Trust Soph, that's all Toby could say. Trust Soph do go into full detail about this here statue. She was waaaayyyyyy better at History things than he was, mainly because Toby was more devoted to not paying much attention to the past, and focusing all his energies on the FUTURE.

But yeah. Soph. C'mon.

Toby held back his amused laughter at both Soph's response and the look on Quigley's face. He settled for grinning to himself and giving a shake of the head.

"Don't mind her, Professor. She's a nerd of the first water." Cue a grin at Soph. Heh. Toby went back to scribbling and sketching things down in his notebook, still focused on that by the time Q had asked his next question. "Uhh... I think it's like... 'Descend... something'? Maybe?" he replied, not yet looking up from his labeling in the notebook.

But he did look up at that last part, and then at the space in the wall.

"I'll give it a shot. I practically live in crawlspaces like that. There's tons 'round the castle." Toby was seventeen already but still rather small for his age. Same height and build as Soph, actually, by all accounts; if he could get in, she could, and vice versa. The offer of the galleon didn't tempt him so much as the opportunity to crawl into that little space and show his weird little... skill? This actually may or may not have been one of his old crawlspaces, one he'd abandoned once too many people knew they could find him there. "Just gimme a sec."

He handed his well-used notebook off to Soph and crouched down, squeezing his way inside the little hiding/crawlspace with well-practiced ease. He'd recently lost a little weight or muscle or something, which made the task easier than it might have otherwise been.

"Cozy."

Hady kept silent let the older ones talk and answer questions. She flipped her book open to a blank page and quickly began her sketching and note taking. There wasn't much for her to say at the moment so why not get a jump start on the sketching and such.

However trying to fit into a tiny crawlspace appeared to be uh amusing? Why they were attempting this she didn't know but clearly she'd fit being a little nothing of a second year. Being small was her thing not that she had a choose really. Was there anything more to know about the statue then what was already said?

Quote:

Originally Posted by feeheeheeny

Text Cut: Evie and Kitridge

Where did she come from? Heheheh. Sophie hugged Evie's arm and gave an innocent shrug as she responded quietly, a hint of amusement in her voice, "I might've followed you the whole way from the dorm. Maybe. I almost ran and jumped on your back at one point, but I didn't wanna scare you," especially since everyone was sort of shaken up and on edge by the whole Gregoire thing, "so I just kept my distance and acted as your guardian angel instead. If something bad had happened, I would've had your back in an instant. Saved your life. Been a hero." Hehehehehehe.

"M'glad I didn't have to be, though. Wanna be buddies?" If they needed buddies for their mapping adventures today. Even if they didn't, Sophie wasn't going to leave Evie's side anyway, so... everyone else would have to deal with that.

At Kitridge's greeting, Sophie smiled and offered up a shrug to him as well. "Fair," she replied, sounding much more cheerful than she actually was, and brushed her hair over one shoulder with her fingers. "'cited for today's adventures 'n discoveries, as always, sir, thank you for asking. How are you?"

Upon Quigley's entrance, the Ravenclaw griiiiinned and waved a hand at the professor. Hi, Cat Man. Hi. She noticed that he didn't seem to be with them by choice today - he looked quite less than enthusiastic - and decided she wanted to be with HIM. She and Evie would cheer him right up.

Sophie had followed her from the common room? Less than creepy, Evie actually found it rather endearing. Due to recent events, however, she was indeed glad Sophie hadn't jumped on her back. Lost in her own thoughts, it could have frightened her. COULD have. Evie just grinned at her friend. "You'd make the best guardian angel," she said before placing a kiss on Sophie's cheek.

And YES, she did want to be buddies, which is why she followed Sophie like clingy shadow and went with her on Quigley's expedition to the third floor. She knew a few things about the witch, but the others said it all before she could. And she was TEMPTED to try and squeeze into that little hiding space. Very tempted. Evie nudged Sophie in the side after Toby squeezed in. "You do it. My hair's to big." It was true.

"D'you think we could bust through the wall and find the passageway again?" she asked Quigley with a mischevious grin. Eeeehhh? Sounded like a GREAT idea.

HEHEHEHEHE. Sophie giggled at the man's question, clinging gleefully to Evie's arm, then offered a simple shrug. "Aspiring potioneer, sir. Gotta master your craft. No room for weakness." She stuck her tongue OUT at Tobes' teasing very maturely and gave another innocent shrug, "Don't let him fool you, professor. Tobes is an even bigger nerd than I am." Heeeehehehehe.

All the same, Soph scribbled down what the man was saying, even though she was storing everything perfectly in her head anyway. DID THEY KNOW THE PASSWORD? HA. Haaaaa. Tobes KNEW it, he started to say it and she grinned BIG at him to reassure him that he was on the right track, but when he couldn't get the whole word out, Sophie spoke up on his behalf, "Dissendium, sir."

Both she AND Tobes could have fit, she knew, as they were basically the same size, and the young Slytherin with them certainly could have, too, without a doubt, but she let Tobes go ahead and try because he needed that kind of fun in his life and she knew he'd like the bragging rights. She gave Evie a shrug that said Tobes can handle it and watched with a smile, crossing her arms smugly and giving Quigley, Hady, and Evie a look that said, Ha, that's MY man. Very proud, she was. He was a very impressive human being.

At Evie's inquiry, Soph grinned a bit mischievously over at the girl and wondered the same thing. They could make it work, couldn't they?

Nerd of the first water? Snort. Was that an actual thing? Where did they come up with these things? Just as amusing was Miss Brown shooting back about him being an even bigger nerd. An even bigger nerd that didn't know the humpback witch's name? "Hardly likely."

Oh but look someone had taken him up on the offer to squeeze into the crawl space. Considering the boy's build, it didn't surprise him too much when he DI in fact get in there. "Well done. You can pick up that galleon whenever." As Ezra had done for flying without dragons. Odd little Third Year he was. Judging by Miss Shacklebolt's comment, he would assume she wouldn't be trying to get in. "There's a charm for that." Then again, there was a charm for just about everything, wasn't there?

Moving on.

"Dissendium is correct. Score two for the Ravenclaw Nerd of the First Water." Whatever that meant. Still amusing, a little too amusing perhaps. Maddox eyed the Second Year that had opted for the silence the whole walk and discussion so far. Must have been lost in a sea of big people without her partner in crime. Then just like that, his attention was peaked. "Busting through walls is a dangerous practice, Miss Shacklebolt. There's no telling what could now be living on the other side or why it was even blocked in the first place. It would be highly irresponsible of me as a Professor to condone such an act." Which roughly translated to, "Let's do it." Ahem, for mapping reasons of course.

What? He happened to be an irresponsible man. Sue him. "On three we'll try the password, see if we can't get this old croon to give us a little more blasting room but this never happened, clear?" He liked thinking they were clear. "One...two...three...Dissendium!"

"I'm not a nerd. I'm actually super cool." Sophie Brown pls.

Getting out was always trickier than getting IN, wasn't it? But Toby thought he managed to be pretty graceful about it, and soon enough he was stood back up with the rest of the group, brushing any dust from his clothes. He also gave Soph a nudge with his shoulder, for good measure. For being a nerd.

But HEY. A galleon. That was neat. He'd probably forget to pick it up, but it was still neat that he'd earned it. AND his nickname for Soph had stuck. Nice.

........ Quigley was cool, did he know that? A little confusing, with how at first he seemed like he was gonna say no, talking about responsibilities as a professor and all that, but then being totally okay with prospective blasting of corridor walls. IF the password didn't work, yeah. Either way, he said it was okay, so it was okay.

Toby flicked his own wand out of its wrist holster, unsure if it was required for the password, or maybe he was just preparing for blowing stuff up, and twirled it between his fingers. After the count, he said the password too.

"... Dissendium."

He might have been secretly hoping that it wasn't going to work. So they could blast things.

Hardly LIKELY? Pfffffffft. PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT. Quigley got LOOKS at that, but then she turned to Tobes and snickered at his comment. Super cool. Yeah right. Heehehehe.

..."HEY!" That was NOT going to be her new nickname, gentlemen, mostly because Sophie didn't really understand what it meant either. So that right there proved that she was NOT a nerd because something went over her HEAD. Ha. Haaaaa. But... there was no room to point that out, as they were very back on topic, and Quigley was talking in circles and being confusing but ultimately awesome. LET'S DO IT, HE SAID.

Hilarious. And very much Piers-like.

"Never happened, yep," she agreed, her eyes flickering to meet Evie's and Tobes' with the utmost excitement. HER wand was out, too, in preparation for the forthcoming blasting, then she spoke aloud with the group, "Dissendium," and watched with eager eyes.

Feeling eyes on her Hady lifted her head to meet Professor Quigley's gaze. Why was he studying her like that? Was it because she was the youngest in the group and the tiniest? Maybe she was just being to quiet for his liking? Giving the Professor a tiny smile she then quickly averted her gaze to the statue they were all talking about.

Yup yup no need to worry about little her. She was fine...maybe a bit confused and a little out of place without her bestie but that was okay. Not everything could be done together it was part of growing up.

Listening silently she took down her notes in her sketch book before closing it. There was nothing more to add to it at the moment.

"Dissendium," The second year recited along with everyone else, her eyes fixed on the statue as she waited.

The words of the students and Professor echoed off the walls and the concrete statue before the place fell into silence once more. There was a moment then another moment of eerie silence before the sound of concrete scrapping against concrete filled the nearly empty corridor.

The hump on the back of the witch opens revealing a slide that appears to lead down into darkness where there was once a large blockage.

Only one way to find out where the slide goes.

Maddox hadn't been particularly disappointed when nothing happened. They had plans to blast should they meet opposition and it was something they'd decided to keep to themselves so it was just a matter of giving the old statue some time to make up its mind before they got out the big spells.

As it happened, that waiting DID produce results in the form of the hump opening up to a slide the way it used to. "Would you look at that." The Charms Professor got a little closer and peered down the slide. "The blockage is gone...as far as I can see anyway." It was pretty dark down there, no doubt due to the tunnel that remained unlit for decades.

"Right then, no point in opening up a secret tunnel if we don't at least take a look around." The man climbed up on the slide--responsibility and all dictated he went first just in case there ]was something waiting down there besides the stretch of tunnel that led to the candy shop. "I'll need everyone's wand lit because it's awful dark down there and we don't need any surprises. For those that need a refresher course, the incantation is 'Lumos'. Maps remain out as well so we don't seem completely side tracked."

Was he forgetting anything? Mmm...maybe not so with that Maddox nodded at them then descended the slide and into the tunnel.

...What. What. WHAAAAAAT.

It actually WORKED?

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Soph stared, then looked around at everyone with a WHOLE LOT OF SKEPTICISM. "Are you gonna try tellin' me that NO ONE has ever tried the password recently, and THAT'S the only reason it hadn't worked before? No. There's no way. This should've worked a million times before." SO WHY NOW? Did anyone else think that was way too weird?! That the statue didn't just move a little - the tunnel COMPLETELY opened?

"This has gotta be a trap," she stated firmly - showing CONSTANT VIGILANCE, Truebz - but, in true Sophie Brown fashion, her eyes flickered with mischief and she shrugged. "Nothing we can't handle, right?" She lit her wand and raised it high. "DOWN THE TUNNEL!" They could always blame Quigley if someone died.

HEAVY POINTED SIGHHHHHHHH.

"A trap. Why would it be a trap?" Traps were usually made by people with mean intentions in mind, and that just didn't sound possible to Toby. He shook his head, amused, at Soph's... suspiciousness. REALLY... "Have a little faith." In the HUMANITY of OTHERS. That was what Toby did.

Seeing as he had his wand in hand, all Toby had to do was say, "Lumos," and up it lit. He waited just a sec at the top of the slide to make sure was time to free up the landing area, then slid down it himself. No fear. #YOLO

The second year watched in silent amusement as the statue shifted and opened up revealing a slide down into an unblocked passage. It seemed fine to her really...lately lots of passages have been opened up so why not this one?

With a small grin and very ready to follow the Professor Hady slipped her wand out from it's place in her robes. With a quiet murmured 'Lumos' the tip of her wand lite up in a bright white glow. She was now ready to go only she had to wait for the older persons in front of her to go.

When it was her turn she made her way into the passage and slide all the way down the slide to the bottom her wand held firmly in her grasp. Hopefully she wouldn't hit the ground at the bottom to hard like in the chambers...

............ It worked?

Evie stood there for a moment in slight disbelief. She'd have to write to her brother and see if this stuff happened when he was at the school. The Chamber of Secrets opened, a passageway to Hogsmeade opened up and now THIS one reopened? Evie knew that Hogwarts wasn't [i]normal[/b] by any means, but this was bizzare. In the COOLEST way possible.

So, once the others had disappeared down the hole, Evie lit her wand and jumped right in after them. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee.