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- Term 34: May - August 2013 (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-34-may-august-2013/)

- - Seating and Viewing Area (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-34-may-august-2013/seating-and-viewing-area-93836/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren (Post 11391034)

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?"

Ivy didn't even look at Beatrice when she passed by. She was still keeping her eyes on Erik and the dementors as they finally left the area. Another shiver rippled through her insides before Erik approached her.

Was she alright? "Better than the Arithmancy Professor," she muttered with a glance toward her way. But she looked back at Erik, still wondering a thousand different questions but not daring to ask any. She was still tense and nervous, and it showed.

"And you?" Let's turn the attention away from her, yes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo (Post 11391038)

Heh, that she was. Erik almost smiled but then he caught that scared ~~little girl~~ look in her eyes and his smile turned upside down into a frown. "I'm fine..but you...I believe you need some chocolate." And maybe a fire and some hugs. All of those things were in the castle though, so he gave her arm a gentle tug to head up there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren (Post 11391041)

She needed chocolate? Ivy wanted disagree, but didn't have the energy or will. Maybe later. Instead, she just shrugged her shoulders lightly and slipped her hand into Erik's when he tugged her arm before heading up to the castle.

Maybe she could have a hug or something. When no one was looking. And if she didn't have to ask. Maybe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ ExpelliarMOOSE (Post 11390243)

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.

Airey remained on the ground long after the terrifying chill caused by the dementors had gone due to their retreat into the forest. He felt both cold and numb at the same time and lost. Very lost. Like he was in a dark tunnel and no matter how far he walked it never seemed to end. No light. Just darkness and dark memories. His cheek felt almost wet and, confused for a moment, he reached a trembling hand up to it. Sure enough, it WAS wet. He was...crying?

The astronomer slowly uncurled himself from fetal position after hearing a voice speak to him. He assumed it was to him at least. Everything was fuzzy right now. This was ridiculous. He had faced dementors before and they had never, NEVER, affected him in this way.

"Oh, Mr. Gunter, thank you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he accepted the candy - slime and all. "You best be heading back up to the castle now. Make sure your classmates are safe."

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaverickMagpie (Post 11390376)

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.

His long silence would have been uncomfortable under normal circumstances, but Kurumi found herself greatful that he was not feeling too talkative and asking too many questions. Mostly because she did not know the answers and Kurumi Hollingberry hated it when she did not have an answer.

At least he had taken the cookie from her. That was a relief. She just wished that she had had straight chocolate with her. It would do for now. At least until he was safely back in the castle and in the Hufflepuff common room. She was sure that professors would be about passing out chocolate to students to help them recover. It was what she would do at least.

But where was the Headmistress in all this? Shouldn't she....be out here for this event?

Thoughts being pushed aside when he spoke again, Kurumi turned her full attention to him. "Hey, Toby," she replied, forcing her lips into a small smile. So she had guessed right then. He was a first year. Merlin did she wish Lewis was here now too. She was used to comforting students on scary things, but never fear itself. She needed him beside her to give her the extra strength she needed. Plus, he was an excellent comforter too.

"Professor Hadley will be fine," she nodded, her forced smile still there. "I think I even see her standing up over there now." See? All was alright. But the memories would be there and that was something that each person would have to figure out how to deal with on their own.

"Do you want me to walk you back to the castle?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 11391071)

As soon as Kurumi said that she thought she saw Hadley standing up, Toby's head whipped around and he stared back towards the bright clearing, squinting slightly. He couldn't tell who was who, but he supposed that if Kurumi had been at the school before, she would know what she was talking about. Also, she was an adult, so of course she knew what she was talking about.

"Okay," he nodded. Yes. She was fine. She would be okay. Everything would be okay. Tobias tried to keep thinking that but no matter how much he tried to focus on that thought, another idea that actually everything wouldn't be okay and maybe would never be okay ever again kept kind of cropping up in his mind. Toby took a steadying breath and nibbled some more on the cookie. "She'll be fine. Yeah." He gave a tiny sniff but then blinked really really hard because he refused to let his eyes cry. Because it wasn't HIM who would be crying, it was his eyes.

It would be okay. Itwoulditwoulditwould.

Toby looked gratefully at Kurumi once again. He was incredibly thankful for the offer. Half of him was scared of more dementors and just general monstery things, and the other half of him kind of just wanted to sit there and not move because of the sads, so... yeah, he was super grateful. "Could you? I mean, yes... please. That'd be... yes please."

Tobias then faltered for a moment before going on. "Uhm... and... is there a way to make the sad stop?"

sorry so late. 12.5 hour workday yesterday after closing the night before =(

Quote:

Originally Posted by The1HBIC (Post 11390293)

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay (Post 11390310)

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga (Post 11390338)

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.

And then she turned her attention at students still around. Namely one of her Hufflepuffs, along with the Ravenclaw Prefect, who said about personally escorting her back to the castle once she knew she was alright.

Eyes on the older students for a moment, as she tried to find the right words. "Minerva. Ethan." She called to them, quietly. "I'll be alright, but just ... please... take care. And head back to your common rooms." She just needed her wand and then she would follow suit back to the castle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren (Post 11390509)

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.

Kneeling now, she ran her fingers over the ground, squinting into the darkness, as her fingers finally found a thin piece of wood. Splitting. Or split. She couldn't really tell in the dark. But either way, she did hear Erik confirm that he was the one who saved the ~~day~~ night and her from the awful dementors. Standing up, she brushed herself off as she shoved the splintered wood into its holster, of which she'd investigate later back in her office. "Thank you," She murmured, accepting the chocolate, and took a nibble.

Between the chocolate and the potion vial, she was already feeling better. Strong enough to amble back to the castle.

SPOILER!!: Vinteren and Hadley, plus Ethan/Tillstorm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren (Post 11390509)

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (Post 11391905)

Josephina was slowly gaining her strength and energy back, but still not quite up to standing up. Besides, she really wished she knew where her wand rolled to ... but it was dark. Squint. Someone was addressing her. Squint, squint.

Oh. It was just the healer. Offering her a vial of .... poison? No, why would the healer be poisoning a colleague? She wouldn't be. Taking the vial, she nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, Cecelia." Even though she had no idea what it was, she uncapped it and swallowed it in one gulp. Surely it had to make her feel better than the after effects of almost being soul-sucked.

And then she turned her attention at students still around. Namely one of her Hufflepuffs, along with the Ravenclaw Prefect, who said about personally escorting her back to the castle once she knew she was alright.

Eyes on the older students for a moment, as she tried to find the right words. "Minerva. Ethan." She called to them, quietly. "I'll be alright, but just ... please... take care. And head back to your common rooms." She just needed her wand and then she would follow suit back to the castle.

Kneeling now, she ran her fingers over the ground, squinting into the darkness, as her fingers finally found a thin piece of wood. Splitting. Or split. She couldn't really tell in the dark. But either way, she did hear Erik confirm that he was the one who saved the ~~day~~ night and her from the awful dementors. Standing up, she brushed herself off as she shoved the splintered wood into its holster, of which she'd investigate later back in her office. "Thank you," She murmured, accepting the chocolate, and took a nibble.

Between the chocolate and the potion vial, she was already feeling better. Strong enough to amble back to the castle.

Minerva listened to awesome, amazing hero professor.. He was brilliant she really knew that from the History of magic lesson when he kept saying about her answers, but now he saved Professor Hadley and she really wanted to hug him, she even stepped to hug him, but a shudder went through her as the thoughts of hugging a professor or anyone for that matter brought images of fire and no hair. So she fidgeted a bit, "but chocolate ice cream could do both.. and Professor Hadley likes ice cream so it could make her feel better." Yeah.. because she just wanted Professor Mamma Hadley to be alright and happy.

But.. then he was walking away.. where was he going, what if they came back. "Sir.. thank you for saving all of us really. Your patronus was brilliant all of them." She gave a weak smile before turning back to Hadley, Ethan, and ~~evil~~ Tillstorm.

Just as she turned back to them Hadley was taking a potion, her brain was exploding to scream no and swat the potion away. Her feet even took her closer to Hadley until she felt something under her left foot. Jumping back and almost onto Ethan's foot she looked doing. Pulling her wand, "Lumos" Bending down it was.. a wand..no just a stick. Her nerves were getting the best of her at the moment. Taking a deep breath she heard her name and Ethan's and blue eyes snapped at Hadley. She was alright, she seemed a bit better. Maybe Tillstorm was helping and not trying to harm anyone.

Minerva looked between the healer and Hadley, she did not want to leave her alone with this evil woman. She knew what happened when left alone with her, but she wasn't going to not listen to Hadley either. With a shaking voice, "Alright Professor... are you sure you will be okay?" Squeezing Ethan's hand she gave him an exhausted, but small smile. She knew he would hate where she was wanting to go, but after all this she was going to kitchen.

Ethan gave an understanding nod to Beezus before she headed off. He knew emotions were running high right now with everything going on and he was doing his best to be empathetic to the situation.. if only he could shake this lingering sense of failure. He didn't pay much attention to the remainder of the students leaving.. he really felt like the situation was under control now and he was more focused on making sure Hadley was alright, then leaving with Minerva.

He gripped her hand tightly as she gave it a little squeeze, letting her know he wasn't leaving without her.. then closed his eyes briefly as she suggested ice cream.. he could not hear anymore about that freaking ice cream! But again, given the situation, the last thing he wanted to do was start an argument so he let it go, saying nothing. Watching her a bit distractedly as she jumped back into him, then bent down, he let his eyes wander over to Hadley as she seemed to regain cognizance, taking her potion.

And then she was speaking to them.. He stepped a bit closer to hear her and he nodded to her words. "Yes, ma'am.. we'll head back now. I'm glad you're alright." Or will be, at any rate. She didn't look the greatest, but she did look a whole lot better than she had a few moments ago.. and he trusted that she was on her way to being on the mend. He turned back towards Minerva and mirrored her small, tired smile. Now that they knew Hadley would be okay, he really felt that they should get inside.. whether he felt the danger was gone or not. The sense of dread still hung heavy in the air and he wanted far away from it. "Let's go inside.. she'll be alright, she's being taken care of," he told her then turned to escort her back into the school, still holding her hand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 11391071)

Never had he ever would have said he saw two Professor's cry in less than 10 minutes apart of each other. Nor would he have told anyone that one of the two Professor would be Flamsteed. He could barely make out what Flamsteed was saying, most of it was sounded like 'head back to the castle.'
He stood up and brushed slime off his jeans and to the side. "Healer Tillstorm? Someone should help Professor Flamsteed too" He was not sure if the Astronomy Professor was a victim of a kiss either ~~not the one that Professor Elwood landed on him in Hogsmeade~~, all he saw was the Professor collapse when he came into view. "Any Stragglers come up with me. I'll follow close behind." Oakey stood at the entrance of the Seating area and waited for the last of his classmates to head up, then turned and went up as well.

SPOILER!!: Min 1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga (Post 11389180)

See Eliza had the right idea. Why wasn't there ice cream at this event. There should be. Where was professor Flamsteed. He had to have the ice cream with him or Daichi. They were both good at getting ice cream when needed. "Well Ethan and I got here as soon as we could. Honestly I almost didn't come. That de.. that was rough." She looked down towards the Botts challenge to make sure Ethan was doing alright. She couldn't imagine how he must be feeling right now. Her stomach turned thinking about it and she wasn't the one that had to eat the jelly beans or the bugs. Shuddering she turned back to Eliza trying to focus on the event not the detention. "Has anything exciting happened so far?" That was what she needed excitement, fun even. She needed to get her mind off of things and have a good laugh or something. "Yeah he is in charge of that event. I'm glad he was able to make it over." This was his last few months he needed to be having a good time, not she shook her head and pushed it all away.

Or she thought she pushed it away until she heard Eliza notice her hair. "Oh you noticed that." She really did need to just suck it up and charm it longer or risk taking the rest of the hair growth potion. "I.. well umm.. you see." how did she even explain this. She tugged self consciously at the hat. Why did she come again. "Well Professor Lafay kind of had me hug a plant that was on fire and it burned all my hair off." She didn't meet Eliza's eyes, she was humiliated enough as it was. She didn't need to have students and the rest of the staff seeing it. Even though glancing at the two board of governors and professors she wondered if they would be interested in hearing about this detention. She really liked both of them, but after everything that happened in the detention was not sure who to trust anymore.

"YOu don't have any ice cream do you or would want to maybe go get some. I'm feeling like I could really use some comfort right now." She gave a smile without looking at Eliza.

Eliza took a nibble out of a spider shaped pastry she'd gotten from the table as Minerva spoke. When she was finished, she spoke slowly and carefully. Clearly her friend was distraught and she didn't want to make it worse. "Oh, well I'm glad you made it. But...I'm sorry, it was....rough." She didn't have to talk about it if she didn't want to, but Eliza gave her a look with her long lashed hazel eyes to let her know that she could. And so it seemed that Ethan was in charge of the bean challenge. "Well I haven't been here too long either, so I haven't seen much yet." She glanced down at her outfit and looked back to Min. "I took too long picking out what to wear. Stupid, right?" It wasn't like anyone was going to really notice or care...but she had fun doing it, so that was all that mattered. "That's neat that Ethan is in charge of a challenge for this," she said with a nod. Ethan is so good at so many things! she thought happily, and was glad that Minerva was so nice and that her two best friends were to good together.

She nibbled on her chocolate arachnid again while Minerva explained her hair. She felt bad now for asking, but she couldn't help herself. She was an asker, a thinker, a ponderer, an observer. It was her nature. Though her nature now had her torn between hiding under a rock for bringing it up, making a public outcry against what she'd just heard about what Lafay had done, and going into helper mode by forcing some ice cream into Min cause that would surely fix everything. Reaction number two for the win. "She did WHAT?!??" Eliza knew the woman was a little harsh at times, but she had sort of respected her before this, but now? Now? She didn't think she could anymore. "What on earth could YOU of all people have done to warrant that? Nothing. No one ever. That's...that's....I just...I can't..." And then Min asked about ice cream. "Yes. Ice cream. We need it. Let's get it. That's all we should think of right now. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to cause we'll feel better as soon as we..." she trailed off, feeling a shiver down her spine.

SPOILER!!: Narrator, Dementors, Hadley, Minerva

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Narrator (Post 11389623)

As the event started to wind down and the torches steadily burned lower, a thick, cold fog began to move out from the forest. It remained low to the ground at first as ice crystals thickened and solidified over the grass. The cold even started to creep up the tables containing the food, perhaps freezing some of it and making it difficult to bite into.

It seemed winter ~~or something more sinister~~ had not yet left Hogwarts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEMENTORS! (Post 11389638)

Unable to resist the delicious flavor of happiness and joy in the air, a pair of dementors came swooping out of the forest. Their long bony grey fingers reached out from under their black cloaks as they grasped at the air as if using it to pull themselves towards the source of their hungry rattled breathing.

Gliding without a sound, they flew towards their victim - one Arithmancy professor - bringing more icy chills with them. The dementors began to feed on the professor, moving closer and closer to the woman with each pass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga (Post 11389667)

Minerva was cold.. See there was a reason she had a hat. ~~Well now she could say she did.~~ Whoever kept turning the cold up for their ice cream was wonderful, but did that mean there was ice cream there? She hoped that it did. Starting to look around she wondered who would have brought it. "Eliza, where do you think we can find the ice cream." It had to be here, it was now cold and kind of sad.

Really sad actually, why did she come to this thing. Turning she froze.. Only a few rows away something shadowy was on Hadley. What.. was.. that a dementor. A scream left the girls lips, a scream louder than the one from earlier when her robes were on fire. This was Hadley, no one hurt Hadley. The woman was like her mother, she had taken that mother place in Min's world since her own mother passed second term.

She felt horrible, cold, sad, the sadness and defeat of earlier didn't even compare to the way she felt now. Her mind was racing, but wasn't moving at the same time. She just wanted to curl in a ball and cry, but this was Hadley. She pulled her wand, but she had never done a real patronus. She hadn't practiced enough. She tried to think happy, but nothing was coming.

Pointing at it she tried to think "expecto patronum" nothing happened. Come on Min you have to help her. Minerva sat cold and stricken with fear watching in horror, not able to do anything but grip her wand. She felt hopeless and helpless.

She felt distracted. Detached. Like her zeal had been wiped clean from her very essence. "Why is it so c-c-cold?" she asked the older girl. But then she mentioned ice cream adn that sounded like it might be related, so she relaxed for a moment.

Until she saw them. At first she thought they were lethifolds and her fear caught in her throat. She did NOT want to be literally suffocated by those horrible things. But as they got closer, she saw the true horror. Dementors. And a lot of them. Panicked, she turned to Min who seemed to be realizing what was happening as well. She followed her friend's gaze to a grouping of the cloaked monsters and saw them attacked Professor Hadley. "No!" was all she could squeak out.

She felt weak and small and useless. She didn't know how to produce a useful patronus. She was only a third year. Barely even a true teenager. She knew she couldn't do this. She felt hopeless and undone. Broken. She watched Min's attempt at a rescue by patronus, but seeing it fail only made Eliza fall more deeply into despair.

SPOILER!!: Student leaders n such

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd (Post 11389846)

From his post at the Cockroach Cluster race, Jake saw the dark shapes. And it didn't take him too long to leave the station and jog to the seating area to make sure what he saw wasn't something bad. His hand clutched one of Anya's, because even if nothing was going on, he didn't want to let her out of his sight.

He was glad for that, too, when he realized what the shapes were.

Dementors.

His jaw dropped slightly and his feet stumbled. Those were dementors. Attacking a professor. Obviously other people had noticed, but it didn't seem that anything that anybody was doing was helping at all. Not that Jake thought he could help (his patronus charm was pathetic, and he'd never cast a corporeal one), but he had to try. There was no way he could stand around and do nothing now that he knew - sort of - what was going on.

So, tugging Anya closer to his left side, he aimed his wand in the direction of the dementors. "Expecto Patronum!" A feeble mist came from his wand and flickered out quickly. Muttering under his breath, Jake tried again... but the same result. He cursed, taking an almost involuntary step forward. He needed to do something... but what could you do to a dementor if you couldn't even cast a Patronus charm?

...You could get everyone away.

"Hey!" He called, raising his wand hand to try to get attention. He had no idea what he was going to suggest, but he knew that everyone probably shouldn't be hanging around the creatures, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEMENTORS! (Post 11389865)

The rattling breathing of the two dementors only intensified as time progressed. Silvery creature after silvery creature hurtled itself towards their cloaked scabby bodies, but to no avail. Try as you might, young ones, seems as though none of you have a happy enough memory to power your patronus this time. One dementor veered off of the female professor, sensing the presence of others, while the other continued to get closer and inhaled more deeply as it did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon (Post 11389911)

Was.. was Lex saying something? What was she doing? "I.. uh.." Depression.. safety seminar. Auror.. Auror.. alert the authorities? How was she supposed to get an authoritative perso- oh! Oh, professors! Who was around, other than Hadley, who's soul was currently being devoured? "Professor.. Knox?" Too sad to talk louder.. no.. "Professor Knox! Professor Vinteren?" They were right there, next to the buffet table.

If Dylan or Jake couldn't cast a patronus, they could, right? "PROFESSORS." Could they hear her? Next steps.. use teamwork? How? Student leaders start fishing everyone out? Remain calm. Only use magic if necessary (it was clearly necessary here). Exits.. were everywhere. Okay. Safety steps down.

"My.. quidditch whistle..? .. oh!" Anya was clever, she'd give her that. Alice tugged out her captain whistle, the one that was always around her neck, and blew as much air as she could manage into it. Still.. so depressed.. "If you aren't a student leader, GET OUT OF THE AREA. Back in the castle. Clear out. Move as far away from the dementors as you can." She wanted to curl up in the fetal position and cry and.. and..

The fifth year gave her whistle a couple more sharp blows. "GET OUT. Dylan, keep trying." Please. Pleasepleaseplease, she was SO cold.

Lengths of black fabric swirled in the air, and more piled around her ankles. She gazed downwards, realizing that the pile of black garb was her own. She had slumped from her seat all the way to the ground and was now in a lopsided kneeling position. Her head drooped, unable to find the will to raise her eyes even to check her surroundings. She heard student leaders calling out in all directions. She heard feeble cries, echoes of the incantation expecto patronum.She wanted to help, but she couldn't even move. And why should she bother? Nothing was going to get better. She would never smile again. They were all going to die. She was sure. She just wished Ethan was here.

She shook her head free of that thought however. No. It's good that he's away...then he won't get cau-- But then she saw him rush to Minerva's side. No, Ethan....run! Run, you can't stay here! She knew it was too late to save herself. She understood what the dementors did, and how they were affecting her now, but even so it wasn't enough to make her stand up off the ground. Not even to get herself to safety. She just couldn't bare anything any longer. She let herself fall over and sobbed quietly into the dirty ground.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEMENTORS! (Post 11390042)

Try and try as the students may, their progress gave no flub in the dementors' desire for the human's happiness. One in particular swooped around as silent as air itself, reaching for one of the younger students whom was particularly loud in her attempts to stay put, when a silver raven flew it off course. It glided back towards it's ambush partner, fingers twitching as it stared around the chaos, while the other moved closer to it's finale ending with the female professor.

Before either could act further, a silver hippogriff collided against them, driving them back a few feet. One after the other, the silvery hippogriffs pushed the dementors further back despite their attempts to swoop in through the bright lights. Rather than fighting it any longer, the dementors glided off into the shadows, lingering nearby as they looked for their next opening, yet still visible from the few still lit torches and moonlight every now and then.

Streaks of mud and dust covered her pale face. Every sob she uttered brought a mouthful of particles and sorrow. Her teeth were gritty with dirt. Her eyes were stinging of salt. She couldn't help her teacher or her friends or herself and it was killing her slowly. Her worst fear truly, was not being able to save the ones she loved. She knew this now. And she knew this fear was coming true.

Except she felt a change. A weight was slowly being lifted from her back, from her shoulders, from her lungs...

Her ragged breathing slowed and the lump in her throat began to subside. Desperation started to melt away. She turned her head to the sky and saw the evil beings fleeing the area, fleeing from her teacher, fleeing from her friends. That's right, she thought angrily. Leave. Get out! Don't touch them! Still horrified and ashamed that she could not help, tears continued to roll down her cheeks, though they were saved. During the commotion it seemed Professor Vinteren had deftly saved them all. But she knew she had seen him chatting with the new Charms professor before the attack had come...so what had taken him so long to act? Maybe he was struggling just like everyone else, she reasoned. She gave a feeble and apologetic look to Hadley, to Ethan, to Min, to Lex who despite her hitting and screaming had still been in danger despite Eliza's best intentions. She sat her head back down in the dirt and let several more tears stream down her face before she brushed an auburn strand from her face, sniffled, and pushed herself up from the ground.