrain from smiling too much, don't think about all the candy you can get from this. She was fine, she was composed--

Until he asked that.

She straightened and thought that over. They already agreed that they didn't have anymore and wouldn't know where to find any so the answer was "No." But now she was curious. "Why? Are they worth far more collectively?" Juuust wondering. She wouldn't have had a problem admitting that they had more yellow ones because Lottie wouldn't have cared. Just the yellow ones though. The blue's were hers and the reds were going right back into the Hourglass...some of them anyway.

Just exactly how much time did he need, though?

Lottie was incredibly surprised that Lex managed to stay calm and collected for sooooooooooooo long. Only a few minutes had passed, though, before Vinteren spoke up, at which point he got her undivided attention.

O_O

Whaaaaaaaaat? Oh, Merlin, well...Lex has given Lottie all the Christmas and birthday presents for quite some time. Except, 10-15 galleons for a topaz...Lottie thought it could be worth a bit more. She was no expert, though, and 10 galleons was a fair amount, but that's what the alumni pays to enter the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch when there's a game. So, it couldn't have been much, yeah?

She was definitely certain of something, but wanted Vinteren to confirm it. So, after Lex followed her script, Lottie cleared her throat and smiled, "Mr. Vinteren...," oh, so, he's 'Mr.' now? "...emeralds, sapphires and rubies are worth more than topazes, am I right?" It was juuuuuuuust a question. Not to be compared to any Hogwarts House AT ALL. Seriously, though, how's at the top of the hourglasses, eh? Precisely.

Mhm, so she didn't have more of them, but she thought they might be worth more collectively? Erik was definitely wearing a sceptical look right now. Sceptical of both Cambridge and this shady Wisteria plant person.

His brilliant blue eyes flicked toward the latter when she spoke. "Yes. Emeralds, rubies, and sapphires vould be vorth more than topaz. They're generally in more demand." He leaned back in his seat and adopted a thoughtful expression, instead of a sceptical one. Sure, his evaluation of the topaz gem might have been a little on the...low side, but look at who he was talking to. Two students, children really, trying to pawn off the school's valuables.

That was his job.

"You know, Miss Cambridge, Miss Wisteria," Erik stared them both down for a long, drawn-out minute, "I don't think vhe Headmistress of vhe school vould be pleased to know you were up..............to something vith vhe hourglass gems."

Yes, he was calling them out on their obvious game. But maybe they could work out a compromise, where he wouldn't have to turn them in and they could sell him a few of their gems. For the right price.

....

Lex noticed that look. It was a look that almost went unnoticed given her oblivious nature and all but she saw it...him...that look. The look passed as he answered Lottie's question. It was a question she'd been interested in too. Just how much more valuable were the others that they had?

Considering the look he'd had on just now, Lex kept herself composed even after he informed them that the others really were worth more! Awesome! They could sell some of the rubies too...maybe a sapphire but let's not get hasty. So now they knew that her steal was valuable and they could benefit wonderfully from all this! She got set to nudge Lottie, indicating that it was there cue to leave but then he went on talking and giving them looks.

Ugh, this was like being caught in the Forbidden Forest all over again--that got her thinking and her eyes drifted briefly to Lottie. What if he had some kind of equipment, like the Grounds Keeper had had?

For now she was willing to take her chances because they were NOT handing anything over to Headmistress Truebridge and they were NOT giving the blue ones them away either.

"Gem." She corrected simply, keeping her expression as neutral as possible if not somewhat innocent. "Gem; singular because we only have one, this one here in my pocket. I found it lying on the floor and took it to show Lottie, she figured it'd be worth something if the goblin was willing to take the others and I figured we'd ask you. Didn't think it'd be worth as much as it is so I guess we'll both be 5 galleons richer?" Right Lottie? Isn't that what happened? Yes?? As for the hourglasses. "We're not up to anything, nothing I'd think is illegal anyway." Finders keeper yo! And in this case stealers keepers but shhhhh.

Even in gems. UGH.

The Hufflepuff hourglass filled itself with the gems that cost less. That wasn't very nice, as Ella would say. It wasn't particularly fair either, however, the did have more points, so...the hourglasses were pretty much worth the same.

Interesting.

"Fascinating." That was all Lottie said, and she decided not to look at Lex, because that probably gave something away. No sneakoscopes in here, right? Nope. Because nothing was whistling or making any noise, except them.

What? No, of course not, the Headmistress will have our heads...erm, nevermind. Did you know she has bunny slippers? Smirk. "The Headmistress will continue to be stressed over something else, because we're not up to anything," and the woman was entirely stressed over this situation. "We're actually saving her from becoming even more stressed over a single topaz. She might even have the same thought as yourself, Mr. Vinteren, and then she'll wonder if there are other gems around the Castle. But there aren't, since the goblin took them all, with a sword." Except this one. And the other ones they have.

There was no need to mention the sword, but they had dealt with DANGER that day. They deserved the couple of gems by defending the school property on their own.

After curfew.

Actually, scratch that, because that wouldn't help their case.

"The goblin must have taken a small fortune, then...," her eyes fell on the gem. Imagine all the emeralds the goblin took. O_O

Erik clearly wasn't buying their denials and story that they had just the one gem. So much so that he lightly pointed his wand at the door and turned his wrist, so the lock clicked shut.

Locked in now, girls. What are you going to do about it? Erik, meanwhile, lounged back in his desk chair quite comfortably. He folded his fingers into a steeple and tapped his fingertips together thoughtfully. Rap a tap tap, he had them in a trap.

"You rehearsed vhat story vell, Alexa, but I don't believe it. I know vhe goblins vere distracted as they collected vhings from around vhe castle...it vould have been incredibly easy for anyone to slip a few gems out of sight, vhen they all spilled from vhe hourglasses. You're a Gryffindor, and a feisty one at vhat. I don't believe you vould haff been scared away from stealing some shiny, valuable gems just at vhe sight of a sword."

Erik slowly shook his head. "That topaz cannot be vhe only gem vhat escaped. Now you can either come clean vith me, and vhis can stay between us, in vhis room, or....vell I can send for vhe Headmistress now. I'm sure both she and vhe Gringotts goblins vill be interested in hearing just how much you stole from vhem. So," he stared the girls down with his unblinking blue eyes, "Vhat vill it be?" The truth or the punishment? He really hated to punish like-minded, favourite students.

Lex gave a solemn nod to everything Lottie said simply because this was pushing the story forward. It all boiled down to them not knowing where to find anymore and only possessing the one in her pocket. "Oh yes, I imagine the goblins must be rich now." So were they, sorta but she wasn't about to go rubbing that in.

Her eyes flickered to the door. Bliiiink. Locked now, she presumed. That was fine, so long as he gave them ice-cream afterwards for having them stay longer than they'd intended.

The smirk that spread across her face was unavoidable. She would be taking that as the compliment it was. The jewels were easy to steal and no sword would keep her from them. Once she decided she wanted them they were as good as hers. Heart of a lion, yup. That being the case, she wouldn't be intimidated by his idea of reinforcement; Gryffindor, remember???

She cleared her throat but kept her expression neutral. "I suppose you could bring in the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement if you want, it still won't change the fact that we only have this one gem and no clue where we'd find anymore." She paused to fish the Topaz from her pocket then slid it across the table to him again. "If it means so much to you then you can have it, I'll just ask my Daddy to send me 5 galleons; no real loss there."

The jewels belonged to them now and they weren't about to change stories. No proof they were lying, no way they'd fess up. Nooooope.

Click.

Oh, well, Lottie heard that, but it was no sneakoscope, like the Groundskeeper set on them that one time. Rude, really. Not to mention the way he'd taken her pygmy puff away. So rude.

But this whole locked-inside-an-office thing, well, this might have been mortifying if they hadn't told people where they were going. OH, WAIT. Geez, Lex. Lottie said to go to IVY KNOX! Now they were stuck in the History of Magic office with the Vinteren guy. EXCELLENT. Why did she listen to Lex, eh? Also, "Well, the goblins are rich, they have Gringotts, and dragons." Everyone knew that. "We barely have ice cream and tea." This was all said to Lex. Until her eyes fell on Vinteren, "Which is surprisingly a good combination, depending on the flavors, of course." It was just weird. Hot and cold can get along.

Leaving the ice cream and tea aside...there was something seriously wrong with what Vinteren just did, right? Right. So, she'll just stick to the truth. No one was ever harm for telling the truth. And Airey will hear about THIS, and he'll offer Lottie more books and ice cream.

Wait, whaaaaaat? The entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement??? Lex, there are some things you don't suggest. Particularly, those involving the Ministry.

But Lottie merely cleared her throat. "I'm sure the Headmistress has better and more important things to deal with than a mere rock." This was also true. "And it's not the nicely colored one, either." She disliked yellow very much. "I don't mind the galleons at all, you may keep the topaz, Mr. Vinteren." Lex was the one who took it, if she had no issues giving it away, then Lottie had even less than no issues about this.

And thanks for calling her friend stupid, by the way. Because that's what the whole brave Gryffindor vs. sword had meant to Lottie.

She had no clue where she would find any more? Really? That was the line Alexa was going to go with?

Erik was sorely disappointed in her. "I don't vant a topaz," he remarked quietly, ignoring how idiotic she must be if she thought he, of all people, would involve Law Enforcement in anything he did. Hah! "I simply vanted to know if you had some sapphires on you...or say, in your dormitories..." For once he looked at the sneaky Hufflepuff as well. She was doing a particularly good job of digging her own grave deeper. Unwise for the plant-child.

"They say Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders," Erik continued his little interrogation of the girls. "But I vonder vot I vould find if I looked into your room, Miss Wisteria, or yours, Miss Cambridge? Or in your pockets?" They had to be hiding more gems somewhere, as Erik could just feel that they were lying. And not only that, but...

He tilted his head toward the Wisteria girl. "Vot do you mean by 'it's not the nicely coloured one'?" he repeated her, word for word. "Vhat is as good as an admission of guilt, Miss Wisteria, vhat you do haff more of vhese gems vhat you stole, and now you are lying to a professor and a school governor who simply asked you to tell him vhe truth."

Just for that, Erik would be sending a patronus off. To whom, though, he would let their imaginations decide. He flicked his wand out again, only this time it released a silvery half-bird, half-horse shape, which shot off in flight straight through the ceiling.

And then he waited and stared at the girls in complete stone cold silence. Little liars that they were.

"Oh, very true, they have a lot of things, not to mention the things they took from the castle!" Not that she was complaining because, like Lottie said, they still had ice-cream! Tea as well but they both knew that wasn't her thing, not usually anyway. "You think they might come back for more stuff? I don't think they'll be interested in ice-cream much." And she wouldn't let them have it anyway!

Oh yes, very true. The Headmistress would be too busy dealing with the madhouse that this school had become to actually be bothered with two third years and a piece of rock.

Besides, she really didn't think he'd go alerting anyone. It would hardly be worth it. Her brows crinkled and her eyes settled on him. He didn't want the Topaz. "I'm sorry I can't get you a sapphire Sir." Really she was, but those were precious and she didn't think she was about to lose them. NOPE. "Maybe we could ask the goblins to sell a few to us now that they have them and will want to make a profit?" Helpful, she was VERY helpful.

Her brows crinkled even more. "Lottie's not a Hufflepuff," not at all, that right there was a mistake, "and my pockets are empty except for the chocolate frog I brought with me." Her pockets typically weren't filled. That would only slow her down.

She perked up remarkably at the mention of her room and she was now grinning. "You'd find candy! Lots and lots and LOTS of candy, but not thrown down, nah, people will take 'em, I have them kept somewhere safe!!! All kinds really! Chocolate frogs, fizzing whizbees, cauldron cakes, ice mice, acid pops, chewing gum, chocolate bars, bertie bott's beans, sugar quills, licorice wands, candy canes recently too!! Outside of that...ummm..." She paused, her eyes trailing to the ceiling as she thought. "Probably books and robes...parchment thrown all over with half done homework," she was pacing herself, OKAY, "uh....my kneazle!--er...unless he escaped again..." What else...?

o__O....?

And now there was a patronus being sent out? Lex looked immediately to Lottie. There were only so many people he could be calling.