Toby didn't really know what exactly had happened. First he'd been trying (with... quite a bit of difficulty, actually) to sketch out this place in his notebook. He'd been finding it significantly more difficult than upstairs in the well-lit rooms with layouts he was more familiar with. Down here he kept messing up the sketches, and crossing things out until eventually he was forced to start a new page.

Three times.

But then there was a Niffler which Toby hadn't noticed at first what with it being all dark and stuff, and still didn't even after the others had started talking about it, so engrossed was he with his task. But there was only so much you could be oblivious to when people started yelling down big echo-y passageways.

The sixth year flinched at the sudden clamour and turned to see what was going on. And THEN he noticed it. Haha. Nifflers. Man. That was... ahem. Toby liked Nifflers. For reasons.

Though at this moment they were obviously proving to be a little, uh, difficult. Toby very quickly shoved a hand into his pocket to conceal a ring he wore on his finger, hiding the only visible shiny thing on his person. Looks like the others had been a little late. Also, it was loud. Really quite very loud.

Tobias could only watch, though his free hand went for his wand in case, for some reason, someone else needed something to be summoned. But Toby didn't know what had been taken, and couldn't see the Nifflers to immobilise them, so it didn't make much sense to do anything else.

"Wonder what else they've found down here," he said, mainly to himself rather than to anyone else. Because, well... they were really far below ground. Didn't see much point for them to come down here and stay down here unless they were... stuck. Lost. "... Maybe they need rescuing. The Nifflers." Like, not the stuff they'd found.

Also, could he keep one?

And they were running and Zander was holding his wand up in the air for light and-- What. Tanner say what now? Running would just scare it?? Oh. Oh Merlin. He should've known that. Ahem. Heat of the moment, y'know? So no sooner had he started running that he found himself stopping abruptly. He took another look at Kevin and shrugged a bit, "You've been getting pretty good at the summoning thing, right?" Ever since that time with the chocolate frog?

If Kevin could just accio the watch back... Problems solved?

You know, if it weren't for Tanner... He would've forgotten that magic was an option. Sometimes it was hard to remember he was a wizard, y'know? Especially when it came to in the moment decisions and stuff. Totally justifiable. Heat of the moment. That's all it was.

The Headmistress had click-clacked on ahead of the group, completely unaware of the problems with nifflers that those behind her were experiencing. She was currently over by the giant Salazar Slytherin statue, inspecting it with her lit wand and looking for how the founder had formed this giant statue. She might like a giant statue of herself left in Hogwarts, you know? It wasn't a half-bad idea to leave a lasting mark on the school....

All of a sudden, she heard something squeaky and sniffly at the base of the statue. "????" Was someone there? Hopefully it wasn't that old snakeskin... *shiver*

With the black and yellow prefect badge stuck between her teeth the little furry creature was racing for the safety of a snake pillar when she felt a giant tug on her new SHINY.

Feeling the shiny slip out of her mouth the little furry fought desperately to hold on as she was dragged backwards across the floor. Her beady eyes widened in fear the closer she got to the humans.

She did not want be caught.



From his hide out in the mouth of the snake stone pillar the little furry creature listened to the shouts and running feet. The boy whose shiny he had stolen was not far off.

Whiskers twitching the little beady eyed furred creature stayed alert. He was not going to give up his shiny easily. As the red head of a woman came into view the little furry scampered forward with its prized possession in its mouth on impulse.

He clawed his way up the woman's right arm until he was resting as he viewed it, safely on top of the red headed woman's head. Nobody was going to take his SHINY watch now.

Oh right… they were in a school to learn magic. Of course. How had he forgotten that? Well, in his defense, it was a natural reaction even for magical people to run after something or someone when a personal thing got stolen. Kevin stopped running when Zander did and looked behind him at Professor Tanner and then at Zander. “Uhm..i guess so? I’ve been practising a lot since that incident with Peeves happened”

Wait, his eyes should be on the Niffler , not Zander! He turned to the front and quickly scanned the room. Where was that creature….oh! He wasn’t sure if that Niffler who came out of the snake’s mouth was the one he had ran after but upon seeing a tiny bit of silver, he knew that it was his watch. He grabbed his wand and advanced forward , slower this time and then saw that the Niffler was climbing on top of the Headmistress’s head. LOOOL

Standing in front of her and the Niffler, Kevin raised his wand and pointed it right at her head. “Stay …still” she didn’t want him to miss right? Griiiin. Oh come one! How many times can you say you had a wand pointed at the HEADMISTRESS and have a good reason?

Badge... GONE. He could always get another one, riiiight? Botros and Truebridge could arrange that for him if he didn't catch that Niffler. "Hey, I won't hurt you, little Niffler.'' He called but now jogging after the creature and using his lighted wand to help him.

Stun it, Kace was asking. Adi turned around to look at his friend. "No, don't do that. Don't want to scare it.'' Nifflers were harmless... and so awesome! Except when they decided to steal the shinies.

Annnnd then Tanner was reasoning with him. Oh right. He WAS a wizard... xD "Running after it is so much fun, Professor,'' Adi called to Tanner good naturedly. He was getting some work out right now. Hehe. But he listened to the woman and halted as he tried to decide if he should immobilize the niffler or merely summon his badge. "Professor? Do you reckon I can keep the Niffler if I immobilize it?" It would be his actual first creature he would own.

Didn't he have the best friends in the world? Lux had solved his little dilemma of the method in which to retrieve the badge. The niffler, which was heading for one of the snake statues, was CLINGING onto his badge as though its life depended on it. Adi almost felt sorry for it. Maybe he should just let the niffler have it? "Noooo. Not the time to be a Hufflepuff. That badge belongs to YOU,'' a voice said in his head.

"I think you guys should stay back. Too many of us would scare it,'' the fifth year whispered loudly to the group. He took a cautious step forward. "We won't hurt you,'' he repeated softly to the niffler which was being dragged backward due to Lux's Summoning Charm. "There's no need to be afraid.'' Part of Adi was forgetting about the badge now. He was more focused on getting closer to the creature. Could he HOLD it? PLEASEEE?

Zeke turned his head slightly toward his house mate - who clearly overheard his question. "Huh... so then, how come people haven't tried burrowing in before? If a sniffle can do it, don't see why we couldn't." Just a thought right there, for those that couldn't open chambers the legit way... like he had... which was still WEIRD.



Amazed? Epic? Talent? Rare? ....

He heard all these words that were GOOD words... but it still didn't make him feel comfortable with the staring. Frankly, Kevin looked as though he might kidnap and fill him... and others were just, not warm with their expressions. It sucked. "Thanks... I guess," he murmured into her hair, hugging her a little closer. He might believe those words one day, but right now he couldn't forget the faces.

But her injury, it needed attention. SHE needed attention. His hazel eyes strained in the semi dark to see her wrists. It was swollen. And bruised. And apparently it didn't hurt. POLONY!
"I suck at healing and things, but... ..." there were other ways to make people feel better. He bent his head down and quickly placed two pecks on her wrists - one on each. There. Better? Zeke lowered her hands, letting his drop from hers so he could hold his notebook again. Now that that was done... could they just melt into the shadows again? Especially since the whole niffler thing was happening?



And speaking of nifflers... HAHAHAHAHAHA... that was, HILARIOUS.

Zeke didn't laugh out loud, but he did manage to crack a grin. Heh. TOOOO funny.

His free hand flew into his pocket though, to keep hold of his compass... ain't no way he was EVER losing that. Ever. Never ever. Stupid nifflers.

There was only one word that could describe the look on her face. Disbelief. Seriously? It was like a mad house of chasing, stolen things…and was Kevin pointing his wand at the headmistress? Puck just laughed slightly, cleared her throat and returned Zander’s look.

“Imagine if you guys went down face first?” She offered and cringed at the thought. Really. Puck took a few steps closer to where Zeke and Hady where, “Hey Zeke nice job with the opening the chamber,” she grinned, and then turned her attention back to the nifflers…oh look niffler sliding backwards.

Quote:

Amazed? Epic? Talent? Rare? ....

He heard all these words that were GOOD words... but it still didn't make him feel comfortable with the staring. Frankly, Kevin looked as though he might kidnap and fill him... and others were just, not warm with their expressions. It sucked. "Thanks... I guess," he murmured into her hair, hugging her a little closer. He might believe those words one day, but right now he couldn't forget the faces.

But her injury, it needed attention. SHE needed attention. His hazel eyes strained in the semi dark to see her wrists. It was swollen. And bruised. And apparently it didn't hurt. POLONY!
"I suck at healing and things, but... ..." there were other ways to make people feel better. He bent his head down and quickly placed two pecks on her wrists - one on each. There. Better? Zeke lowered her hands, letting his drop from hers so he could hold his notebook again. Now that that was done... could they just melt into the shadows again? Especially since the whole niffler thing was happening?

Even with every totally honest word that came out of her mouth directed at him, her bestie just still didn't seem happy. This whole parseltongue thing had really gotten him down. Hopefully once they were out of the chamber and Zeke had a chance to be on his own and think things over he'd be okay. She knew it was a big deal and it probably freaked him out.

So when she felt him tighten their hug she did the same holding him a bit closer for a few moments longer whispering softly to him, "It'll be alright and I'm always around if you need anyone to talk with."

Hady didn't move as she let Zeke examine her wrist closely. At his words of 'sucking at healing and things' she cracked a small grin. "Tha-" she had just about been ready and had started to tell him that is was okay when he bent down placing a small kiss to her wrist with the utmost care. To say she was surprised would have been the understate of the year, her eyes widening in confusion mostly because her cheeks began to burn slightly.

Thank gosh for darkness! Never before had she been so glad to be in a semi dark place. It took her several seconds to overcome her surprise of his method of helping her...several seconds to long probably. Hopefully no one had seen the look of surprise on her face at that moment especially not her closest friend.

He let her hand go then and she pulled it back to her chest gently holding it there with her other hand. "Thanks..." she whispered softly giving him a small almost shy like smile.

Maybe they should keep looking around now right? Do some sketching or something? Yeah, yeah that was probably a good idea.

Keeping close to Zeke still she shifted her gaze to the walls and then the others around them chasing after Nifflers. Odd little creatures those were. At least it was a distraction from her wrist though so she welcomed it without question.

Ooh ooh ooh, there was definitely something down here, scurrying around! Annie bent down to see into the base of the statue, poking her wand into the opening to illuminate it.

"Hello?" she called out again, tilting her head almost horizontal to see what was there. What she was NOT expecting was for a beady-eyed furball to actually pop out and scurry up her arm.

"EEEEEEEEK!!!!!" the Headmistress squeaked, straightening up and wanting to shake the animal off her arm. Instincts, ya know. Already, it was too late to shake the animal free, as Annie could feel it clawing its way up the rest of her. But what was Kevin doing?!! "ARE YOU SERIOUS," wait, remain calm, take a deep breath and don't shout, "---ly pointing your wand at me, Mr. Hirase?! Just get this thing OFF my HAIR." And quit laughing!

Really woman? SHOUTING? Kevin raised his eyebrow at the Headmistress but didn't stop his grinning. In fact, his grin turned wider if that was even possible. It was obvious that he was enjoying this. He was enjoying the power rush right now. hehe

"Quit your whining and stay still" he said , wand still pointed at the woman's head and at the Niffler. "I don't have a perfect aim yet so stay still if you don't want your hair to be on fire" His eyes twinkled , he wasn't going to use magic of course, but if he could scare her a bit , it was all the better.

But he also thought about his future, or rather, the not-future he would have if he actually did what he wanted to, and he kind of wanted to *accidently* attack her because YOOO how many times can you do that? eeeh? come on! He can't be the only one with those thoughts, he was sure Zeke had them as well... being some kind of new Heir to Slytherin and all. Anyways, he lowered his wand and instead did something else.

Taking off his silver necklace, Kevin dangled it in front of the Niffler. "Look! shiny!" he then threw it on the ground and hoped that the creature would take the bait.

Kate was honestly just standing there enjoying the show. Not that she was taking this lightly, though. It was just, she didn't trust her immature skills at the wand, and the Niffler was on the Headmistress' HEAD. Some Gryffindor boy seemed to want to try his luck, though, so Kate figured she'd just watch that train wreck and see what happened.

Turns out, it wasn't the Headmistress' head she needed to watch. It was the necklace that was just thrown across the way. "I'll go stand behind the necklace," she said, because they didn't want the Niffler to actually take the necklace, did they? They just wanted it off the Headmistress's head. So when it jumped off and ran for the necklace, Kate could just collect the necklace.

She had to admit, though, a Niffler on the Headmistress' head was pretty funny. Also, was this the only reason they came down here? To look around and battle the Niffler population? Or was there something else they were meant to be looking for?

Yikes! Sheeesh!

Zeke jumped slightly as Puck addressed him. Had she seen things? Was she going to tell him off? Dock points? Throw him in detention? Lock him down here? (which would hardly matter cause he could always just parseltongue his way out, right?)

...

Though, it appeared as though she hadn't seen anything. Good.

"Thanks, I guess," he murmured his reply. Was she just being nice? Was she thinking he was a freak too? ... ... it was hard to tell these things when he couldn't read minds.



He nodded, smiling genuinely now - even if it was still a small smile than his usual. He did know he could talk to Hady, but he wasn't sure he was at the talking stage just yet, and he wasn't sure that talking would help the matter anyway. Zeke wanted to say something more, but words weren't forming, so he remained quiet.

Whatever Hady had been about to say, didn't seem to matter anymore as she stopped partway through her first word. Did he say something wrong? Do something wrong? ... Why did she go quiet? He thought HE was the only one being quiet today. By the time he looked to search her face, she uttered the word thank you, and he grinned. "You're welcome," he replied. Yeah. He liked helping people, and he liked helping Hady. Sore wrists were sucky to have, he would know, he'd had them too many times to count.

...

So.

Niffler chaos.

Fascinating.

Zeke turned to see Kevin and Headmistress Truebridge dealing with the.. well... with the ordeal.

Quote:

He nodded, smiling genuinely now - even if it was still a small smile than his usual. He did know he could talk to Hady, but he wasn't sure he was at the talking stage just yet, and he wasn't sure that talking would help the matter anyway. Zeke wanted to say something more, but words weren't forming, so he remained quiet.

Whatever Hady had been about to say, didn't seem to matter anymore as she stopped partway through her first word. Did he say something wrong? Do something wrong? ... Why did she go quiet? He thought HE was the only one being quiet today. By the time he looked to search her face, she uttered the word thank you, and he grinned. "You're welcome," he replied. Yeah. He liked helping people, and he liked helping Hady. Sore wrists were sucky to have, he would know, he'd had them too many times to count.

...

So.

Niffler chaos.

Fascinating.

Zeke turned to see Kevin and Headmistress Truebridge dealing with the.. well... with the ordeal.

By the time Zeke had looked at her she was able to form words which was good. At his reply he earned another small smile from her when she saw his. Finally an actual smile, not his normal one but it was getting there. At least it was a start.

Trying not to laugh at the situation happening before them with the nifflers, Hady carefully balanced her sketchbook on her injured wrist and flipped it open to start sketching a little. Wasn't that part of the point they were down here anyway? To explore and sketch the area?

The closer she was dragged to towards the human children the more her panic and fear increased which was shown in her posture and big beady eyes. She didn't want to be caught. Letting go of the SHINY badge reluctantly the little beady eyed creature tumbled backwards several meters on the floor.

Quickly getting to her feet before the boy got any ideas, whiskers twitching she scampered off towards safety, climbing up the nearest stone pillar and into it's mouth.



It didn’t take long before the little furry creature realized that sitting on top of a shrieking red haired woman’s head probably wasn’t the most ideal. And when a stick thingy was pointed at him the little beady eyed creature dug his claws into the woman’s hair to not fall off in fear.

Spotting something very SHINY and glittering being tossed on the floor he got so excited, forgetting his fear that he scurried off down the woman again but not after giving her face a good scratch with his claws.

On the ground again, he dropped the watch to scurry for the new glittering shiny. The girl standing just behind the shiny caused him to halt unexpectedly with paw raised in the air. Whiskers twitching he spun and scampered off between the humans to the same stone pillar as his sister. Climbing up and into the mouth he was safe.

"Are you suggesting we put holes around the Grounds and the Castle to see if any of them will drop us into here?" Not a bad idea actually. Aegis really liked Zeke, now more than before. Perhaps they could get permission to blast holes in the floor around the school.
"If you were coming down face first. I'd make sure to catch you before you'd fall." It wasn't exactly what Puck was commenting about, but hey a pretty girl deserves a nice comment from him. So she got one. "Can't let that face hit the ground, not once."
Aegis stood back and just watched all the crazy Niffler stuff happen. He couldn't help but crack a smile while the Hufflepuff Prefect, and Kevin lost it for losing their shiny items. he especial enjoyed seeing the badger loose his badge Authority loosing their symbols was just VERY pleasing to him! And The Head Mistress!! He had to hold in Laughter as the poor woman's hair and face was abused.

Though still the Head Mistress was a lady and Aegis was not going to let anything, even a Niffler get away with defiling a Lady's face.

"I SHALL CAPTURE THAT NIFFLER FOR YOU MA'AM!" Aegis darted towards the Statue'd Snake Face pillar that both Nifflers escaped into, and drew his wand "I'LL TEACH IT HUMAN SPEECH UNTIL IT CAN APOLOGIZE FOR THE HARM IT'S CAUSED!"

He peered into the Pillar but it was too dark to see anything. "Lumos" he spoke and he poked his wand into the mouth of the Snake Pillar.

Wandlight suddenly flared into existence where none had been for over a millennium. The bright rays revealed a set of tight spiral steps roughly hewn from stone. Perhaps Slytherin himself created it as a way out?

Help is always given at Hogwarts...

Cool! cool! Cool! Steps...Steps in a snakes mouth, maybe they lead to where he had hoped they would, but right now all Aegis cared about were those Nifflers and bringing one back to the Head Mistress. He considered his options here. It wasn't right if he didn't blurt out 'HEY LOOK STAIRS!', but also Aegis wanted to get those Nifflers and everyone else would be in the way.

So he went with the Middle Ground. "I'll be right back with those Nifflers!...Or not" He said as he crawled into the Snakes Mouth and started down the stairs his wand still lite while he descended into darkness after the Nifflers.

There just by showing he can go into the Mouth, he revealed something to the Others. Now he had the Head start towards glory while the others can discover where he went to on their own.

YESSSSSS!!

The spell had been a success!!!!

Lux had a moment of celebration over the fact that she had managed to get Adi's Badge back before she realized that she was dragging the poor Niffler towards them. "No, let goo!!!" she called out to the terrified creature without even considering the fact that it obviously couldn't understand her.

What if the poor thing had a heart attack and DIED?! It would be all her fault and she wouldn't be able to deal with killing an adorable little animal who had only been doing what was in its nature to do. Thank merlin it let go before scampering off to safety.

... That was when she saw the wandlight shining on a set of spiral stairs. Gasping, she knew that this was something big. Waving her arms, she tried to get the Headmistress' attention. "Headmistress Truebridge!! There is a set of stairs!" Eagerly she pointed to them.

Kate didn't really think this boy's necklace was worth her guarding it like her life depended on it, but she did so anyway to try and get the niffler down from the Headmistress' head and...somewhere else. Anywhere else. Kate cringed a little when the niffler finally decided to make a break for it. It looked like he clawed the headmistress' head and face, which would have probably earned him a death sentence had he stuck around. As it was, he scurried off, so Kate picked up the necklace and handed it back to Kevin. "Good thinking," she said to him.

She didn't have time to say much else to him. She blinked when a bright light began flooding through the area. "A staircase!" she said, pointing out the obvious but being excited to see it even so. She paused and looked toward the adults in the bunch. She'd take the stairs when one of them did, too.

Ginger. That cat could be a real pain sometimes, especially today. She had scampered off to the girl's bathroom (why the GIRLS one?!) and Dylan had to chase her all the way down. And he had to go IN THERE since no girls had been around to help him get her out. How annoying.

He had found her right when she was entering some secret passage. Dylan had been curious of course, so he found himself sliding down a slide (which seemed to last forever) and ended up in a place he never knew even existed at Hogwarts. He blinked, looking around at the place as he stood up and brushed off his pants. The fifth year forgot all about Ginger as he looked around, noticing the many people already down here. Erm. Were they holding some secret meeting... or... ?

"Um, hi," He greeted them awkwardly as he picked up his cat who had raced to his side out of fear of the eerie looking chamber. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything.... you see, my cat ran off and... " he trailed off, looking around, suddenly coming to the realization that this was very possibly the famous Chamber of Secrets. Eyes wide now, he gave them a puzzled look. "Is this the... Chamber of Secrets?" He asked.

Poor Anastasia. Between Hirase's yelling and the niffler's scratching, she really wasn't looking like she was enjoying this exploration all that much at the moment. At least one of her little eaglets had the good sense to go guard the shiny necklace from further thieving. But.. what's that? Had a student just wandered down here by himself?

"Yes, Callaghan, this is the Chamber of Secrets. And I can't imagine what on earth you are doing down here unescorted." But she'd let the Headmistress deal with that. Honestly, she had no clue if Anastasia would be upset by that or not. What was more pressing right now was dealing with the nifflers and -

A staircase? "Where does it lead, Mr. Dane? Miss Carrington?" she called out. They did need a way out, after all.

The poor little Niffler! Adi was reallllly feeling sorry for it now. Just look at it all panicky. He still have half the mind to let the creature make its escape with the badge... but he was saved of doing that when the Niffler decided to release it. "Hey! Can't I hold you or something?'' he whispered urgently as he watched the Niffler scurry towards one of the pillars. Man! That was disappointing. The little creature had vanished.

"Thanks a ton, Lux!'' Adi smiled his appreciating before he frowned slightly. A set of stairs? It certainly seemed so for Kate exclaimed the same thing moments later. He followed their gaze. Stairs indeeeeeed! More room for exploration! It was safe to say Adi was ready to do just that.

Puck wasn’t grinning at how Headmistress Truebridge was yelling at Kevin…nope, it was more the fact that she was practically freaking out over the little Niffler. Oh god, Kevin was mentioning not having perfect aim this was going to be hilarious. It was also not a time to laugh nope not at all “nice idea Kevin,” Puck grinned.

Oh…Zeke seemed nervous. “Sorry Zeke,” she laughed. “I think it would be awesome to use your skills and try and find if there are any other secret places in the school?” she grinned over to him.

Aegis’s comment got a little grin and chuckle as she listened. “Aw thanks that’s really sweet of you,” she chuckled as she continued watching the scene. Oh my gosh was he loud though?

Was that…a staircase? Puck thought as she walked forward her wand still lit. Puck continued walking forward until she was right at the foot of the staircase. “Perhaps it’s a way out? It could also be how the nifflers got in here in the first place” Puck shrugged as she tested the first step with her foot before more confidently beginning to attempt to climb the mysterious staircase.

This was a nightmare. This was literally a nightmare Anastasia had had before, with Kevin Hirase holding a wand in her face and promising to set her on fire with a cheshire grin like a madman. Granted, there hadn't been a nervous niffler on top of her head probably peeing in her hair and only Merlin knew what else, but this exact scenario was the stuff of nightmares.

She tried to keep still as the boy FINALLY used his brain for something other than coming up with smart remarks. "Oh thank you than---" she started to say as he took off the necklace, but then she felt it. The pain of the niffler's claws DIGGING into her cheek as it took off down her arm and toward the necklace. "MY FAAAAAAAAAAAACE!" came the Headmistress' horrified screech next, as she imagined a giant RIP down her cheek like some sick scarecrow. "WHAT HAS IT DONE TO MY FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!?!!"

Did anyone have a mirror? Or a potion? SHE NEEDED TO SEE TO THE HEALER NOW, SHE WAS INJURED! And it HURT like the devil! The redhead covered her cheek as she imagined blood spouting out of the cut. It was probably infected! Who knew what posions these furry beasts had in their claws?! She was working herself up to the point of tears when a sudden shout from the statue had her whirling around again.

Oh! A chivalrous Gryffindor was going to punish that niffler for her, GOOD FOR HIM! And... they had found stairs?! Annie literally sucked up the one tear that had been threatening to spill down her scarred cheek and hurried over to where Lux was standing. "Stairs! Yes! This must be the way out for us and the way in for them!" She was still clutching her cheek as she leaned around Puck and looked up the staircase.

"Go on then!" Annie encouraged the nearest student. "Lead the way out! We don't need any more injuries." And she wanted to get some potion on this mark before it became a scar! HURRY.