Something weird was going on here. Something was lurking. Jory soun around when he heard a voice. It was Alexa. "Hi,'' he said. A WHAT? He stared at Alexa puzzled and alarm. "A thestral?'' He looked around wildly. But of course, he could not see it but it was obvious that Alex could. "I did not sneak a Thestral,'' Jory replied indignantly. "It sneaked up on me. I was minding my own business and I suddenly felt...a presence.''

Just then, some other students showed up, including Daichi. "Hi guys,'' Jory said, still looking around. Like he could see the Thestral. "Alexa says there's a thestral around.'' The Puffer thought she was joking. That is, until Daichi confirmed she was not. He knew they weren't evil creatures or anything but still, he did not appreciate being in the presence of something he could not see.



Jory was watching Alexa as she reached out to the thestral. But what he did not know was that it was moving towards him. Until it bumped against him. The badger realised it was moving away from the Forest. "Why is it heading towards the Castle?'' he asked no one in particular as he tried to stay clear of the creature.

Hooves shuffling nervously on the pavement, the Thestral let out a gruff whinny. It didn't mind the humans hovering around, even if they were little. Still on edge, it stretched its leathery wings toward the corridor ceiling.

"Oh, wow, that is pretty neat. Wait, then that means you saw someone die, I can't fathom how what that's like Diachi, wow.". Oichi then heard more voices abd saw another person come by and just stare at the being invisible to heer eyes. "Amelia, you too have seen someone die.". She ten noticed Lex and was glad to see the second year was confused. It was better off to be out of the loop on this one.

Lex fanned the Puffer off when he tried defending the fact that he hadn't snuck the thestral in. That was rather obvious seeing as he couldn't even see the thing. Merlin, she remembered when people used to be able to take a joke.

But then, Jory was talking to people. There were more people? Since when? Not that she would have noticed, it was all apart of being oblivious, came in handy only half the time. Now, she wasn't sure whether it had done more harm or good in this particular situation but didn't matter either, she'd rather pay attention to the thestral anyway.

"Hey Daichi, Oichi." She greeted both absentmindedly as she watched the creature stretch it's wings but to answer Jory's question..."I'm not sure. I don't speak thestral and I only just got here...you think maybe we should get the Ground's Keeper? He'd know what to do...wouldn't he?" She thought it over for a minute. The creature didn't seem like it was going anywhere so..."I guess I'll be right back? Don't let it out of your sight...er...those of you that can see it anyway, the rest of you, try not to get hurt." And with that she made off to the Grounds Keeper's hut.

To answer Oichi's question if he had seen someone die before, he looked at the thestral who suddenly stretched it's wings and figured there was no point in trying to lie. "Yes..." he answered slowly, his facial features and voice looked and sounded gloomy. That was all he said though because he didn't really want to go in to detail about the who and how.

Luckily, Jory came in the form of an distraction and the Slytherin had a reason to change the subject. "Hey Jory, Lex" he greeted the two of them and then gave the other Gryffindor girl (Penelope) a nod as well.

Daichi looked at Lex when she spoke about finding the groundskeeper and nodded. "Sure, just come back quickly" he said to her. "For those who can't see the Thestral you can stand by my side" He didn't want a case of one of them accidentally bumping in to the creature and it would either flee off or hurt said student.

Jory watched as Alexa hurried off for the Groundskeeper. It was a good idea. He would know what to do. Maybe getting the CoMC Professor wouldn't hurt either. He suddenly felt a rush of wind. "Guys? What's it doing now?'' And good idea, Daichi. The boy shuffled over to his friend. He could tell it came from the Thestral. As much as he was nervous about being around something he could not see, Jory felt sorry for it. Why was is not in the Forrest?

"Have you guys noticed anything strange about the Forrest?'' the Puffer asked. Why in the world would the Thestral want to be here?

Alexa by his side, Alistaire Firth quickly passed through the Courtyard. As he neared the corridor, he began to hear strained voices. They must be just out of sight.

After another few steps, the group came into view. Separated from the students by several feet stood the thestral. Once Firth reached the group, he said, "Alrigh', if yeh could all please slowly step back a bit an' give the poor creature some room here. They're easily frightened an' I don' want ter scare it anymore than it already is." The creature would recognize Firth and feel safe around him, but the same could not be said for the students.

Then, slowly, he made his way towards the thestral, talking soothingly to it. "Yeh're alrigh' now, 'm here. Settle down there, i's okay." Firth closed the distance between himself and the creature, reaching a hand out cautiously and laying it on the thestral's flank. "Shhh, i's alright."

After a while she found that skipping wouldn't be enough to keep up with the brisk but not shiny Grounds Keeper. He had to be doing a million miles a minute...or not but then he had to remember that she had shorter legs and couldn't keep up as easy, at least not until she started fast walking then it wasn't so hard.

Lex was VERY pleased to find the thestral still standing there, it meant the people she'd left it with were at least a little competent. Either that or the thestral was just that determined to not move. That wouldn't work. She wanted to keep it but not out here. Not where someone else could steal it and take it for their pet first.

Nope. HER thestral. HERS.

"Nice work guys." On not losing the thestral. Lex watched on curiously as Mr. Firth proceeded to calm the thing. This time she kept at a bit of a distance because he'd instructed them to do so, now to see what would happen and how soon they could get it up to her dorm.

Gorgeous, beautiful, Dora. They were all in the same, so he was just gonna roll with one of the two first ones. Yeah? Mostly because it had a compliment built straight into that and he was charming. Smirky smirk. Real charming.

And then Ascanius heard a strike of thunder. Eyebrow raise. No need to get all annoyed sky, he was having a conversation here... didn't it see? Pfft. No respect.

Anyway, back to the beautiful girl he was chatting up like a pro. He went on and ignored the first part that she said because it wasn't relevant, he was bored and he didn't care. So yeah. But he did chime in, "I know your name, gorgeous." He just wasn't going to use it, yeah? As a rule.

Smirk. Lean back. Talk. "I am new. I AM in your year... and yeah, I like it some." He liked the people at this school better then Durmstrang, but the SCHOOL school part? Pfft, no way minus the pretty teachers, he could deal with that. "And you?" He was being polite. Asking about if she liked school or whatever.

"Courses." Meaning more than one part of the meal, also an automatic win in Alice's eyes, even if it did end up tasting horrid beyond measure. No tea, though? That meant they couldn't do Divination readings, but she was quite okay with that, because Mo probably didn't want to see her get bad symbols and pack sads and rearrange her dregs. And if she got a really irritating one, she might dump it out completely and restart, hence her little bit of relief at that.

So lemonade was okay, too.

None of it actually looked horrid, though, so Alice took one of the plates (one she didn't have to wash! Cactus was excellent at picnicking, she'd found) and loaded one full with with the rice and curry and flatbread naan stuff. Could she start on eating now? She fished for some utensils, and then set the dish on her lap, looking up at him. "I'm going to eat now." Just so he knew.

"It isn't a meal if you don't come away full," Mo offered sagely as he filled his own plate. One circle of naan and a fork later, and Mo was ready to eat. Only... he would much rather Alice take the first bite. "Eat now. Do it."

Bossy!Mo was bossy. He grinned at her. Hopefully she didn't mind being watched while she ate, or if she did, she shouldn't have let him cook for her. "I have a thermos of hot water too, if you'd rather have tea. I just figured ice cold lemonade was much more soothing, right? If your tongue falls off, I mean..." Which would be sad. Mo was fond of her tongue... Alice happened to be pretty clever with her repartee.

Nostrils flaring, the Thestral watched the humans closely, only flinching slightly as one of them ran off. After a few moments, and some nervous flickers later, a familiar voice caught its attention. Head lowered, the Thestral craned its neck around its body to catch a glimpse of the man by its flank. Already, it felt much more at ease.

Firth continued to pat the thestral soothingly. Checking to make sure the students were still far enough back and quiet, he then turned his full attention to the docile, yet scared, creature. "Tha's a good way, tha's right." Catching the thestral's gaze, he fished around in his pocket for the treat he had grabbed. He kept a small box of them in with a piece of meat at all times so the flavor would permeate the cubes. Revealing his hand to the beast, two small objects lay on his palm.

"There yeh go. Here's a treat for yeh, eat up, now."

Oh lookit, the thestral was calming down some. This whole thing could be sorted in no time, now all that was left to be decided was how they'd get him by the Fat Lady. She didn't think she'd let a thestral in...unless she couldn't see it...but then there was the crawling in part.

Lex plopped down on the ground of the corridor, might as well get comfy, the thing looked like it would need some convincing before it moved.

In the mean time she had things to plan. Alright so the hole that they used to get into the Common Room might not have been big enough for it to fit through. The way she saw it, they could either have it fly in through one of the windows--

OH! OH! OH!

She could blow an even BIGGER hole! Mr. Vinteren had taught her to blow things up and now it would come in handy!! Heheehehe! Hurry up and calm it Professor, she needed to get it nice and comfy in her dorm before dinner.

Nodnodnod.

Obedient as ever, Alice immediately dug into the curry first, chewing thoughtfully and considering all the flavors. "It's good," she decided after serious cogitation. "Much better than the other things I've had to tasted recently. None of them do my tongue justice." Except for Dora's cooking, of course, but she was perfectly fine with letting more than one person cook for her. Really. It was acceptable.

"My tongue is safe. I think. Why, are you still concerned with it?" She tore off a piece of the naan flatbread stuff and bit into that as well, attempting to talk around it and still look ladylike at the same time. "Tea? We could do a tea reading if you want, I haven't started on mine yet." And to be honest, Alice didn't mind doing one around Mo, since he knew most everything about her life at the moment anyway. As long as he wouldn't squeal about her rearranging tea dregs again if she needed to.

Which he wouldn't, right?

Mo raised an eyebrow and watched eagerly, not taking his first bite until Alice approved the food as 'good'. He was now officially a cook, wasn't he? Hogwarts-famous, which was just as good as world-famous to a 14-year-old who spent most of the year behind these walls. "What exactly have you been subjecting your poor, abused tongue to lately, Ace?" he scooped up a bite of the curry on his naan. OH HOT.

"I'm still concerned with BOTH our tongues," Mo insisted, putting off the question with a non-answer. He emptied his cup of lemonade and licked the condensation off the cup. Maybe a bit too hot. It was hard to imagine being able to focus on tea, to be honest, but anything to prolong spending time with one of his very favorite people. Plus homework reasons. "I've only done the one, and it was... fine." If fine and awkward were synonymous. Which, for those paying attention, they were NOT.

He reached for the thermos and rummaged in his bag for tea cups and saucers. One blue cup, one orange cup, one paisley saucer, and one floral saucer. "I have loose tea in here somewhere. My father sent it after I complained about the stuff in Divination."

"Nothing too awful. Only Great Hall food, I s'ppose. Other than that, my tongue has been in very lovely places recently." Alice made a beeline for her rice next. "'Course you are, but you're concerned with my tongue, especially, aren't you? For reasons." It was more of a statement this time than a question, because non-answers meant he didn't want to say, which in turn meant he was concerned.

He'd started? She had to get a move on those readings, then, and now seemed as good of a time as any. "Fine? What kind of symbol things did you get in yours?" Alice gave him a couple of curious looks before reaching for the orange cup and floral saucer, careful not to upset the plate of food in her lap. "Brilliant. That tea Elwood gave us was horrid. Most definitely tongue abuse," she agreed.

Mental notes to never digest anything in Divination ever again had already been made.

She did get a look then. For several reasons, actually, although he wasn't sure he was successfully communicating any of them to her. "I'm concerned about all of you. You know that," he finally offered in a voice that was a little quieter and a little more sober than any he usually employed. She knew.

"My first one was... a nest and a stag. Maybe an arrow... not sure about that one." And it was a deer, actually, not a stag, but Mo was going with stag. He was a solo man and loved it. "What question should I ask this time?" He took the other cup and saucer and filled both with hot water and a spoonful of loose tea.

A few more people had approached too now, and Penelope kept silent and let the rest do all the talking. Wasn't much to talk about anyway, and she didn't really know how to help the thestral, not when she wasn't even sure what was scaring it. So she just kept an eye on it and listened to the others, finally hearing Alexa decide to go get the Groundskeeper and bring him back a few minutes later.

And so now he was handling it, and the thestral seemed to be calming down. She kept a few paces out of the way and smiled a little. She hadn't really liked these creatures when she'd first started seeing them, but they didn't seem too bad now. So she just continued watching.

Isidora looked up when she heard the thunder, and then back at Ascanius, unconcerned since she wasn't the one on the sill. "You'll like it better when we get more money. The school's much better when it's well funded." Or else she wouldn't have come in the first place. Now she just didn't leave because of friend reasons. And Theo.

"I've always gone here, and I don't like the school itself so much this year, but the people are always good company." Pause. "Most of them anyway." She tilted her head to the side and looked at him curiously. "If you're not going to stay there while it rains, you should walk with me."

A quiet Mo meant Alice probably had gone and said more stuff that she shouldn't have, but whoops didn't seem like an appropriate response. "Because we're friends, and you're concerned about friends?" He got looks back, since she was awfully confused right about now and wasn't getting any of his communicated reasons. He was on the wrong frequency or something, probably. She could wait for him to get on the right one, though.

Nest.. stag (independent, uncommitted man? Alice tried her best not to giggle).. and an arrow. "Which way was it pointing?" She started counting down the seconds for her tea to brew, impatiently drumming her fingers against her knee while staring at it expectantly. Might as well take another bite of her food while she had the time, right? "Whatever comes to mind first, yeah? That's what your reading's about."

And her mind was filled with curry right now. Could she do a reading about food? Was that allowed?

Alice knew that Mo had more-than-friendly feelings. She knew. He studied the cup in his hands as he pondered her answer, meanings both obvious and hidden, before deciding that reading something into it other than exactly what she was saying wouldn't help any of them. After all, Alice was probably still confused, and Mo wasn't going to push the issue. He was moving on, was all. "Good friends, I think. I worry especially about good friends." She did get a solemn-eyed look, though.

"Away from the handle. I have bad news for someone, apparently." He peered into his cup... had it been enough time yet? Was he fully in the Beyond or whatever? And what was his question again? Mo shoveled another bite of curry into his mouth and then panted over his tea cup as he tried to recall it. Something about Alice, ideally, since she was right here.

"Time," Mo decided and took a sip of his tea.

No, actually, Alice didn't know. What exactly was he trying to say? And why did he keep looking at her like that? "Yeah, because we're good fr.. you're giving me eyes." She gave him a look of her own before breaking off another piece of the naan. "I can't read faces. If you're trying to communicate something, you might as well come out and say it." Boys. They needed to come with instruction manuals.

Bad news. She nodded absentmindedly and sipped her tea, noting that it was much better than the stuff that Elwood had provided them with in the lesson. "Your father has good taste in tea," Alice commented blankly, continuing her downing of the drink until approximately the same amount that had remained in her cup during the lesson was left. "You think this looks like 11 percent of the cup is full, right, not nine?" She held it out for him to inspect before swirling it thrice and waiting for the tea leaves to disperse around the interior of the cup.

"Do we look for symbols now?" The stuff was dumped into the floral saucer, and then Alice reached for the flatbread again. That stuff was good. He could cook for her again sometime, definitely.

Oh ha. She was cute, thinking that he didn't like the school because of the accommodations. No, see, how could he explain to her that he just didn't like schools in general? Jeez, he had been kicked out of 'em left and right. They were just not his favorite places in the world. But he decided not to expand and say instead, "Well, I'll just have to wait and see, beautiful." He was unbelievably charming or at least he thought so.

Yeah, he noted that pause. Was she alluding to him? Pfft, no way. Look at this face. He was excellent company. She was probably talking about the lot in the yellow. They were weird ones.

Pause, think, take it all in. Shrug. "Okay, I have nothing else to do, beautiful." That was her cue to lead the way.

"We are good friends. I'm agreeing with you," Mo made faces at Alice over the rim of his teacup. Now then... oh. Oh, questions. SIGH. He set the cup back in the saucer and considered the best answer. "I'm not trying to communicate anything. I don't have some expectation at telepathy on your part. But you know very well that I care, and acting as if I shouldn't sort of... makes me feel like you didn't understand that I was sincere when I asked you to be my girlfriend. And I was sincerely disappointed that it didn't work out." And he wasn't over it, and he felt that should be rather obvious, since he hadn't wanted to break up. Right?

He took another sip of tea, finding that he was about at the bottom. "Eleven percent on the nose, actually." Or ten or twelve. How was he supposed to... "Does it matter, do you think?" His own cup got a studied look, but he still dumped it out in the saucer, leaving it upside down.

Definitely time for symbols. Mo picked up his cup, letting the tea drip from the rim before flipping it over. A circle. A ring? A... a broken ring, perhaps. And further down was some sort of four-legged creature. He turned the cup around and around before offering it to Alice. "What is that? A lizard? A... mouse? Maybe a squirrel with no tail?" He was leaning towards lizard.