Nigel was trying to wrap his head around the fact that a dementor was here. Could be a boggart. Probably not. Nigel calmly took the last bite of whatever he was eating. It was good food he was not going to waste it.

Once he was starting to lose happy memories. Which was a bad sign.

Nigel watched as Dylan cast an awesome patronus and that was the perfect signal for Nigel to calmly walked back to the castle with the other students.

He did not know how to use a patronus yet. So nothing he could really do other the grab people and crag them back to the castle. Which was not something he really wanted to be doing right now. He did not want to stay and watch like Ascanius.

Which was an interesting strategy to say the least.

Am I allowed to catch up in here? *mellows at timezones*
 

And all of a sudden, there was a LOT of shouting. And people were talking, to him too.

BLINK.

Right. Leave. Right.

Alec shook his head and looked over to where Kace had ran over to. Right. They needed chocolate and things, yeah? Kace and Awar and the other who were heading out too, trying to get away from the Dementors. Which, speaking of, they seemed to have... disappeared? And there had been a Hippogriff patronus and... everything was happening very quickly. And all Alec wanted to do was make sure everyone was okay, especially Hadley.

But... the younger students. The sixteen year old cast a look over towards the Arithmancy Professor before shaking his head and followed the two Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw Funny!Dude outside. He could always go and see her afterwards. But right now, they needed chocolate, and lots of it. Or ice cream. Or chocolate ice cream.

Perfect.

off and waaaaaaay to the side of all that stuff *points* Minus Airey that is
 

Running from the Bertie Bott challenge, still with quite a bit of spunk in his leaps and bounds, Airey appeared on the scene just as Erik was sending off patronus after patronus. They were not enough to prevent a piercing icy feel seep into every fiber of his being, causing the astronomy to suddenly fall to the ground in fetal position like a small child terrified of the dark.

What was the point in smiling? Dreams were always crushed in the end anyway. Sadness and emptiness was all there really was. He felt as though he would never be happy again. Unless someone were to bring him lots and lots of ice cream perhaps. Even that did not feel like an optimistic option at the moment.

He was just going to lay here for the time being.


******************

Kurumi continued to lead the Hufflepuff boy away from the scene, trying to stop other students from running towards the scene but also knowing it was almost pointless to do that. She would have been one of those students running right into the thick of things. She had been at the center of her fair share of disasters as a student, whether by choice or not.

It was his voice that brought her back to what she was doing, taking care of this one and getting him to a safe location. She probably should just walk him back to the castle now that she really got to thinking. "Here, eat this, it will help a little," she said as she reached into her bag for a small box that contained, yep, chocolate cookies. Old habits died hard. "That was a dementor," she replied softly, a shiver running down her spine as she tried to remove the images and feelings from her own mind. "They're a dark creature that feeds on happiness. The overwhelming sadness and cold is because of them, so you should eat that. I promise it will help a little."

Kurumi glanced over her shoulder, squinting at the scene in the distance and taking note of all the .... hippogriffs? Whose patronus was a hippogriff? Not that it really matter who they belonged to. The important thing was that they were there by the herds which meant things would be alright. Professor Hadley would be alright. She hoped.

"You see all those silvery creatures? Those are created from the Patronus Charm. They defend against dementors. They'll also help make it all go away." Hopefully. There was no quick cure for fear, however, which was clearly written all over his face. She should probably try to distract him a bit, right? "My name is Kurumi, by the way. Kurumi Hollingberry. I used to go to Hogwarts. What's your name?" Introductions were always a good distraction...sort of.

Dylan, Anya, and Oakey specifically
 

BEEZUSJAKEDYANANYAALICEMINERVAandFLAMSTEED *takes a breather*
 

Oakey was quite sure now that he wasn't wanted or needed by the group that was surrounding Dylan. Beezus said that they were but he didn't believe her. So he knelt down and held out one of the three pieces to Beezus. "It's just a small piece, but give it to him." Oakey's eyes landed on Dylan briefly then back to Beezus. "We all need to find a way to help each other now." He handed Beezus the candy then heard Jake ask for a piece too. "Anya looks fine," Oakey said rather bluntly. "I think you need it more." Oakey didn't say anything more, and decided to hand Anya the piece anyways. Finally there was Alice, who was terribly weak-kneed, and crying. He could give the Gryffindor Captain a hug right now, if he wasn't still covered in all this goo. "Alice have a piece." He slipped his third and final piece of candy into one of Alice's hands, and gave her a weak smile. Smiles were needed now, but this one hurt a lot to do.


Minerva was still here? Why was she still here? "You should be going back up to the Castle. To the Common Room, and not in the Kitchen", no Ice Cream for Minerva. Oakey looked around at Ethan, and gave his head a nod to side in the direction of his girlfriend, then to the direction of the Castle. It was a good enough signal telling him to bring her up. "Candy?" Oakey tried to play it off, "I don't carry candy on me. That stuff's bad for your health." He gave Minerva a glare, one that still said I don't forgive you for hurting Ariana's feelings and that she should be listening to the student leaders. When they say leave you leave.

His head jerked to the side when a loud thud grabbed his attention. Someone had fallen to the ground and it was to dark to tell who. So Oakey moved slowly to the sound of the fall, and saw..."Professor Flamsteed!?" Oakey dropped to his knee's and tried to get a better look at the Astronomy Professor, who had cradled himself up into a fetal position. "Are there more in the Challenge Area?" Oakey asked nobody in particular, maybe it was to Flamsteed. The Professor looked like he wasn't going to answer him anytime soon. Oakey dug his hands into his pocket in hopes that maybe he still had one piece that he missed. Nothing was in that pocket. He still had the piece that was in his mouth...no that would be way to gross, even in this situation. So he moved to one of his inner coat pockets. THERE! he felt it! It was covered in goo, but he had single piece left in his inner coat pocket. "Professor here, take this." with his last piece of goo covered secret candy Oakey held it out, hoping the Large-Foreheaded Professor would at least take it from him.

She was still a trembling mess but compared to how she cold she felt earlier, this time was.....a little better. The dementors were retreating to the forest now but that didn't mean she stopped on her attempts to send people back to the castle. She, herself and the rest of the student leaders had to go inside too....but when Jake approached them, she slowly released Dylan and allowed the two to embrace each other. The Slytherin Captain had just gone through an incredible meltdown, she knew that so she needed all the comforts and she wasn't going to get in the way of that. She could only take care of him too much.

That was when she noticed Oakey kneeling quite near her and handing out some sweets. He was nodding towards Dylan and she understood. He needed it most. With a slightly shaking hand, the brunette accepted the pieces and smiles weakly at the Head Boy, "Thanks, Oak."

She stepped back beside Dylan and handed him the sweets. "Here...from Oakey." At least he would know that people cared for him more than they showed....or even he kept pushing them away.

Beezus could still see some students who weren't Student Leaders still hanging about. They really NEEDED to get back to the castle now. They really.......CRAP. Was that Nigel? "Nigel! What are you still doing here?" In no more than four steps, she had left Dylan's side and was now bounding over to her fellow Ravenclaw. "Please go back to the castle now." That goes for you too, Alec....and Penelope and her boyfriend.

She took a quick glance at the castle and took a deep breath. She could only hope that all her Eagles were inside.....safe and sound. She was terribly worried about them now, hence, why she wanted to get everything situated here already so she can go inside and make sure that they were all indeed okay.

Sigh.

Gulp.

GAH. What...was still Minerva doing here? Rubbing her temples, Beezus stepped over to where the Hufflepuff was, along with her Head of House and their History of Magic Professor. "Thank you, sir." She said to him before crouching down next to Professor Hadley. "Maa'm." She wanted to ask if she was okay, but felt that it was a stupid question so instead, she smiled somewhat faintly at the woman.

...Then she turned to Minerva, who apparently, was also being told off by Oakey now. "Minerva...do listen, would you? Everything's under control now. You're just being a nuisance if you keep your stubborn nose out here." Beezus gestured with her head that she go back to castle..

Vinteran, Oakey, Min, Castel, Hadley
 

Healer Tillstorm had not been planning on attending this little Fright Fest the prefects were putting on. No, her time was limited here at the school as it was. She didn't have time to waste at these little events the kids wanted to play at. She had work that needed to be done. Like trying to figure out a way to get her things back for the infirmary. Yet here she was, running out to see what the commotion was all about after receiving that patronus from Vinteran.

Finally finding the man with the funny accent Cece went over to him. "Vinteran. What is this nonsense about Dementors?" Why in hades would dementors be attacking the school? And why were there professors laying on the ground? And students running everywhere, and the Head Boy being all...

Wait, did he just tell Minerva he didn't have any candy and then offer some to Flamsteed?

NOT. NICE. OAKEY!

And then there was Castel being a loud, pushy, obnoxious thing. "Prefect Castel! I think you need to be the one going back to the castle now. Get to your common room and make sure everyone there is okay. We can handle it out here without you yelling at the students!" And that was an order not a request. "And take that blubbering captain with you as you go." They had no use for a cry baby like that out here.

Turning towards Minerva, Healer Tillstorm gave the child a sympathetic look. "Minerva, you can stay here with Professor Hadley if you'd like." She seemed to be the only student really concerned with what was happening to her head of house so she should be the one that stays by her side.

She turned to Josephina who was on the ground and held out a small vial for her to take. "Josephina, drink this. It will help you feel better." Tillstorm didn't believe in chocolate but she did believe in her potions.

trying to catch up from last night
 

Utter chaos and such a heavy sense of despair was the only way Ethan could describe the current situation. He tried desperately to focus on the patronuses being cast while thoughts of his own failure as a prefect ran through his head. He was frozen with fear and an overwhelming sadness as he watched the scene unfolding, people yelling, students everywhere, the dementor growing closer to Hadley while he kept his wand pointed with his shaking hand, unable to find his voice to cast his own patronus.

He tried harder to focus on the soft singing voice growing louder at his side and his eyes drifted to Minerva, his hand reaching for hers and managing a very weak, tiny smile. He looked back up in time to see a herd of silvery hippogriffs, enough to drive that horrible thing away.. thank Merlin. His eyes fell on Hadley.. was she alright? She had to be, right? He looked towards Vinterin who seemed to have things under control as he mentioned for Min to go back to the castle. "I really want you to be safe, Min.." he said, finally finding his voice as he turned towards her, fear still on his face. "Iheardyouscream," he barely got out.

The Healer..? Oh no.. he did not want to be anywhere near that evil woman, though deep down he knew she'd probably take good care of Hadley. He glanced back to Minerva as she expressed her concern for her Head of House.. and he understood her need to stay and make sure she was alright, being like the mother she no longer had. He glanced up first at Oakey then at Beezus who, though he appreciated their efforts for trying to take control of the situation, needed to leave Minerva alone.

Shaking his head, he said, "I will escort her up to the castle myself.. once she knows Professor Hadley is alright. Vinterin has things under control, she's not in any danger now." No.. he knew Minerva really needed that and he had a pretty good idea of what was going through her mind right now. He would make sure she wasn't in any danger. He shot a look at Beezus, hearing her words. "Look.. I know you're concerned, but no need to be rude."

And then the evil Healer was on the scene, throwing orders around like no one's business. Raising an eyebrow as she came their way, he grabbed Minerva's hand again and pulled her back a little behind him. No way was he going to let anything else happen to her.. he'd spend the rest of the term in detention before he'd let that happen. Then Ethan turned his eyes back to Hadley on the ground as she was tended to.. hopefully she would pull through now.

Eyes still on Hadley she couldn’t help feel her heart finally move when Hadley said she was alright. Minerva was grateful she was talking, but she didn’t look good, no Min wasn’t leaving until she felt that Hadley was alright or someone forced her to leave. Just as her heart felt like it was going back to normal she felt it stop again with fear. The voice of the healer going right through her. She jumped a bit and felt Ethan move her back behind him defensively. Really could anyone blame him after what they had been through.

Hearing Ethan speak she looked up with fear, concern, and despair in her eyes. “I can’t leave.” Eyes flashing back towards Hadley she couldn’t leave without really knowing she was alright. No.. she wouldn’t. “I.. I’m safe with you and the professors here.” She gripped his hand tightly with nerves and then she looked back up as she heard his quiet words. “I.. I’m sorry.” She knew what kind of horror her scream gave him. She knew all too well.

Did Oakey just seriously ask anyone if they wanted candy to help with this despair and hopeless feeling from the dementors and then turned and lied to her. What kind of horrible head boy was he. Did he not know that Arian and her had made up and if shouldn’t matter, he was a head boy and he wasn’t putting all the students interest in mind. She rolled her eyes and was about to say something when Beezus had to open her big mouth as well, but Ethan and wait

Blink.. blink..

Blue eyes snapping back towards the three adults. Did Tillstorm just come to her defense. Or was she just sick of the students being around. Either way she tried to ignore the other students. Hadley was her only concern at the moment. Squeezing Ethan’s hand tightly as he came to her defense with Beezus and Oakey as well. She looked back at Hadley just as she felt eyes on her. Tillstorm was looking at her and was that look actually.. nice, sympathetic.. Tillstorm? She had to have had one to many traumatic experiences this term to think that, but Tillstorm was telling her she could stay. That she could stay with Hadley, she had to be dreaming, right. Any minute she was going to wake up, evil healer was being nice to her.

Taking a deep breath she moved out from behind Ethan’s protective arms. “I’ll be alright, but stay with me.” She kept his hand tightly in hers as she made her way closer to Hadley. She wiped her eyes with her free hand and then looked at Healer Tillstorm. Fear running through her being this close to evil healer, but she choke down the feeling, “Thank you Healer Tillstorm.” Eyes moving back to Hadley. She watched concerned. A potion, eyes flickered between the adults. Did we trust Tillstorm with a potion. She wanted to give Hadley a hug and just make her be alright, no.. no hug, not around Tillstorm. She shuddered at the thought of hugs. Whatever evil Healer was doing she just hoped it help her mama Hadley.

Dylan wasn't paying attention to anyone or anything but Jake...Yes, Anya and Beezus were still there...and his hold on Bee's hand hadn't lessened...but there were things being said between the two of them. There were still tears and wetness on his face...but no sound. Nothing at all...

He was heartbroken...about more than even he knew.

The dementors had brought things to the forefront of his mind...that the Slytherin was trying so hard not to think about...Jake knew about the things. They'd talked about them...and it was decidedly more difficult to recover after...remembering those types of things.

...and then he was getting a bro!hug...

Jake had never hugged him before...and Dylan was surprised at how much he'd actually needed it. Even with Gunter there and his anger starting to get the best of him at the most unnecessary time...Dylan was reminded that he had his best mate...

"Thanks..." It was nice of Anya to step aside and let that happen...Considering.

...and Dylan was ignoring Oakey. Candy couldn't make up for the other stuff. Didn't Oakey understand that. He was grateful that he was offering it to Beezus...and Jake and Anya...but there was nothing else that needed to be said. Dylan was done.

"Bee...." She was saying stuff to Wheatborn...and he just shook his head. He wanted to...go cuddle up to her and be upset in the castle. "Just....come with me...." With the pathetic state the Slytherin was in...he was definitely done with this event...with these people...and with the attitudes.

D. O. N. E.

"Let's go..." Dylan began leading the way up to the castle...

Blubbering captain?

All of Alice's sadness had been pushed further down inside of her and replaced with irritation. NOW the professors showed up? Now? She'd been standing there, desperately shouting for Vinteren and Knox for a while, long enough for Dylan and Oakey to attempt to cast a patronus a million times. And when they finally arrived, the only leaders who'd been handling the situation were disregarded like that?

So much for alerting the authorities. Truebridge's safety plan would only work if she hired decent instructors.

The candy Oakey had placed in her hand was pretty much crushed by now, seeing how hard her fists were clenched. But she offered the Head Boy a weak smile and brushed away the dry tears with her hoodie sleeve. "Thanks, professors." For all their help, really, Alice appreciated it so much. "C'mon Cat. Let's go."

She turned away from the scene and began her way up to the castle with the others. People weren't coming? Fine. They'd have fun getting their souls sucked.

Alright sweet. Alice was coming with, not happily but that wasn't to be expected at the moment. If she wasn't still cold and a little sad, Cat would have done a happy dance. Maybe later. Maybe.

Also maybe cupcakes.

Yes.

With a pause, she glanced around looking for Mo. He had said something about a Gryffindor but she had no idea what he was up to. At least she had her Gryffindor. "Coming!" Cat turned on her heel and made a little hustle to catch up to Alice. Yes, let's go back inside and never come back out. Good plan.

this turned out long o.o sorry if it doesn't make sense x3
 

Was... was she giving him a cookie?

Tobias looked taken aback for a second but he was certainly not going to refuse sugar. He took the cookie with a tiny smile. He didn't believe it would help... just one of those things that adults said would help. But as Tobias took a tiny bite, he really DID feel a bit better... almost like there had been a door in his head that was blocking the happiness out but now it had been opened a tiny bit.

The hopeless feeling had lifted slightly but the fear was still there. He stared back towards the area where the scary things had been and noticed that it was actually... really bright now. Even seeing the light made him feel a tiny bit better too. Tobias took another bite of the cookie, glad that it was helping.

Dementors... overwhelming sadness and cold... Patronus Charm...

Storing that information away in his memory to either do more research later or just lock away somewhere in his brain never to be thought of again, Tobias listened Kurumi kept talking. Because that was her name... because she just said so.

"My name's Toby," he replied quietly. "Or Tobias. I don't mind which." Tobias gave a weak smile but the fact was that he COULD smile a little bit. "I'm in my first year here," he added as a way of kind of explaining why he was so terrified. He opened his mouth again to try and explain all the really really bad feelings but his voice caught in his throat and he decided not to dwell on the bad stuff. Another good sign... because before the cookie it felt like there only ever WAS bad stuff and bad memories.

Biting his lower lip, Tobias glanced back there again. "So... so Professor Hadley... she's going to be alright now, yeah?" Toby looked at Kurumi with wide eyes. "She's my head of house. But she'll be okay 'cause the silver things, yeah? And the scary sad monsters will go away."

It was still so difficult to see past the sad but at least it was somewhat possible.

And then there were people who were catching up and going back to the castle... that must be because it was under control. But he couldn't see Hadley and all he could really think of when he thought of her were the scary sad monsters which was a terrifying thought, and he impatiently (and hopefully inconspicuously) brushed away a couple of tears. He NEVER cried and wasn't going to start now, especially if there was no concrete reason to do so. "It'll be okay," Tobias whispered to himself, and gave Kurumi a shaky smile before remembering his manners. "Thank you..." For the cookie and the help and the being there and the being nice and the everything.

well this is late o_o
 

She was not amused, everything was happening and she had to be watching from Mo's shoulder. He was planning to put her down, right? This wasn't even remotely comfortable.

Her eyes widened as another drifted closer, reaching toward her. The temperature dropped so suddenly that she didn't know what to make off it. The pounding on Mo's back stopped and her eyes stayed fixed on the cloaked creature that was drawing closer. Suddenly a bright light and a raven patronus.

Bliiiink.

Then MORE patronus spells. Mr. Vinteren was in action. Whoooooaaaaaa...Alexa was taking everything in with eyes that widened by the second. This...this was what she would call EPIC. Her resisting slowly came to a halt and she watched in awe as Mr. Vinteren single-handedly chased away the dementors. He was the greatest--next to her Daddy of course.

Once the threat had passed and they were once again being yelled at to head back to the castle she looked around. The Healer was put straight to work. "Okaaaaaay, you can take me back to the castle." No more fighting. The action had died.

Oh but before he did. "That was SO TOTALLY amazing Mr. Vinteren!!!!!!!!!" It had to be said. It just had to. The others tried and yeah, they got something done, Dylan's patronus even sorta saved her but HIS patronus things REALLY did it.

Erik wasn't particularly inclined to allow her to stay, but he wasn't also particularly inclined to force her to leave either. He weighed her sincere request for a moment. If the Hufflepuff wanted to put herself into danger by remaining in the vicinity of dark, dangerous creatures...so be it. It was a fool's mission to stay, but he nodded to her request anyway.

"I believe chocolate is vhe common cure for dementors, Ms. Wheatborn, not ice cream?" Erik gave the girl a curious look, secretly amused as he was though that she was craving the ice cream.



Erik turned back to focusing on the dementors when he suddenly felt a presence beside him and a small voice pressing something into his hand. Chocolate? That was...unexpectedly kind of her.

"Vhank you," he replied to the girl, still a little surprised. "I'll see vhat she gets vhis."

She lives! "Yes, it is," Erik replied in the affirmative, glancing down at the Arithmancy professor and blinking. Why did everyone find that strange? But at least she seemed to be coming to. "Here," he said, offering her the hand that held the chocolate. She could stand, yes? Because she too should probably be going back to the castle...the dementors didn't seem to truly be gone.

"You're velcome," Erik replied almost routinely, and with a small shrug. He turned away from the girls arguing. The Ravenclaw Prefect wasn't impressing him with her tone though...shouldn't she be heading back to the castle as well?

"It's not nonsense, Healer Tillstorm," Erik replied coolly. "Do you not see vhe patronuses?" And the fog? And the icy grass? He didn't just go around casting magic unnecessarily, woman.

Now that the Healer was here, though, he figured he could step to the side. So he did, his wand still out as his blue eyes scanned the perimeter. He couldn't help but overhear the Healer's reprimanding of the prefect...and despite the dreary atmosphere here, his lips began to twitch into a smirk. Yes, the Ravenclaw girl deserved that.

He almost jumped when Ivy seemed to wake up and start shouting at everyone. Was she all right then? Where had she been mentally the whole time the dementors were going down? Erik turned toward her and gave her a head-to-toe look. She still looked pretty shaken...and this concerned him. He took a few steps her way but halted as he remembered the dementors.

Right. "Expecto Patronum," Erik murmured lazily, flicking his wand toward the few still circling outside their little clearing.

Heh, he appreciated that, he did. But Erik tried not to seem too pleased with himself so he gave Alexa a cool nod and a wink instead. "Go back to vhe castle now, Ms. Cambridge." And take your little friends with you.

She was hitting him. Bruising him. And it was cold and she was heavy and Oakey was yelling at him and where were Cat and Alice anyway? And then she blamed him for missing candy... Mo was tempted to drop Lex on her big dumb head and stalk off to the castle on his own.

It went colder than ever, though, and although Mo couldn't see it, he could sense that one of those dementors was waaaaaaaaay too close to him. Must be going for Lex, who was still managing to be the greatest source of emotional turmoil on the field. She was like a lamp for a very creepy moth.

The feeling disappeared all at once, and Mo redoubled his efforts to get Lex out of there. It was nice she'd had a change of heart, but she was gonna go even if she didn't want to go. He grumbled and shook her about as he stalked toward the castle. "I'm not replacing your dumb candy, you know."

Hovering at the edge of the forest, the pair of dementors continued search for another window of opportunity to attack once again. Sensing their prey moving further and further away, they slowly glided forwards as one last silver hippogriff sailed past them, missing them almost on purpose.

That was the signal.

Scabby hands recoiled back into their black cloaked forms and they floated backwards and vanished into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

"I didn't mean to sound rude, Ethan....I'm sorry." She was frustrated....and tired, cold and worn out and the behavior his girlfriend was showing was just not making it any better. So yes, she might have said something rude....but she was sorry and she WAS NOT YELLING.

In contrast, her fingers had curled up into fists when the Healer YELLED at her, followed by a rather forceful biting at her bottom lip.

Evil!Healer......Evil!Puff.......

Oh. She was done.

Hanging around and endangering themselves - the Student Leaders - just to make sure their peers made it back first because it was their responsibility to do so was bitterly acknowledged. Well, okay. Okay. Okay.

OKAY....

Beezus straightened up without a word just as Professor Knox arrived at the scene. "Professor...." was all she said to the woman without so much as a blink as she passed by her on her way to meet Dylan. On his cue, she nodded and walked towards the castle, not even throwing their Event's site one last glance.

*catches up veeeeery late*
 

Her eyes? Yeah Kurumi was saying something about that till Nessie got distracted by what she saw not too far away. Black shadows. Dark. Scary-looking. Black Shadows...and right by Hadley too.

A little concerned Ness followed along with Kurumi who was now consoling Tobias and looked ahead. Those shadows weren't just shadows they were dementors and it all happened really fast that all Nessie could do was stare, stare and stare. She was in utter shock and by the time she had regained herself the black things had begun disappearing.

Bummer. It was really terrifying and all and of course a serious matter but it could have been the perfect opportunity for her to see if her patronus really worked before she left this place. Meh. There were more important things to worry about, like was Hadley okay? And was everyone getting to the castle as told?

Silly Dementors ruining the perfect event, they really had all worked hard. But of course their duties were in need once more at the moment, so Nessie shook out of her starey-eyed state and looked around. "You heard everyone." Everyone as in the Professors and Student leaders. "Back to the castle!" Eyes on all of you that hadn't started walking.

And that was that. Erik lowered his wand as the dementors retreated at last, and after a few more moments without any sign of them, he turned and left the Arithmancy professor to the Healer. He had more important people to tend to.

"Ivy," he said simply, ignoring her comment and closing the distance between them with a few quick steps. He looked her over head to toe and put a hand out on her arm. "Are you all right?"