Simon smiled at their overly happy Professor. He was glad to hear that she was doing well. After spending some time with her at the latest Gobstones match, the boy couldn't help but want to get to know her more. She was just so nice. How was that even possible? He didn't know. "I'm glad to hear it. I'd love a hot chocolate please," he asked. Ever since the school had become frozen in, the boy had become quite fond of the chocolatey beverage. It sounded really, really good to him right at the moment. He chuckled as Gemini and Aries also came over towards both he and Zander. Simon gave them both a loving pat on the head and then Gemini a tickle under his chin. Cheery meant pink? wonderd the Slytherin as he listened to Zander, the crawler's and Morgan's conversation about the office.

Right onto the topic of centaurs and oh yes, SNAC stuff too! Simon had forgotten about that briefly. After listening to his mate explain the SNAC thing, Simon then listened to Professor Morgan speak about Mars. He nodded in agreement when she spoke about Mars. They had learned about it in class. He raised his right eyebrow, slightly confused when she said that she would have taken seeing a brighter Mars as a good sign. Hmmm.... "I see. Interesting," he commented as he scratched his head. Simon nodded in agreement and chuckled when Professor Flamsteed was brought up. "Yeah, I did learn pretty quickly from that moment that he likes his facts to make sense." The Astronomy Professor was a scientist at heart. A scientist through and through. But sometimes, it didn't hurt to think OUTSIDE the box, you know? Or at least, that's what Simon thought.

When he heard the next bit of information about the animals fleeing based on their footprints, Simon's blue eyes widened. "Yes, they were fleeing," he said. "That's what the centaurs were doing when I saw them on the Pathways. They told us to seek shelter and that the Forest was inhabitable. I thought that just was because of the storm but if they were scared then something MUST be out there." The boy was convinced of it. The temperatures weren't normal and if Morgan said that it wasn't a normal migration thing, then something foul had to be out there. "Chatter?" he repeated. "Wait. Can you understand animals?" Cause if she could that would be awesome. Oh, if only he could know what all of them were saying!!

Zander smiled because well, everyone else was smiling so much that it felt rude not to. So yes smiling. When she offered for hot chocolate or tea, Zander shook his head at first, but then seeing Simon ask for some made him change his mind. If she already had to get up to get some now, then… Why not? “Hot chocolate does sound inviting,” but then, manners right? His mum would scold him for that. “Uh, only if it’s not too difficult…” Was that better? Meh. He tried. At least he tried…. Right. Anyways. At her comment on the kittens, Zander chuckled. He wasn’t much of a cat person, but even he had to admit that they were kind of cute. So he gave the Aries one a few pets before looking back up at Professor Morgan. As cheery as she can. Riiiiightoh. “I think it suits you too, Professor,” because the room was pink and she was pink- or her personality was anyways.

Zander listened carefully as Professor Morgan explained all that centaur stuff. Honestly, he didn’t really understand it when Simon had mentioned it the first time. Divination was weird. And this centaur divination… Even weirder. Come to think of it, what did centaurs even look like in real life and when did they actually exist? Right. Maybe Hogwarts was just weird in general. No, magic was weird. Anyways, He just nodded and listened to Simon and the Professor talk it out. Yeah, Professor Flamsteed really did have a problem with the whole Astrology vs Astronomy thing. Zander had almost lost his head for delivering the card. He could only image one Simon went through actually asking the man about it.

As for the next topic of conversation though, Zander could actually talk about this one. He had been present for the SNAC meeting and was fairly certain he understood all the footprint talk. The third year nodded his head as his Professor went on to explain. Hmm interesting. “… If they were running both to find a new place… And because they were scared… Could the two go hand in hand?” Zander then turned his question at the sound of Simon’s question. “Did the chatter tell you anything about a person? Because… We-we saw someone running out of the forrest in the playmates meeting,” it was intense. At first, he assumed it was just one of the animals. Or a Cold One. But Sophie was able to convince him that it was actually a person. AND with Simon’s point about there actually being something out there and then Professor Morgan’s points, maybe the cold and the someone were interrelated somehow? O___O All this thinking was making his head hurt even worse than it did in Arithmancy…. And that was saying something.

They both wanted hot chocolate, wonderful, Cassie got up and flicked her wand to gather the items. Warming the cups she handed one to each. “I’ve been going through so much Hot Chocolate and Tea with this cold.” She usually drank a lot of tea anyway, but this was just crazy. “Thank you Zander, that’s very sweet.” She loved that the students could see her fashion taste and know this office was just perfect for her. She had worked hard on finding all the décor she wanted for the room.

She couldn’t help but chuckle, “Professor Flamsteed is very passionate about his subject, as is every professor here. Don’t fault him for not being able to see past his facts. Some just take different interest than others.” It was the right of the world really. Everyone deserved to enjoy their own things. “Simon are you sure the Centaur said that it wasn’t bright? With all that’s going on I would assume it’s been brighter. If what you are saying is correct and it was less bright then I’m not sure why they would have been fleeing. A dull Mars would mean peace, the brighter means conflict and danger.” She was very confused by this, but soon her thoughts were elsewhere with their questions.

“Yes, Zander I would think they are going hand in hand.” So did the attack she was sure of it anymore. It was all just too much and the happy blonde frowned a bit.”[/b] Her green eyes moved to Zander’s words. “You did? Have you told any other professors?” Her thoughts were going in different directions now, but she heard Simon and looked his way. “Oh my yes, my gift is to sense animals. Some have the eye for prophecies, my gift is a bit different.” Looking at both of them as she was being questioned she chuckled, ”The chatter is more emotion than words. I can feel when one is in pain, or sense the direction they are going in. Aries and Gemini hate this, because they get away with nothing. Though I’m afraid I sensed nothing the day your classmate and librarian was attacked. It has been bothering me that I didn’t.” If it was a creature she should have sensed it happening, but she didn’t.

Zander smiled as he took hold of one of the cups. Mhhhm it smelled fabulous. He would take a sip now too, but it looked like it might burn. So instead he just blew on it a little bit, in hopes that it'd cool down. Now, this decor, well let's just say that it had Zander wondering if Professor Morgan had been the one to redecorate Professor Flamsteed's office. With think pink and sparkles. It just kind of shouted Professor Divination all over. As he thought about this with a smile, he also took the opportunity to take a small yummy sip of his hot chocolate. Man, that really hit the spot!

All this centaur talk though, this was a bit confusing. Mostly because Zander hadn't actually happened to bump into any of those. Really, he just saw the unicorn but that one ran away as soon as it came in. So there wasn't too much to question there. Nothing more than the Professor had already mentioned anyways. This is why the Gryffindor just remained silent for this portion of the conversation. Simon probably knew what to say better than he did anyways. The boy was a bright young snake, he was.

Zander's eyes grew as Professor Morgan confirmed his thoughts. Really he hadn't truly given the notion a second thought, but now that he might've been right... This was actually sort of a big deal now, huh? "Well actually Professor I think professor Thompson noticed it and Mr. Kildare went down to check it out too... But I don't know if they know who it was?" That sort of confused him... Most of the students would have to be inside, right? They weren't allowed to go in the forbidden forrest. It was, well, forbidden. "If you can understand creatures... Does that mean you can understand Cold Ones too? Do you think there are any of those out here?" Because there had to be. If Romanos was really the Cold One leader- which she no doubt was- and if she was planning on an attack-which she no doubt was- THEN there had to be some Cold Ones out there some where! There just had to be!

Simon nodded when Professor Morgan mentioned that she had been going through a lot of hot chocolate and tea in this weather. He could only imagine, especially with how chilly it was in her office. If he was her, he would have been drinking at least five or six cups of tea or hot chocolate a day. "Thank you," he said as he took the cup. Ahh, his hands were starting to feel warm and tingly already. He too blew on it and then took a very small sip.

"Right, oh no, of course not! I won't fault him. Don't get me wrong, I like him. Professor Flamsteed is a really cool guy," he said with a grin. Simon pretty much liked all the Professors here. He hadn't been sure about Cosgrach at first because they both had startled each other in the dark, gloomy dungeons but yeah... Anyway, he was getting distracted. Centaurs. When she asked about what the centaurs had said, Simon pulled out his handy dandy notebook that he had started to carry him once he had heard about the Unicorns in Hogsmeade. Weird things were happening at Hogwarts. He flicked through a couple of pages to find the entry that he'd written. "Ah, here it is. Sorry, I said it incorrectly. Gurion, the centaur, said that 'Mars has not been this bright in an age.' That makes more sense," he said, wondering why he must have gotten so confused about this statement before. Ah, centaur speak was baffling.

Simon listened to Zander and Professor Morgan's conversation with wide eyes. He took another sip of his hot chocolate and then placed it down on the nearest table. This was important stuff to be recorded right now. He even turned to a new page and began taking notes. When Morgan mentioned her gift, Simon grinned in awe. "That's amazing to have such a gift," he said. His eyes widened when Zander asked the question about how if Morgan could understand creatures then could she understand Cold Ones. He nodded in agreement and wondered what else Zander was thinking of. Was it Romanos again? He dismissed the thought as the boy was soon distracted by others. Morgan's comment about not sensing the animal chatter also disturbed Simon. "Do you think something can block your gift? Could it be some type of magic? Dark, ancient, magic?"

The boys seem to like the hot chocolate which of course made Cassie happy. It was always a wonderful thing when her students were happy. She couldn’t help but chuckle as Simon talked about Professor Flamsteed. “No need to explain. I understand completely.” She had just said what she said for purpose of conversation really. Everyone was allowed their own opinions as long as they were appropriate of course.

Oh this didn’t seem good, when Simon confirmed her fear to be true she shook her head, “That’s why they were fleeing then. If Mars is brighter than it’s been in a while. It is certainly a symbol for danger. Something is definitely dangerous and scaring even a centaur.” That really couldn’t be good. She went lost in thought a bit over this. Taking a moment to sip her drink and think. “Centaurs are very bright creatures. When one is lucky enough to have a conversation with them it is always enlightening.” That was her positive spin on this entire issue. Though she didn’t feel it was positive enough. Giving both boys smiles, “But we are in the castle as warm as can be and safe. “ Safe was the important part.

When the topic turned back to that horrible day in the forest Cassie just listened. “Mr. Kildare was very brave to go out and take a look. So was Bay.” She just hoped they would both be alright. “Well whomever it was will be found don’t worry. The truth always comes out in the end.” Nothing was ever kept secret forever. So hopefully they would figure out what was going on sooner rather than later. Looking to Simon she shrugged, “It’s a possibility. Some things can affect the visions, darker magic is certainly one of those things.” but she didn’t feel it was the case with this.

Giving Zander a glance at his question she wasn’t sure what he meant by cold ones. “You mean like Chorts? No I couldn’t sense them, they aren’t fully creatures. Mostly demons. My gift do not include them.” Could that be why she hadn’t sensed them before? “That really could be a possibility and it would answer many of my questions why I couldn’t help protect Bay and Mr. Kildare.” She went back to silently thinking about this a moment.

The Gryffindor took another sip of hot chocolate as Professor Morgan went on to explain some more about the Centaurs. If mars was bright? That was a weird saying… But he wasn’t all too sure about this centaur business to be honest. He had only really run into a unicorn and it didn’t really say much. Actually it didn’t really say anything at all… Just ran. So that probably wouldn’t provide any vital information anyways. In the castle as warm as can be and safe… But were they really safe? The question seemed to linger on the boy’s mind for more than just a few seconds, and he couldn’t help but voice his concern. “But Professor, you-you don’t think that whatever ran out of the forrest that day, could’ve gotten into the castle? It sure looked as if it was headed towards us,”

The boy nodded at the bit about Bay and Mr. Kildare. The librarian was a nice man, but Bay, well, he was something entirely different to the Gryffindor. Sure Bay was Lux’s girlfriend, but the boy was also Zander’s first real friend at Hogwarts. That in itself was worth so much to him. And Zander was scared. Scared that his first mate wasn’t okay. ”Professor, have you gotten an update about them yet?… I-I just want to make sure he’s-uh- they’re okay,” That was probably a question he should’ve aimed towards the healer, but it since the topic came up, he just couldn’t resist. Maybe the Professor’s were in the know. Or in it more than he was at least.

Looking towards Simon, the Gryffindor gave his mate a nod. Dark Magic, that was a great question, Simon always seemed to have a lot of those. He was really a much better investigator than Zander was proving to be. He was getting nowhere. Although Dark Magic did lead back to Romanos again. Defence Against the Dark Arts was only two words over The Dark Arts. It was always a possibility. Chorts? Zander had known about Cold Ones because they learned about them for the past few DADA lessons. But this Chort thing was still news to him. Although, they did briefly mention it in the research meeting. Could this be a coincidence? ”So…So that means that whatever is controlling this… It could likely be a Chort?” And if it was, how would they defeat it?!

Simon grinned gratefully at Professor Morgan and continued to drink his hot chocolate. Dangerous and scary. But what if whatever was scaring the creatures in the forest had ended up in the castle? What did that mean for the Hogwarts students? He nodded. They were a little warm but the temperature was tolerable. Before he could ask such a question, Zander beat him to the punch. Ooh look at Mr. Adair being all detective like. Simon grinned. Lestrade was growing up. Simon nodded in agreement with Zander.

He took another sip of his hot chocolate and listened to the Professor speak about Mr. Kildare and Bay who had gone out to take a look. Simon didn’t know either one personally; however, he wished they were both fine. Especially since he knew Bay and Zander were good friends. The truth would reveal itself in time, thought Simon. He blinked. Now that certainly sounded like a fortune cookie that he would like to receive at the moment. Simon nodded. Darker magic could affect visions so there was a possibility that it could have well been chorts or someone trying to be Morgan La Fay. He scribbled down more of these thoughts into his notebook.

The Slytherin looked over at the Gryffindor’s next question and gave a nod. If Morgan couldn’t tell whoever or whatever had attacked them then it definitely was most likely a Chort. Apparently, Chorts did exist in their world, which the boy found quite baffling. They were fairytale demon creatures that had appeared in mythology so originally the boy had eliminated them from his reasoning of who could possibly be involved and out to get them. Simon raised an eyebrow, building on Zander's question. “Perhaps it could. But Chorts are territorial which is odd for them to be here because from books we haven't been informed that the lived in this area. But I can't help but wonder what would they want with Hogwarts? A dark creature just doesn’t attack a place without a purpose.”