After being dragged form the common room by Adrienne, Tora finally put her foot down halfway down the seventh floor corridor. "What do you mean Arithmancy? I hate Arithmancy!" she had apparently missed the detail earlier when Adrienne had interrupted her reading. She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, demanding an explanation. "What do you mean exactly, why won't the Arithmancy door open?"

"Well, that is, the door to the Arithmancy classroom opens normally, but then where you would expect an office, there's just a door and there's a sign on it with a badly-rhymed poem that I think is supposed to tell you how to get it, but it's not very clear and I can't figure it out, and I don't like not knowing things, so I figured I'd ask you. Adrienne took a deep breath, because even she was impressed at how she'd managed to say all of that at once.

"That Arithmancy professor is very suspicious. Did you know he didn't turn up at the feast?" Yes, that's right, he'd been 'busy' or something, and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him anywhere in the castle save for the Arithmancy room.

"Also, he kind of looks like an evil Santa Clause." Just putting that out there.

....And the very first thing that popped into Tora's head was, "That must be where Professor Airey got that big red bag from the lesson yesterday!" she said laughing a bit. Then she remembered where they were going and why.

"Ok. Let's go take a look. But I'm just saying that if it's too hard to get in, or if we have to go take an Arithmancy class to get in- I refuse." She said sternly, striding off down the corridor once more. Then she reconsidered and turned on her heel to face Adrienne again. "Actually I don't refuse to somehow get the door open. I just refuse to do so without help. And I don't really care if that isn't something you do, but I do that when I don't like something. And I don't like Arithmancy. So if we can't figure it out- we ask for help. Deal?" She didn't quite say it unkindly, but it wasn't kind either. She was just annoyed that Adrienne had (in her mind) tricked her into going somewhere she didn't want to be.

To say that Michael was excited would have to be an understatement. Ever since he and Alexa had talked about going to the Whomping Willow when they had met up in Diagon Alley, he had been thinking of practically nothing else since.

Finally though, they had arranged for today to be the day and he decided to wait for her in the corridor outside the Common room. If there was one thing he had noticed about girls, is that they talked. A lot. Especially with each other, so he didn't want to be standing there looking stupid while Lex gossiped with her friends. Because she would, he knew it.

He leaned up against the wall and dropped the bag he had been holding onto the floor beside him. it contained some shin and knee pads along with some elbow pads and a helmet. Not that he was planning on using them but Lex had been adamant that he bring them. He hoped she wasn't going to much longer.

There were a few things that needed checking before she could head down to the whomping willow with Michael. This time she wouldn't be taking her kneazle with her and needed him gainfully occupied while she was gone to avoid the risk of him disappearing along with a few other pets around the castle. Before leaving her dorm she fluffed all her cushions and left him a thing or two. Now there was one less thing to worry about.

It didn't take long after heading down into the Common Room for her to realize Michael had gone ahead? She could have sworn she'd left him down there but wouldn't blame him. Waiting was tedious and patience wasn't something she was keen on so she couldn't expect it of anyone else.

Not wanting to waste much more time she headed through the portrait hole and onto the corridor. "Ready to go?" Lex asked, walking over to him and noting the bag. He'd brought the equipment, excellent!! This would make it even more fun. At first she thought to take her broom as well but see...there were tryouts that she needed to attend in order to make the team and Alice would kill her for breaking her broom right before the start of the season.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Michael looked up to see Lex making her way toward him and he immediately straightened up and could feel a small blush creep onto his cheeks.

Merlin!! He wished he would stop doing that around her.

"You bet!" he answered with a grin before bending down and picking up the bag. He had been ready for weeks waiting for this day. He slung the bag over his shoulder and made a sweeping gesture with his hand.

"After you."

Blushing, she noticed it but after certain circumstances and a particularly horrible day she'd sworn off of calling people out on it so she simply overlooked it with a small smile. That was more appropriate anyway, yeah? No matter, they were moving on.

She began walking again, expecting him to follow right behind. "It'll be epic, so long as the tree plays nicely." It rarely did but you know, one could always hope...and enjoy the thrill of a vicious tree in the event it was having an off day. They had the gear and everything, they just needed the tree. Some small part of her was trying to work out the little things so he wouldn't get injured. She wouldn't get injured either. Couldn't afford to.

And while they were walking and talking...

"Saw you and Alice talking at the feast. She didn't threaten to bite you did she?" Lex knew her captain was fierce when it came to recruiting and knew the girl had a thing for using her teeth. As amusing as the idea was, she would shake her head.

Kalla was sat in the floor of the corridor with books spread all around her. She was steadily chewing on the pen in her mouth as she went from one book to the next... She NEEDED to absorb all of this information.

And no... it was NOT school reading. As per usual she had finished all of her school assignments and moved onto other, more interesting things. Like the HUMAN BRAIN. Mhm.

She had sent Alice a note and told her to come join her. Really Kalla wanted like... girl time. She had full intentions of putting the books away when the Gryffindor arrived. Heh. But until then SHE WAS LOST IN ZE BOOKS

Kalla had been noticed, sitting there in the middle of the corridor, but Alice didn't just approach her. She got a much better view of what the Ravenclaw was reading when she came from behind and peeked over her head at the material, squinting to see what her friend was looking over.

Human brain things? But she'd JUST gone through that whole psychology book and had already moved on to other subjects. The sixteen year old had a very short attention span and much preferred to change topics every so often. Plus, learning about unique things was more fun. Like bugs. Headlight Elaters were the best, did Kalla know about them?

"Here," she announced. "Are you planning on quizzing me on the functions of gray and white matter, or can we do something else?"

Because no. No more reading. School was in session, she spent enough time doing that as was.

Kalla had pretty decent hearing. And it DID help that they were in a deserted corridor and Alice didn't REALLY walk quietly. So when she spoke Kalla simply looked up at her and grinned. "No. I was merely doing some light reading for pleasure," she said as she began to gather up her things and shove them in her bag.

"I tried out for quidditch." She mightn't enjoy talking about it, but she liked wielding a beater's bat. Heh.

"Also what do you know about the Ravenclaw Prefect. The boy one. The girl one is annoying." She was interested in making Nigel her pack mule.

"Heh, yeah." Adrienne cracked a smile at that. Creepy evil Santa guy, though, wasn't her favourite. He wasn't her favourite teacher, either, after the fiasco the first lesson had been, with the beards and the paint and the dumb fake facts... ugh. Plus, his beard was not as nice-looking as Santa's was, at least in pictures she'd seen.

"Alright, okay, fine!" she said, holding her hands up defensively. "We will ask for help if we have to. I just want to know what's behind the door!" And if it involved dead bodies or something. Hey, that would be exciting, dead bodies, wouldn't it? "I like maths, but I'm not a huge fan of Arithmancy either." The interpretations and charts were, in her opinion, unnecessarily confusing, and they didn't have the reassuringly always-one-right-answer that maths did, it was more open to... interpretation (hehhe).

Light reading for pleasure.. in a corridor?

Alice understood it.

"You did? What position? Beater? Have you told your therapist? Good way to work on anger issues. She'd be proud, I bet." Because she did remember that Kalla had a therapist- she remembered everything- and hitting metal balls with a bat was an excellent way to let things out. This Gryffindor knew from experience.

Annoying? "To some people, I guess. But she gives you free ice cream if you want." Nigel, though, they were talking about Nigel. "He's cool. Great at Quidditch, funny, and he gave me Fizzing Whizbees for my birthday."

So basically Awesome with a capital A.

Once all her things were packed up she stood and dusted off her robes. "Of course I tried out for Beater. And HE is unsure if such a display of violence is the best of ideas, but she did agree that it was good for my anger management issues. Maybe." She was unsure that her therapist had a real grasp of the game. Hence the wishy washy answers and all. But whatever. She was doing it.

She didn't comment further on the female prefect whose name she hadn't bothered to learn... she cared not for her ice cream or the mere sound of her voice for that matter. So decision was made. Heh.

Hmmmm. Those attributes didn't sound annoying. So she nodded at the things Alice offered about Nigel and began to walk toward the staircase. Alice was coming, right? Right. "What about Stan Hastings?" Her present company surely knew all the people at the school. Hehe.

Yes. What better place to finish a homework assignment than outside of the turn in location??

Asher once again stood near a window, better to harness the suns power when one is able to see the sun, and pulled out a piece of parchment. This time, he used a piece of parchment that he had been taking notes on, to see if the outcome would be the same with writing as it was on a blank page.

Holding his wand gently in his left hand, Asher commanded "Solis Focus" while aiming at the paper. He made sure to carefully direct the suns powers so that the paper didn't go up in flame, just parts were singed and some small holes appeared. It had to look accidental and not the outcome of malicious intent.

The results were even better than the first time. The paper looked burned here and there, maybe as if it were placed too close to a candle flame to proof read. He was thrilled with his work.

Therapist was a man. Hmm. Noted. "It'll be excellent. Plus no one can reprimand you for being overly violent on the pitch." Unless she was overly violent to certain people, then Alice was obligated. But otherwise, it was the perfect set up for Kalla.

Stan Hastings? "Who the hell is Stan Hastings?" Nope. She had no clue who this one was.

But since her friend was talking about him, Alice made more mental notes to locate him and observe him later. For future referential purposes and all.

She was nodding, although she was examining her fingernails a bit. She was not OVERLY violent with anyone other than Benjy, and let's face it, he deserved it most of the time. He was a rude little dude. Legit.

Now Alice had her attention. Looking up she smiled very briefly. "He's a Hufflepuff. Good looking... but I get the impression that he might be like... a bit of a womanizer? He couldn't flirt his way out of a paper bag though, so I could be wrong."

Kalla just didn't want to get involved with some dude that turned out to be a dbag. Stan had the potential... really they ALL did. All boys. Kalla was hating on boys for a moment.

And then it passed.

"What do you wanna go do exactly? I reckon I'm done talking about boys. I have been too involved with studying stuff to really get to know any of them anyway. Spoken to a few and moved on about my business." Curse of being a Ravenclaw?

"Besides, been having anxiety issues. Spent a lot of time in the corridor keeping to myself." Sad sac party of ONE!

"Yeah, but what's he like? Good looking doesn't count for anything if he turns out to be dafter than a doorknob." And being intellectually stimulating was just as important as having visual appeal, in Alice's opinion.

Also, not being a git. That. That was an important thing when selecting boys, too.

"Find someone who challenges your mind. A guy who you can have really long discussions with, and he'll get them." Kalla seemed like the type of girl who needed an overly intellectual boy to keep her on her toes, and that pretty Hufflepuff boy just didn't sound like he'd cut it.

As for what she wanted to do now? "I could show you some of my favorite corridor hiding spots. Or we could go the library. Or we could eat." Eat. Alice voted eat. Eating was fun.

Kalla looked over at Alice, an amused smile on her face. "I'm a Ravenclaw. You don't have to discuss the merits of intellectual stimulation with me, deary." Seriously. No need.


But really looks were important, too.

"I would like to go to the library, but you make the decision. I am game for whatever." She was aware that Alice might not want to be with Kalla drooling over books. HEH.

Karina walked back from classes for the day towards the Gryffindor Common Room. She no longer got lost in the great halls of Hogwarts, if she wanted to get anywhere on time she had to learn quickly. However, just because she remembered the way to the Common Room, did not mean she knew how to get in. As she had noticed when she stated what she remembered the passcode to be earlier in the day in front of the portrait of the ridiculous lady. So it had changed through the day and nobody bothered to tell her or this was some sort of prank against her. Instead of standing there looking like she had no clue what was going on, she walked a ways down the corridor and leaned against the wall there, looking for all the world like she was merely waiting for someone to walk by and that she hadn't forgotten the password.

Mo hurried up the stairs, intent on making it back to the common room for some intensive studying. He hadn't made as much OWL study time recently as he should have, mostly for Quidditch reasons, and he needed to catch up today when he had the time. He turned down the hallway nearer to the Gryffindor Common Room and hoped to cut across...

And spotted one of those Durmstrang students hanging about. Mo slowed a bit. Alice was suspicious of the students, and some odd pranks had been happening, but Mo was inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt.

He grinned broadly and offered a handshake to the girl. "Are you lost or are you meditating? Sometimes I meditate in the courtyard, so you should try that spot. It's got nice air flow but it is protected from the elements. I just feel better spending time outside when I can, you know?" Pause pause pause.

Oh, yeah! "I'm Marcus Branxton." Raised eyebrows to indicate an introduction was in order.

Here she was, minding her own business, when someone, who was not in Gryffindor mind you, came up to speak to her. She vaguely recognized the boy from classes, but couldn't quite place him until he said his name. Oh! So this was the boy that was to be against her and Ström during the next task. How convenient... She smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder lightly.
"I can assure you I'm not lost," she pushed herself away from the wall and continued on speaking, "Neither am I meditating, though if I do I will take your advice. I rather like the outdoors as well." She took his hand, giving a firm, but not aggressive handshake. Aggressive wasn't her style.

"Karina." she stated her name and raised an eyebrow. Although she had no business asking, she wanted to continue this conversation with someone who would be doing the same task next. "What are you doing here? I didn't think the Ravenclaw Tower was very close to the Gryffindor Common Room," she did a quick scan of the map she knew in her head and felt that the truth was close enough for it to make sense that she would be confused.

"Karina," Mo repeated her name with a nod and a grin. He was always grinning, this one. She was a nice looking girl, and there was something very straight forward and direct about her that reminded Mo of his sister Vivi. She probably would have taken to Karina right away.

"Nice to meet you, Karina. And..." What was he doing here? He lived here. Was this some sort of trick question? How very Ravenclaw of her. "The Ravenclaw Tower is pretty much right around the corner, and if you're coming from some parts of the castle, it's easier just to cut up these stairs and head across the corridor on the seventh floor. Plus you avoid the crowds I'm studying for OWLs; have you started yet?" He lifted his books to show her what he meant.

Lawson was wondering if he was dating Kalla, yet?

So they had met, and flirted, and then there was a date.

Lawson was wondering what came after that. Because he was not completely sure he knew how this thing worked. He had had only one girl friend before and it hadn't been like this. So yeah.

Hands stuffed into his pockets, the boy walked. He liked to do that when things were on his mind and he just needed distraction.

It was the seventh floor corridor, so maybe Kalla would walk by? And he could ask her directly?

Being parked in the 7th floor corridor was definitely the place to find a Kalla. Heh. She had been a bit put out with her housemates lately so she tended to wander the castle as opposed to hanging in her common room.

So as she set out to escape she spotted Lawson immediately. A smile stretching her face she stopped in front of him. "Hey."

Yeah she was a conversationalist like none other. Hehe.