The Entrance Hall was empty, and yet Dot was still creeping across it like the room was full of sleeping spiders on eggshells that she didn't want to wake or break. Or something like that. She was tiptoeing. Creeping. Sliding through the room, pretending she was half shadow and half beam of light and not at all a third year with flaming red hair and freckles on her pale nose.

There now. Had anyone spotted her yet? She was almost there.

From the doorway that led towards the basement level corridor emerged one Tobias Tempus, fiddling with a sheet of yellow paper and staring at it intently as he folded it into a shape. A few into the Hall, he was left with an origami yellow rose, which he soon attached a paper stem to and tucked behind his ear.

Toby looked up at his surroundings for the first time and immediately spotted Dot, who was... quite impossible to miss, actually. All that awesome red hair, a little like Derry's, but not quite. And she was... creeping along? Toby instantly found himself unwilling to draw any attention to the fact that he'd seen her, lest he ruin the whole point of the creeping. The Hufflepuff slowed his steps riiiiiight down, and tried to be all super quiet too, simultaneously attempting to NOT spy on what Dot was doing and not let on that he'd seen her. Until-

"Hitchoo!" A random sneeze out of NOWHERE, not loud but a tiny one that his grandma liked to call one of Toby's 'fairy sneezes', more than likely alerted the third year to his presence. Pesky dust, all up in his nose.

Dot was nearly across the room when she heard a little tiny sneeze from behind her. Like a pygmy puff hiccup or something equally tiny. She froze in place, arms akimbo and hands splayed before doing a sloooooooooooooooooow pivot on her toes to see who was there. IT WAS THAT BOY. THE BOY. THAT VERY BOY.

"Hi." She tried for relaxed, smoothing her palms against her sides. Charming. Adorable. Head tilt and eyelashes fluttering. Just a flash of dimples. "Was that your sneezing? It was really cute. Like... you sounded like a pixie burp or something. Adorable."

Did she just say burp? That was NOT romantic. Dot was a failure at flirting. Always.

Toby had stayed very still, in that telling post-sneeze posture that most likely everyone on the planet was quite familiar with. Except maybe those who weren't able to sneeze. Wouldn't that be unfortunate?

Before he had time to truly ruminate on these hypothetical sneezeless beings, Toby became suddenly aware that Dot had turned to face him. Aha, yeah... "Hey." He gave her a wave and a smile and closed the distance between them, normally this time. "Yup, that was me. My grandma calls them my fairy sneezes... or kitten sneezes." Like... Toby could totally work with that. Though... he wasn't sure he'd ever heard a pixie burp before.

There was a moment where Tobias just sort of... considered that for a moment, staring off thoughtfully into space. But then he was BACK and smiling and showing no sign that he found the previous conversation topic at all odd. "How you doing, Dot? Haven't seen you since last term. Seems like forever ago."

He smiled at her, which made Dot feel much less like a failure as a human being, and she promptly skipped across the distance to join Toby. That was his name really. The Boy was called Toby, and it was better to call him as such in her head so she didn't do something embarrassing to his face. "Fairy sneezes are cute. And kitten sneezes. Did you eat a fairy?" She clacked her teeth together and tried to peer into his mouth before stepping back again and grinning. Just kidding.

He was looking a little goofy at the moment, and she wondered if he was thinking about Sophie. What was it like for someone to go goofy over you? Was it nice, or was it stressful? Seemed like it might be stressful, like you'd always be trying to get them to pay attention to real you and not to the imagination you. "I'm doing well, thank you, Toby. I'm a little taller, and my hair is longer, and I have six new freckles on my left side and four on my right and you are very cute, but you already know that. So I think those things mean I'm growing up, don't you?" She rocked on her heels and dimpled again. "How was your summer?"

The idea of EATING a FAIRY might usually have struck a chord of horror in Toby's very souuuuuul, but he was luckily quick enough on the uptake to realise that Dot wasn't being serious. Not that he'd really think anyone saying that would be doing so in all seriousness............. except maybe Zahra.

"Nah, I'm on a strictly 'no fairy' diet," he said, starting off quite serious, but unable to keep from breaking into that big ol' grin of his. Also, it was difficult to keep that 'srs biznizz' air about you when you were bouncing on the balls of your feet. Which Toby was, of course, doing right now.

Toby nodded along as Dot basically updated him on THINGS, and he absolutely did not miss the part when she called him cute. Toby wasn't one to blush (it had happened perhaps three or four times in his LIFE), but he certainly met that statement with a sheepish sort of grin. "I'm-" he started, fully intending to assure Dot that he didn't think he was cute, but decided to just... take it. Take the compliment with a big smile, sure. He could be cute sometimes, apparently, in the 'puppy cute' kind of way, that is. So he changed tack.

"I think that absolutely means you're growing up," Toby replied, and this time he really was being serious. Even with the bouncing. Srs bouncing. "My summer was good. Pretty eventful. My dad covered me in glitter and stuck me to the ceiling at one point; it was super fun. I got a puppy, too." Puppies were awesome.

"I think their wings would get stuck in your teeth, which seems very unpleasant," Dot wasn't sure at what point it happened, but Toby was bouncing, and now she was bouncing too. In time with him. Up and down, just on the balls of her feet. It felt a bit like dancing, the keeping time in her body, and she pirouetted in time because she could.

He was making cute faces, and the dancing and bouncing kept Dot from reaching out to see if he was really really real. And talking to her like she was a real person. Telling her stories from his life. About puppies and glitter and his summer. It made her feel... generally... magnificent.

And she was growing up too.

"I like glitter, but I don't think I'd like the ceiling. My dad gave me his last name, so that makes me happy. But a PUPPY, though. A puppy." She did bounce at that, reaching out to catch hold of Toby's arm and give it a swing. It was EXCITING, ok? "What do you call it? What's it look like? Do you sleep with it? Is it SO cute? Aren't you so sad leaving it at home?"

That was... a very vivid mental image. Wow Dot. Wow. Toby... didn't know whether to be concerned or impressed at the kid's imagination, but he went with 'impressed', because that was the better of the two options. Though... he thought it better to... drop the subject of fairy eating, because the concept was making him feel queeeeeasy. "Oh yeah, absolutely," was all he said in reply to that, though he still grinned and bounced (and was that not Tobias' simplest form), even more so at that little pirouette.

"Hey, that's awesome. About getting your dad's last name." It was a statement that might have been confusing but given that the same had kind of happened to him, he thought he understood what it might mean, and the happiness and stuff. "Congratulations!" Big genuine grin from Toby.

Which became even wider when she swung his arm. Toby laughed, went with it, and went on talking enthusiastically about the puppy. "His name's Staco, and he's a black and white border collie, and he's super cute. He has the kind of face you can never get mad at, even when he digs up my parents' flowerbeds." And his grandma's. And the neighbours'. The little terror. "He usually sleeps on my bed, but obviously not here at school, but he's being well looked after and that makes me happy. He's cute, Dot. Almost as cute as you." More srs nodding. "I'll let you meet him some time, if you like." Might not be much of a puppy any more by that point, but still.

"It is awesome, because he married my mom and they're having a baby, and we'll all be the same name. I didn't want to be the only Wojack left, y'know?" Dot liked that he was grinning about it and that he knew it was a big deal. It was a super big deal. Charlotte Wojack-Gusey, daughter of Stella Wojack-Gusey and Ogden Gusey. They were a family.

And you know what else? Toby That Boy Tempus had just called her cute. Cuter than a puppy, which might possibly mean that he thought she was a baby, but A VERY CUTE BABY. So. Mixed feelings on that one.

"Staco? I have a kitten named Nimbus, and he has this little perfect face and sometimes I just kiss on him because I can't help but cuddle him. But I bet a puppy would be even better because they actually like to cuddle." Dot swung Toby's arm again. "I'd like to meet him. Does that make us almost like friends?"

"I do. I do know." He knew about the whole same name thing and all that, because pretty much everything Dot was saying was something Toby could kinda sorta relate to, even though they'd clearly had different experiences. But he recognised why she felt so good about it and understood it and her happiness made him happy. If he wasn't already bouncing, he might have started up right then. GOOD THINGS. "I'm super happy for you, Dot. About the name and the baby and everything." Still grinning away.

"I boy, I know what you mean about kittens. My cat Bludger has never been one for cuddling. He's a menace. But Staco loves cuddles even more than he loves chewing on my dads' furniture." Ehehe, oops? Toby DID feel a little bad about that, but he also totally knew that nobody could stay mad at Staco for very long. And after those TRAUMATIC first few days of owning him, Toby absolutely spoiled that dog, hardly ever telling him 'no'. The sixth year smiled at Dot, laughed, and then nodded. "Then you absolutely will." But... wait a sec. Toby's eyebrows shot up slightly in surprise at that last part. "Not almost like friends, Dot. We are friends. If you want to be."

Toby hoped so. He paused his bouncing for just a moment to raise their hands right then and sort of twirl Dot under his arm. Not sure why, but it kept him moving and it was a happy sort of thing to do, right? Yeah.

He was still bouncing, and maybe even HIGHER now. Dot released him because the bouncing was actually make her a little seasick, but she was still SO happy that he seemed to understand. It wasn't that she had a bunch of people in her life that didn't understand, but Dot wasn't quick to share private stuff, and it was good to know sometimes that sharing could be safe. "I'm happy too. I get to be a big sister, even if it means everyone is related but me. I'm still a Gusey."

Wait. Toby had a dog AND a cat? That was unfair. It was like in the universe of pets, he was getting seconds before everyone was served. That couldn't be how the universe worked. "You named your cat Bludger? Does he run into things and cause concussions?" As bludgers tended to do?

This was all a bit overwhelming for Dot. The sharing. The being told they were FRIENDS. And the twirling. They were dancing! Did Sophie know? Was it ok... nope, she didn't care. Dot giggled and dropped into a dip before righting herself. "I love dancing!"

Cosgrach. Was. Here.

His body was, at least. His mind was still sleeping, as evindenced in his half-open eyes. His hair was only half combed. He was lucky to have worn his trousers and sweater right. He shuffled towards her, and instead of a greeting, he yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawned.

Sometimes he wondered why she put up with him, but now wasn't such a moment. Now was the time to question how he'd even agreed to this hipster invention of a 'morning run'.

"GOOD MORNING, TEE-GEE-OHHHHHH," was Sophie's enthusiastic greeting as she hopped down the stairs where she had been waiting, decked in expensive running attire, and jogged over to greet her running partner for the morning. She grinned a puppyish grin at his sleepy expression and nudged him with an elbow. His eyes were hardly even open - was he going to fall asleep right then and there? Standing up?

"You awake? Or am I gonna have to carry you the whole way?" she inquired playfully with a grin, backing away from him to flip her long hair over in front of her, shake it a bit, then flip it backward and tie it into a high ponytail on the back of her head using the hair elastic on her wrist. "We'll start out walking for five minutes. Not leisurely - we'll need to be brisk to get our heart rates up before we actually run." She ran a hand along the top of her head to make sure her hair was smooth, then checked under the ponytail to make sure she didn't miss any strands. Then she gave him a pointed look.

"You're not gonna back out on me, are ya?" Her wand was tucked away in her jacket just in case she needed to levitate him back to the castle at some point, but other than that precaution, she totally believed in him. He could do this, no problem. He wasn't THAT old.

Merlin's white beard!

If Cosgrach wasn't so tired, he would have winced. So now, he just made a face and his hands laaaaaazily covered his ears, when it was too late and she was saying something else.

"'M 'wake," he muttered as he yawned again, and blinked several times the morning tears away. He raised his eyebrows and even slapped his cheeks a little while she did a girly thing. "'M awake." At least, he didn't look like he would fall asleep on the spot. "Whatever you say." She knew this better. If he wasn't so sleepy, he would also think this was stupid, but his brain was too tired to form complicated ideas. He couldn't exactly tell why it was stupid, other than the obvious - 'It's too early.' He knew it very well that she would need more reasons than that, though, and he didn't know... so he kept silent, failed to process her look was pointed, and just shook his head.

"'course not. We're on this road together." Was that for something else? He didn't know. "So," another stiffled yawn, "let's begin."

Sophie snorted when he covered his ears and studied his features, amused as could be at every sign of his tiredness on his face. He KNEW they were doing this today - why hadn't he gone to bed earlier, hmm? She gave his arm a prod when he yawned, wanting to wake him up more, then began to stretch and shake her arms out.

"We are in this together. So let's go," she smiled, nudging him again with her elbow and leading him toward the door. She checked her watch at this point, made note of when they were starting, and grinned at him as she led the way out of the castle. "It's a beautiful day for this, y'know." If that helped any.

Thorbert waited until aaaaaaall the students had left the meeting and then he made his way to the glorious entrance hall, stopping every so often to take note of the little things. Every little detail was important, oh yessss! And aaaaaall the while his grey pencil was tap, tap, tapping against his notebook. The beat he was creating was a rather catchy one indeed. He was in a brilliant mood!

"Jusssssst magNIFicent!"

They'd made it to the Entrance Hall and the man did a slow circle, radiant smile in place. "Can anyone tell me where you think a cartographer would start when mapping a new location?"

Toby stood in the Entrance Hall with the others in the group, looking around at his surroundings and remembering how it had looked to him the first time he ever saw it, and how different that had seemed to the way it looked now that it was all very familiar to him. Weird, but cool.

His attention was drawn back to the map guy (Toby had already forgotten his name, he was so awful with names) when he spoke. It was unsurprising that he was already starting to feed off the older man's energy as if by osmosis; Toby was already bouncing slightly on the spot, tapping on his own notebook as though mirroring the expert, though he didn't notice he was doing that at all.

As for the question, he had no idea, but looked around the room for some sort of idea. Hmmm...

After a few moments, Toby sort of half-raised his hand, unsure if this was like in a lesson where you had to do that before answering, and spoke up.

"Is it maybe like a jigsaw? Corners and edges first and then you can fill it in? Maybe more like how you'd do a painting." Toby thought of Paris then, as he was inclined to do whenever the subject of art came up.

Norah rocked back and forth on her toes as she waited for the EXPLORATION FUN to happen. Hehehe. And the map guy was making music. Way to go, map guy. The Hufflepuff WANTED to join in whistling whatever tune he was tapping, but there were RAVENCLAWS in the group and she didn't want them to think she was dumb or anything. 'Specially the Ravenclaw prefects, 'cause they were probably the smartest in the entire universe. So nope, just bouncing. Bounce bounce bounce.

HMM. Where would a cartographer start mapping a new location? Wasn't HE the cartographer guy? If he didn't know how to start then he probably wasn't very good, right? Norah waved a hand in the air anyways, not sure if she needed to raise her hand but being thirteen now meant manners 'n thing so. Might as well help the Mr. Map Man out, yeah? Even if she wasn't sure, she could GUESS. "At the door? 'Cause that's kind of like the beginning." If rooms could HAVE beginnings. They kind of did, right? Sigh. Shoulda left this one for the 'Claws.

Wooohoooooooooooooooooooooo! Evie was so excited to get STARTED. She eagerly followed the lead of the random guy with no hair (but who looked very intelligent) out and into the Entrance Hall. She watched the man closely as she followed behind him, assuming he was taking notes every time he stopped.

Where should cartographers start? "I would agree with her," Evie said, nodding to the Hufflepuff whose name she still didn't know. "I would start at the entrance and then choose one direction to go in and follow that until you come into another. And then once's everything is mapped out in that direction, go in another." Toby's answer made sense, too, though, so she wondered which one was the best.

Adi walked with Hayden towards the Great Hall after he had greeted her and explained he was going to have breakfast before doing more Divination readings. "It's great that we both have gotten an early start on things though because I have no idea where to go looking for cats.'' He didn't fancy roaming the entire Castle and grounds.

He stifled yet another yawn. "Gosh, I'm so sleepy... and you're so starved,'' Adi added with a grin, remembering that he heard his friend's stomach rumble while they were near the Barrels.

With one hand, he rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. Annnnd he almost tripped over something squishy, warm and furry. "Woah!'' The Puffer turned to look back at what had almost caused him to loose his balance. "Another one, Hayden!'' A purely white cat lay on the floor, curled into a perfect ball... except that it was staring at him with what seemed to be reproachful eyes.

"Sorry. I didn't see you there.'' The boy flipped open his book to pages 97 and 98. "If a cat is curled in a ball everything is still and calm for the moment, but one should keep alert for something coming in the future,'' he read then looked at Hayden. "That will be OWLs.'' Hehe.

Thorbert liiiiiistened to them with a biiiiiig and happy grin. He nodded here and there. These kids were bright and he loved that so!

"Both, actually," he said as he bounceda little on his feet. "We do it like how he said it," he griiiinned at the boy (Toby), "by outlining it first, then we fill the details. But we also need a starting point, so a door is perfect for that. The entrance to a place, so it's usually the easiest to record." Did it make sensssssse? He hoped so. He checked his watch. "I think we should split up. For now map here, the Great Hall, Broom Cupboard and I'll visit all of ya to supervise. Then we'll move to the BoG and staff rooms."

Hayden nodded along and smiled. She was glad to be working together with Adi on the assignment. It made things less boring. Plus, she could spend time with Adi so that was fun. She followed him up the stairs toward the great hall. She was glad to be able to have some food. The growing hunger in her stomach was becoming more noticeable to her. She was very hungry.

Oh look! A cat! Hayden moved her arms out instinctively when she saw Adi stumble. She wasn't sure if she was planning on catching him, because she wouldn't be much help if it came to that, she'd just instinctively moved to help. Fortunately, that wasn't needed. She knelt down to scratch the cat behind the ears. It was her way of apologizing for Adi tripping over it. Poor kitty.

Right, they were supposed to be actually doing something useful. Not just petting cute kitties. Hayden quickly wrote in her notebook. The cat was just curled up into a ball, trying to sleep before Adi so rudely tripped over it. She gave the cat one more pat before standing up and moving toward the Hufflepuff table. She smiled slightly at Adi's joke about OWLs.

"Is there something in the book about how to tell you're going to do wonderfully on all your tests?" She sent a smile in his direction. Now, where was the food?!

Alriiiight, time to start mapping! Evie still had her notebook out, so she went over to the door and started to sketch the walls on her paper. She went on to the Great Hall next. She stood in the doorway and drew the walls as best she could and then moved on, sketching as she went.

As she sketched, it reminded her of Paris and wondered why he hadn't showed up to this. It made her wish he was there and that she had invited him. Oh well.

Evie moved on and opened the door to the broom cupboard before starting to sketch that too. It was fairly easy, but the only problem was trying to keep things to scale, which was also quite hard on such a small piece of paper.

How he said? Toby? He was the he? He was right?

That was neat. But being wrong wouldn't have been so awful, either. Toby nodded along as the man-who-had-probably-been-named-but-had-his-name-forgotten spoke, and he smiled widely right back. Cheerful. He liked cheerful.

Toby flipped open his notebook and headed across to the nearest door; the one they'd just come through which led back into the Great Hall. He figured that a door was a door was a door, so it didn't matter so much that he didn't go straight for the front door. Lines were being drawn, and Toby was doing his best to stay both accurate and on task with the whole map thing.

After only a moment or two, the Hufflepuff looked up again to see what others in the group were doing, his brain apparently not content with staying on task with marking the entrance to the Great Hall on the page. Toby looked around at each other person in the group, then the map dude, and then back at his notebook. Oh... where had he left off? What was that line for?

... Toby blinked at the notebook, flipped the page, and started again. Mapping and stuff, yeah. He wanted to look and see what Soph was doing, but also decided it was best to try to avoid losing concentration again. Sigh.