Being called a 'great Hufflepuff' was perhaps one of the greatest compliments Toby could think of. Not that the other houses weren't super great too, but Toby was always extra proud of being a Hufflepuff and hearing THAT practically made his spirits soar. Especially when Professor Morgan noted his tendency to try and see the good. Because YES, YEEEEES. That was EXACTLY what he was about. And people were still noticing. So yes. All the happy.

Except for the fact that his hopes were very quickly dashed. Because Bob hadn't, in fact, wandered off of his own volition, and Toby trusted that the professor knew exactly what she was talking about here.

Toby's shoulder slumped a little, and it was difficult to keep his expression away from the region of 'dismayed' as he watched those four students troop up to the front of the room. He didn't really like the atmosphere in here, the whole... judgement thing. Literally. This whole hearing set-up. It made him a little anxious because it all felt like... the opposite of a happy thing.

But of course, he kept that to himself. Toby would have liked to leave, but he wasn't about to just walk out of Professor Cassie's class. That would be super rude and everything and no doubt the news would quickly reach a less than impressed parental figure by the end of lunch time, but that was besides the point. He didn't really know any questions to ask either, so Toby folded his arms on his desk again and rest his chin back on them. And balanced the sieve back on his head again, in an to keep the negative thoughts away and the positive thoughts in his brain. He observed the proceedings, able to convince himself that he was simply watching a television show or something like that.

Cinna looked up at the younger Ravenclaw girl, mouth slightly hanging open. What? What? Did she steal Bob? She nodded at Kate in appreciation of her belief in her innocents. "I don't know what's going on." She turned went professor Cassie spoke to the guilty ones there ended up being four of them now. Interesting. Her, Adi, Jannelle the Ravenclaw girl and Zhenya. Well at least she wasn't the only guilty one.

The sixth year slowly stood up and slowly moved up to the front of the room. Court? They were having a court? So trial by jury. She seen. And the class just happened to be the jury. Kind of. Anyway she just stood around and waited to give her account of what happened. "Well I was listening to the answers and giving mine when the lights when out and when they came back on I was sitting in the floor." That was pretty much it. She had no idea why or how she ended up in the floor. Any more questions. She looked around at the others sitting more than the ones standing with her. They were not the jury.

Wait what?

First Janelle the Ravenclaw girl admitted to her sieve moving which seemed like a surprise to Benny. But then three other students admitted to their own moving....including ADI! That HAD to be the commotion that he had heard from his and AJ's groups. "Adi didn't do it!" the Gryffindor spoke up in defense of his best friend before he even realized he was doing it. They might have had issues of trust earlier in the term, but if there was anything he knew for certain about Adi, it was this:
HE WAS NO ANIMAL-NAPPER.

He watched as the four students were moved to the front of the room, the Gryffindor in turn moving to take his own original seat so he could see better. A pseudo-court hearing?! That didn't sound all too nice. Benny didn't have a question to ask but he shot a supportive look at Adi as the other boy told his story as instructed. Knowing how his friend had been hurt at his own mistrust, this had to be killing him.

Could the guilty party just confess?

Angel was glad when she saw Benny's sieve didn't move but then she noticed her friend Janelle's did though she was sure she didn't do it and Adi's moved as well, this was great now wasn't it.

Angel raised her hand. "Adi I'm sorry but I have a question for you." Angel suddenly thought about the question. "Can you tell me in your own words what happened the moment the lights went out and what you did?" Angel hoped that he didn't mind her asking it.

Janelle was glad that she had at least one classmate on her side. "Thanks Zhenya", she replied. "I know you didn't steal Bob either" Then her partner confessed to Professor Cassie that her sieve had moved too. It looked like they were going down together.

Janelle couldn't have been more suprised when Adi joined the list of suspects along with the Gryffindor girl that she didn't really know. How had this whole situation gotten totally out of hand?



Oh, so they were going to have a Hogwarts version of the People's Court with Professor Cassie serving as the judge. Janelle was upset that she was being falsely accused. She was even more upset that Professor Cassie would think for one moment that she would kidnap Bob. She had to remain calm though. If she had learned anything from watching those muggle court shows, it was don't let the lawyers or the questions get you rattled. She was innocent, so justice would prevail.

Janelle went to the front of the room with the rest of the suspects and waited for her turn to speak. When it came, she began to explain. "I had just finished answering Professor Cassie's question and I was listening to her because she had just started to respond. Then the lights went out. I grabbed my wand, but I never moved from my chair. The lights came back on and that was it."



Janelle really didn't have anything else to say. Then a question came her way......from A.J. Seriously? What was her deal anyway? Was she implying that Janelle was a lying, conniving turtle-napper? Janelle took a deep breath and tried to remember that she was Adi's girlfriend and Angel's sister so maybe she didn't mean it the way it sounded. It would not do her any good to appear upset by someone's random question.

"Be mature Janelle", she thought to herself. She tried to think of what her sister would do in this situation and gave it her best shot. "I am the youngest, yes. I think that my magical skills are quite exceptional for someone my age.....but that's just me. I am sure that I am not anywhere near the skill level of my older classmates, but I am not trying to use anything to my advantage. You can believe what you want. I did not take Bob. By the way, I don't think it took a whole lot of magical skill to turn out the lights and hide a turtle.

Four sieves had moved? Now they would have to figure out which of the four students had taken Bob, if any of them had done it. She still wasn't entirely convinced that a student in the class had taken Bob. Janelle, Zhenya, Cinna, and Adi had all had their sieves move. None of these people seemed likely to steal a turtle. Janelle was only a second year, but as she had said she was quite exceptional for her age and it wasprobably not difficult to magically turn out the lights and grab a turtle.

"Professor Cassie, you said that the sieves sometimes move if the person does not like being the center of attention. Could that be why four sieves moved?" Maybe at least three of them didn't like to be the center of attention. "What motive would they have to steal Bob? Why would anyone steal a turtle in the middle of a lesson?" The why was just as important as the who. She couldn't think of a reason that anyone would want to steal a turtle from a professor in the middle of a lesson. It just didn't make sense. Penelope wrote her thoughts and questions in her notes. Was this linked in any way to the disappearance of Pebbles? Pebbles had dissappeared under mysterious circumstances. Maybe someone or something was out there stealing pets from professors. What other professors had pets? The creatures professor certainly had animals. Had any of his creatures disappeared? Was it just professors, or had students animals been taken? Was she overthinking all of this? Her parchment was full of questions and a web of possible questions. Were all of the spiders somehow connected to this? They couldn't be... Could they? Why were there so manat spiders around? She needed to figure this out. Penelope hated not knowing the answers to her questions.

Well, things certainly escalated quickly.

Now there were four sieves that had moved, and each belonged to good students. Come on now. Were they really to believe that one of them was guilty? She adored Professor Cassie, but this whole ordeal was such a time waster when they could be looking for Bob.

Raising her hand, she said, "I don't think any of them did it. Professor Cassie, what if we looked outside the classroom? To see if there is any evidence that someone - or something - intruded?" Hopefully she wouldn't get in trouble for the suggestion, but it was a little hard to know given the Professor's current state of mind.

Oh nooo... Zhenya looked at Janelle before standing up and walking over to take one of the four chairs the 'wrongly accused' were to sit in. She didn't appreciate the look Professor Cassie had given them, nor her slip up in calling them guilty. They weren't guilty. Well, Zhenya wasn't, that much she knew for sure. She was certain it wasn't Janelle... Maybe Adi had done it as a practical joke? But she didn't see that he would do that, and she didn't think that Cinna had done it either. None of them seemed like the stealing type.

Zhenya listened to the question Professor Cassie asked them, and spoke. "I was trying to remember the steps in plastromancy. I couldn't remember, and then it went dark and I thought I might have fallen asleep, but I hadn't. Then I thought... it might have been a spider. But then the lights went on and after a few seconds I noticed that Bob was missing." She finished.

She listened to the other answers, knowing that none of them had done it either. They were all innocent. How had it happened? It moved on Zhenya, and she knew she was innocent, so really... it had just moved on Janelle, Adi and Cinna too, and they were all innocent. She listened to the other questions being asked, and some to Professor Cassie. She listened to Penelope, and wanted to say that she thought the same thing, but didn't want anyone to look at her, or think she was speaking out guiltily. So she remained silent. Then Lux spoke out, and Zhenya agreed with her as well. Maybe it was... a spider that took Bob.

Defensive much? What was that saying again? Something about you wouldn't be touchy if what someone was saying was true? Yeah, so she didn't know the actual quote, but she was making her point. At least she thought she was.

Actually, she was feeling kind of bad because Janelle didn't understand her humor obviously. AJ bit her bottom lip. She didn't want to make her feel bad. Not one person up there took the turtle, but Cassie was insisting that someone did, so AJ was working with what she had. Excuuuuse her.

"I don't think you took Bob. I don't think any of you guys did. The real culprit is out there right now and we're wasting time with the innocent." Because AJ didn't have any more questions. It wasn't fun when people didn't play back with you.

Beverly's eyebrows raised as she saw her Puffer friend head to the front of the class. No. There was no way Aditya of ALL people would have snatched Bob. Sure his biceps had grown in and stuff, but he was no thief. Beverly folded her arms across her chest and leaned back on her seat, confident he was innocent.

There was also Janelle. Beverly didn't know her in a personal level, but she did have the pleasure to work with the young 'Claw, and let her tell you something, that girl was clever and kind. She didn't see Janelle taking the turtle either. As for her own Snake, Beverly doubted the girl took Bob. Her housemates were clever. Taking a turtle like this, that wouldn't be clever.

She watched closely, though. Positive this was a stage to learn about Conscinomancy. It was a great strategy in her opinion. Certainly got her attention.

SPOILER!!: The guilty

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Leave it to AJ to figure out he was joking and play along. Did he ever mention he loved this girl? Yeah, he was sure he did. "Anything for you.'' The sixth year winked. He knew she would want a unicorn more than any other creature though. She would be getting one soon enough.
.....................

Soooo, to the front of the class they went. Zhenya's sieve had apparently moved too. He was certain she hadn't stolen Bob either. Adi knew her and Janelle well and though he wasn't that close to Cinna, he certainly felt she hadn't done anything. Darn faulty sieves! At the front of the class, he flopped down on one of the chairs so that he was facing the class. His eyes found Benny and AJ. At least two persons in this room knew he was innocent.

Why was Professor Cassie giving them that look? Noooooo, Adi felt sad she thought he or anyone of them could be the thief. Okay, him especially. He was CRUSHED! He wasn't a thief, Professor.

Doing his best to ignore his crushed feelings, the Hufflepuff let the girls go first before speaking up. "I was answering your questions, Professor. And just sitting there making notes. When the lights came off I remained where I was.'' It was the truth!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraie

Cinna looked up at the younger Ravenclaw girl, mouth slightly hanging open. What? What? Did she steal Bob? She nodded at Kate in appreciation of her belief in her innocents. "I don't know what's going on." She turned went professor Cassie spoke to the guilty ones there ended up being four of them now. Interesting. Her, Adi, Jannelle the Ravenclaw girl and Zhenya. Well at least she wasn't the only guilty one.

The sixth year slowly stood up and slowly moved up to the front of the room. Court? They were having a court? So trial by jury. She seen. And the class just happened to be the jury. Kind of. Anyway she just stood around and waited to give her account of what happened. "Well I was listening to the answers and giving mine when the lights when out and when they came back on I was sitting in the floor." That was pretty much it. She had no idea why or how she ended up in the floor. Any more questions. She looked around at the others sitting more than the ones standing with her. They were not the jury.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Janelle was glad that she had at least one classmate on her side. "Thanks Zhenya", she replied. "I know you didn't steal Bob either" Then her partner confessed to Professor Cassie that her sieve had moved too. It looked like they were going down together.

Janelle couldn't have been more suprised when Adi joined the list of suspects along with the Gryffindor girl that she didn't really know. How had this whole situation gotten totally out of hand?



Oh, so they were going to have a Hogwarts version of the People's Court with Professor Cassie serving as the judge. Janelle was upset that she was being falsely accused. She was even more upset that Professor Cassie would think for one moment that she would kidnap Bob. She had to remain calm though. If she had learned anything from watching those muggle court shows, it was don't let the lawyers or the questions get you rattled. She was innocent, so justice would prevail.

Janelle went to the front of the room with the rest of the suspects and waited for her turn to speak. When it came, she began to explain. "I had just finished answering Professor Cassie's question and I was listening to her because she had just started to respond. Then the lights went out. I grabbed my wand, but I never moved from my chair. The lights came back on and that was it."

SPOILER!!: A.J.

QUOTE=PhoenixStar;11773572]What? What? What? AJ just stared and blinked at Adi for a full minute. Why would he steal a turtle for her? A unicorn, okay, but a turtle? He had to be kidding. This whole thing was a joke. No students took Bob. It was a dirty rotten snake, and not that ones that lived in the dungeon. That was where the Slytherins stayed, no? Okay, so she actually had no idea if it was a snake, but Lux seemed pretty certain of it. "OH MY GOSH... That's so sweet of you." She could play along too. Especially because she knew Adi better than anyone else, and he didn't do this.

The heat was on Norah. For a moment she wondered how long she would be able to hold her breath. Looks like she would never be able to find out because the sieve didn't do anything, and she was breathing like a normal person again. "Yay. Go us." She totally noticed Adi's sieve moving. It was written all over her face. AJ didn't think she was being judgy because that wasn't very Hufflepuff-y. But then...

It was court time, and there were four guilty people. This just showed that something was off. There was no way they were all involved. Heeeey... there was a student from each house. Cool. Or not cool, whatever.

Cassie was asking them questions. Yes, people... talk. Spill it. Give them the 411. Whoever was the turtle thief was going to be hardcore recruited by AJ for her unicorn finding army. Mmmhmm. So while Cassie was asking questions trying to find Bob, AJ was asking them to see who had the better qualities to assist her.

"Janelle... you are the youngest one accused and it's probably safe to say you aren't on the same level magic wise as your accusers. Are you using that to your advantage?" Nobody would expect an innocent second year, right? WRONG. She was a Ravenclaw and that pretty much was equivalent to a fourth year in any other house.

Janelle really didn't have anything else to say. Then a question came her way......from A.J. Seriously? What was her deal anyway? Was she implying that Janelle was a lying, conniving turtle-napper? Janelle took a deep breath and tried to remember that she was Adi's girlfriend and Angel's sister so maybe she didn't mean it the way it sounded. It would not do her any good to appear upset by someone's random question.

"Be mature Janelle", she thought to herself. She tried to think of what her sister would do in this situation and gave it her best shot. "I am the youngest, yes. I think that my magical skills are quite exceptional for someone my age.....but that's just me. I am sure that I am not anywhere near the skill level of my older classmates, but I am not trying to use anything to my advantage. You can believe what you want. I did not take Bob. By the way, I don't think it took a whole lot of magical skill to turn out the lights and hide a turtle. [/QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

Oh nooo... Zhenya looked at Janelle before standing up and walking over to take one of the four chairs the 'wrongly accused' were to sit in. She didn't appreciate the look Professor Cassie had given them, nor her slip up in calling them guilty. They weren't guilty. Well, Zhenya wasn't, that much she knew for sure. She was certain it wasn't Janelle... Maybe Adi had done it as a practical joke? But she didn't see that he would do that, and she didn't think that Cinna had done it either. None of them seemed like the stealing type.

Zhenya listened to the question Professor Cassie asked them, and spoke. "I was trying to remember the steps in plastromancy. I couldn't remember, and then it went dark and I thought I might have fallen asleep, but I hadn't. Then I thought... it might have been a spider. But then the lights went on and after a few seconds I noticed that Bob was missing." She finished.

She listened to the other answers, knowing that none of them had done it either. They were all innocent. How had it happened? It moved on Zhenya, and she knew she was innocent, so really... it had just moved on Janelle, Adi and Cinna too, and they were all innocent. She listened to the other questions being asked, and some to Professor Cassie. She listened to Penelope, and wanted to say that she thought the same thing, but didn't want anyone to look at her, or think she was speaking out guiltily. So she remained silent. Then Lux spoke out, and Zhenya agreed with her as well. Maybe it was... a spider that took Bob.

They all had very buy-able stories now didn't they. "Well it seems you all know exactly what you were doing, but Zhenya I couldn't help but notice you said you thought you were sleeping. How does one think that they are sleeping. Do you sleep in classes often?" She eyed the seventh year before moving towards the others, "Janelle, you were the last to answer, was that a distraction to get the lights out?" Distracting the professor with a response to get the lights out and nab Bob. Hmm that was very clever. "Cinna you say you were on the floor? So you admit you got out of your seat and took Bob?" Her brow raised, "Adi you seem very confident that you did not leave your seat at all. Were you sitting close enough that you could just summons Bob to you?"

These were all questions she was doing to make everyone think. Were they seeing how easy questioning could be? Seeing a few hands she turned her eyes to the class.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

Wait what?

First Janelle the Ravenclaw girl admitted to her sieve moving which seemed like a surprise to Benny. But then three other students admitted to their own moving....including ADI! That HAD to be the commotion that he had heard from his and AJ's groups. "Adi didn't do it!" the Gryffindor spoke up in defense of his best friend before he even realized he was doing it. They might have had issues of trust earlier in the term, but if there was anything he knew for certain about Adi, it was this:
HE WAS NO ANIMAL-NAPPER.

He watched as the four students were moved to the front of the room, the Gryffindor in turn moving to take his own original seat so he could see better. A pseudo-court hearing?! That didn't sound all too nice. Benny didn't have a question to ask but he shot a supportive look at Adi as the other boy told his story as instructed. Knowing how his friend had been hurt at his own mistrust, this had to be killing him.

Could the guilty party just confess?

"I'm glad you are supporting your friend, but his sieve did move and there has to be a reason for it. We will get to the bottom of it don't worry." Giving Benny a nod she turned to the next student.

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

Four sieves had moved? Now they would have to figure out which of the four students had taken Bob, if any of them had done it. She still wasn't entirely convinced that a student in the class had taken Bob. Janelle, Zhenya, Cinna, and Adi had all had their sieves move. None of these people seemed likely to steal a turtle. Janelle was only a second year, but as she had said she was quite exceptional for her age and it wasprobably not difficult to magically turn out the lights and grab a turtle.

"Professor Cassie, you said that the sieves sometimes move if the person does not like being the center of attention. Could that be why four sieves moved?" Maybe at least three of them didn't like to be the center of attention. "What motive would they have to steal Bob? Why would anyone steal a turtle in the middle of a lesson?" The why was just as important as the who. She couldn't think of a reason that anyone would want to steal a turtle from a professor in the middle of a lesson. It just didn't make sense. Penelope wrote her thoughts and questions in her notes. Was this linked in any way to the disappearance of Pebbles? Pebbles had dissappeared under mysterious circumstances. Maybe someone or something was out there stealing pets from professors. What other professors had pets? The creatures professor certainly had animals. Had any of his creatures disappeared? Was it just professors, or had students animals been taken? Was she overthinking all of this? Her parchment was full of questions and a web of possible questions. Were all of the spiders somehow connected to this? They couldn't be... Could they? Why were there so manat spiders around? She needed to figure this out. Penelope hated not knowing the answers to her questions.

"That could certainly be why the sieves moved, but we will get to the bottom of that during this make shift hearing." She glanced back up at the guilty as she continued to pace back and forth in front of them. "There were many people last lesson who wanted to touch and play with Bob, so there is plenty of evidence that points to someone in this room taking him. Why during class, well that could be a good question for our friends." She looked back to the four, "Why would someone take a turtle during class?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Well, things certainly escalated quickly.

Now there were four sieves that had moved, and each belonged to good students. Come on now. Were they really to believe that one of them was guilty? She adored Professor Cassie, but this whole ordeal was such a time waster when they could be looking for Bob.

Raising her hand, she said, "I don't think any of them did it. Professor Cassie, what if we looked outside the classroom? To see if there is any evidence that someone - or something - intruded?" Hopefully she wouldn't get in trouble for the suggestion, but it was a little hard to know given the Professor's current state of mind.

"I'm glad you think they are all innocent, but I have my reasons to why I don't think that. So we will continue with this for now. So if you have a question for any of them please go ahead and ask."

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixStar

SPOILER!!: Janelle

Janelle really didn't have anything else to say. Then a question came her way......from A.J. Seriously? What was her deal anyway? Was she implying that Janelle was a lying, conniving turtle-napper? Janelle took a deep breath and tried to remember that she was Adi's girlfriend and Angel's sister so maybe she didn't mean it the way it sounded. It would not do her any good to appear upset by someone's random question.

"Be mature Janelle", she thought to herself. She tried to think of what her sister would do in this situation and gave it her best shot. "I am the youngest, yes. I think that my magical skills are quite exceptional for someone my age.....but that's just me. I am sure that I am not anywhere near the skill level of my older classmates, but I am not trying to use anything to my advantage. You can believe what you want. I did not take Bob. By the way, I don't think it took a whole lot of magical skill to turn out the lights and hide a turtle.

Defensive much? What was that saying again? Something about you wouldn't be touchy if what someone was saying was true? Yeah, so she didn't know the actual quote, but she was making her point. At least she thought she was.

Actually, she was feeling kind of bad because Janelle didn't understand her humor obviously. AJ bit her bottom lip. She didn't want to make her feel bad. Not one person up there took the turtle, but Cassie was insisting that someone did, so AJ was working with what she had. Excuuuuse her.

"I don't think you took Bob. I don't think any of you guys did. The real culprit is out there right now and we're wasting time with the innocent." Because AJ didn't have any more questions. It wasn't fun when people didn't play back with you.

"We are wasting time, he could be in danger by now. So instead of the class asking me questions they should be asking the four accused to find out which have him." She turned her eyes back to the four, "Out of the four we have three girls, who probably have purses. Would you put Bob in a purse if you did take him?" She glanced at them all, "Adi you have your robe which has big pockets, could you have put him there?"

She looked at the class, "You have a few more minutes for questioning the accused, I would use this time to concentrate on them and try to figure out which of the four is the one that took Bob."

Obviously it was one of them.

Uhh...

Kate didn't think any of the four were capable of taking Bob. Adi seemed so nice and humble. He always seemed like he was out to save the day, except for that time they had a snowball fight, but that was all in good fun. Janelle also seemed really innocent. They'd only talked one time in the common room during Kate's first year, but she'd never think the girl would steal. Cinna also seemed so sweet. She couldn't have stolen a turtle! That Toby kid was like a true hero, too. No way would he even THINK about harming an animal.

So that only left the Slytherin girl. Kate had no idea who she was, but people were calling her Zhenya. So Zhenya it was. "Zhenya, my question is for you, but first of all, I don't really think you stole a turtle. I don't think either of you did," she explained. She felt really bad for questioning somebody...

"I...uhh..." Ahem. "Sorry, Zhenya. Erm, you said you noticed after only a few seconds of the lights being back on that the turtle was missing. What caused you to think about the turtle so quickly and look for him?" she asked. SO SORRY, ZHENYA.

Maybe Janelle had overreacted to A.J's question. Fogive her if she was just a little tense about the whole "being accused" thing. This court situation had put her way, way on the edge. When A.J. said she didn't think that Janelle had taken Bob, she was grateful.

"Thank you", Janelle said. "I appreciate that. I didn't mean to be quite so harsh."



Professor Cassie was back to questioning and things were getting crazier and crazier. Janelle sighed and went on to respond. "I was the last to answer the question because I was the last to come up with an answer and get called on. No other reason. It was not meant to be a distraction, a ploy or part of a conspiricy."

The difference between Janelle and her sister was that Jasmine would have answered the questions in a calm manner. Janelle on the other hand, tended to be a little unintentionally sassy at times. She didn't mean to, it just came out that way. Trying to keep her tone even, Janelle answered the next question.

"I don't know why anyone would take Bob during class. I really have no idea. I don't know why anyone would steal Bob at all."

More questions, more questions. How many more questions would they have to endure before this was over? Professor Cassie was asking whether the girls would hide Bob in a purse. "I don't have a purse here, I have a bookbag. And no I wouldn't put Bob in there. I wouldn't put him anywhere because I wouldn't take him in the first place." "Please, please let this be over soon", Janelle thought.

"You're welcome," she said with a smile. Goodness, she would be a horrible judge. As soon as she started feeling bad, she would crack. AJ was tough, but she never wanted to hurt anybody's feelings.

"Don't worry about it," Janelle had nothing to worry about. AJ completely understood her being off especially when she was being accused of something she knew she didn't do.

Sooo... she wasn't going to ask anymore questions, but decided that she couldn't resist. Cinna had some explaining to do. At least Cassie would appreciate her participation.

"Cinna, could maybe someone have knocked you out of the way to get to Bob? Do you remember feeling anything at all? Was your desk bumped?" That was probably a better way to ask a question. It didn't seem so accusatory.

Adi was eyeing Zhenya. Soooo, she got a bit drowsy. Who didn't feel that way in classes? Also, Professor Cassie's classroom DID make him want to drift off with the music when it was on, the soft cushions and what not. But he liked it all. It was very comfortable.

He was suddenly distracted by that outburst O__O Was that... Benny? Un-bespectacled brown eyes swiveled in Benny's direction. NO WAY. Because of their misunderstanding weeks ago, Adi had figured the Lion still didn't trust him fully even though Adi had been telling himself that the trust/ insecurity issue was over... Yet, here he was sticking up for him in that LOUD voice...a voice of that tone Adi heard once in a blue moon. Awh! This Hufflepuff loved ya too, Benny. Brotherly love, FTW! He sent his friend a smile of gratitude.

His eyes next found Beverly. She was watching him back and she got a tiny grin. He was always giving her grins but she never gave him one. Now was a good time, Bevvy. Hehe. Hopefully, she thought of him as innocent. Next up, was Angel who had a question for him. He looked grudgingly at her. Thanks for the autographed cricket ball as a birthday present, little sister, but the big brother was still not pacified from earlier events. "When the lights went out, I remained seated and cast Lumos but the light was quick in coming on so that didn't help at all.'' Maybe if he had been faster he could have seen something.

Annnnd Cassie had a question. Adi thought for a moment, replaying in his head where he sat. "I believe I was, Professor,'' he said slowly. DEAR MAJESTIC HIPPOGRIFFS! That was looking bad on him but it was the truth. He HAD been sitting close to Bob. Uh oh.

Well...It had been worth a shot. Lux sent the four on trial a sylmathetic smile.

As far as a question... Lux couldn't think of any to ask since she didn't think anyone was guilty. It would be mean to question her friends, and she still thought that someone - or something - had entered the classroom and took him. "I just can't see why anyone would take Bob. What purpose would it serve?"

That was something she couldn't wrap her head around.

Angel listened to what Adi had said about casting a spell and that if he had done it earlier he might have seen something.

Angel wondered what Adi thought of her, she was sure he hadn't done it but she needed to make sure. "So you admit that you had your wand out?" Angel smiled. "So that means you had time to summon him over right? So here's my question, was you wand out before or after the lights went out?" Angel smiled at Adi.

Zhenya wasn't very pleased with all the questioning. This was learning? Perhaps she should have just remained in the dorm to study today, it would have been more productive. This didn't do anything to alleviate the stress the seventh year was feeling for the upcoming exams. Why had she thought she was asleep? Zhenya shook her head, frowning. "No. I don't fall asleep during class, I never have. It might be something to do with exam study and long nights, delirium, and calming scents, plus that delicious calming peppermint tea that made me wonder if I had nodded off." She shrugged. How could she explain that brief moment of being unsure if it was reality or dream like? When did the lights ever go off during class? Exactly. Well, at least Zhenya wasn't the only one being questioned by Professor Cassie. Zhenya almost wanted to stand up, point her finger at the Divination Professor and say 'I ACCUSE YOU WITCH!' but she didn't. Perhaps Professor Cassie had taken Bob without thinking, without realising, when it went dark, and hadn't thought about herself being guilty because she had done it for his own protection? How about that theory Professor?



Zhenya had a question from a young Ravenclaw student. It was nice knowing her classmates didn't really think any of them had taken Bob. As Lux said, what purpose would it serve? Zhenya had a quick think about that question. She was stumped. "I d'no. I suppose once I realised I wasn't actually asleep, when the lights came back on, my eyes did a scan of the classroom and that seemed to be the only difference. A missing Bob. It wasn't like a missing book, where I wouldn't have known it was there in the first place... it was a turtle. I had been thinking of turtles moments earlier when I was trying to remember what we had done with them last lesson, and I knew he was in the room earlier." It was the best explanation she could come up with.

Toby was uncomfortable. In a figurative sense, of course. He wasn't sure he liked seeing this side of Professor Cassie. Even though he knew it was just because she was worried about Bob, it unnerved the Hufflepuff to see usually happy and upbeat and positive people do a sudden turnabout in attitude and get all weird. It was sort of borderline scary, if only just because of how unexpected it had been in this case. But then, Toby was quite a dramatic little Hufflepuff.

He went on watching, mostly sitting there quietly, but he'd also started to think of a question he might be able to ask each of the students that would lead to proving their innocence, rather than their guilt. He was originally sure that someone had just borrowed Bob and was now scared into silence, but everyone was very adamant that they'd not taken him, and Toby believed them all.

Think think think. Toby racked his brains, but he couldn't think of a single question he could ask that might help. Finally he sat up again and looked at the professor. "Can't you just ask them to empty their bags and pockets?" he suggested, his face somewhere between anxious and hopeful. "Everyone could do that too, y'know?" This trial set-up was making him antsy, and Toby was willing to suggest anything to end it. It did not occur to him that anyone in this room might have something to hide at all. "Hey, perhaps whoever borrowed him is invisible?" Wasn't there a spell for that? To reveal people? Was there a spell for revealing turtles, too? Would ACCIO work, if he was still in the room? "Perhaps it was Peeves?"

Perhaps they could all go back to being happy and trusting each other?

... Toby went back to slumping on his desk and watching the trial thing. What time was it? Could they go soon? Would they be ALLOWED to go if Bob didn't turn up?

Poor Bob. What if he was alone and scared? Toby tried to communicate to him telepathically that everything was okay, quite convinced he was getting through to him.

SPOILER!!: Janelle

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Maybe Janelle had overreacted to A.J's question. Fogive her if she was just a little tense about the whole "being accused" thing. This court situation had put her way, way on the edge. When A.J. said she didn't think that Janelle had taken Bob, she was grateful.

"Thank you", Janelle said. "I appreciate that. I didn't mean to be quite so harsh."



Professor Cassie was back to questioning and things were getting crazier and crazier. Janelle sighed and went on to respond. "I was the last to answer the question because I was the last to come up with an answer and get called on. No other reason. It was not meant to be a distraction, a ploy or part of a conspiricy."

The difference between Janelle and her sister was that Jasmine would have answered the questions in a calm manner. Janelle on the other hand, tended to be a little unintentionally sassy at times. She didn't mean to, it just came out that way. Trying to keep her tone even, Janelle answered the next question.

"I don't know why anyone would take Bob during class. I really have no idea. I don't know why anyone would steal Bob at all."

More questions, more questions. How many more questions would they have to endure before this was over? Professor Cassie was asking whether the girls would hide Bob in a purse. "I don't have a purse here, I have a bookbag. And no I wouldn't put Bob in there. I wouldn't put him anywhere because I wouldn't take him in the first place." "Please, please let this be over soon", Janelle thought.

She hoped Ethan was paying attention to this lesson, because this was right up his alley. "Now class, what Janelle is doing here could really say she was guilty. She has a defensiveness to her voice. Many people that are on trial do this, the ones that are actually guilty and can't control their emotions show it through the defensive sassy tone." Should she be enjoying this? She didn't ask her any further questions just moved on to the next one.

SPOILER!!: Adi

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Adi was eyeing Zhenya. Soooo, she got a bit drowsy. Who didn't feel that way in classes? Also, Professor Cassie's classroom DID make him want to drift off with the music when it was on, the soft cushions and what not. But he liked it all. It was very comfortable.

He was suddenly distracted by that outburst O__O Was that... Benny? Un-bespectacled brown eyes swiveled in Benny's direction. NO WAY. Because of their misunderstanding weeks ago, Adi had figured the Lion still didn't trust him fully even though Adi had been telling himself that the trust/ insecurity issue was over... Yet, here he was sticking up for him in that LOUD voice...a voice of that tone Adi heard once in a blue moon. Awh! This Hufflepuff loved ya too, Benny. Brotherly love, FTW! He sent his friend a smile of gratitude.

His eyes next found Beverly. She was watching him back and she got a tiny grin. He was always giving her grins but she never gave him one. Now was a good time, Bevvy. Hehe. Hopefully, she thought of him as innocent. Next up, was Angel who had a question for him. He looked grudgingly at her. Thanks for the autographed cricket ball as a birthday present, little sister, but the big brother was still not pacified from earlier events. "When the lights went out, I remained seated and cast Lumos but the light was quick in coming on so that didn't help at all.'' Maybe if he had been faster he could have seen something.

Annnnd Cassie had a question. Adi thought for a moment, replaying in his head where he sat. "I believe I was, Professor,'' he said slowly. DEAR MAJESTIC HIPPOGRIFFS! That was looking bad on him but it was the truth. He HAD been sitting close to Bob. Uh oh.

Poor Adi she turned on him the minute he agreed he was, "So you could have easily taken Bob being that close? A quick easy grab before the lights came back on?" She had a bit of an amused grin on her face. This was fun! She hoped they all felt the same even if some were a bit nervous now. Ugh the vibes in the room were so off. She'd need to over load on peppermint after this.

SPOILER!!: Lux

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Well...It had been worth a shot. Lux sent the four on trial a sylmathetic smile.

As far as a question... Lux couldn't think of any to ask since she didn't think anyone was guilty. It would be mean to question her friends, and she still thought that someone - or something - had entered the classroom and took him. "I just can't see why anyone would take Bob. What purpose would it serve?"

That was something she couldn't wrap her head around.

"Well obviously someone did and we now will find out who. Unless you think that trying to protect them makes you look like the good Hufflepuff we all think you are. Maybe you had taken Bob and slipped him into Adi's robe causing the sieve to move towards him." Another thought for the class to think about, but really Cassie was more focused on the four in the front so she turned back to Zhenya.

SPOILER!!: Zhenya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

SPOILER!!: Professor

They all had very buy-able stories now didn't they. "Well it seems you all know exactly what you were doing, but Zhenya I couldn't help but notice you said you thought you were sleeping. How does one think that they are sleeping. Do you sleep in classes often?" She eyed the seventh year before moving towards the others, "Janelle, you were the last to answer, was that a distraction to get the lights out?" Distracting the professor with a response to get the lights out and nab Bob. Hmm that was very clever. "Cinna you say you were on the floor? So you admit you got out of your seat and took Bob?" Her brow raised, "Adi you seem very confident that you did not leave your seat at all. Were you sitting close enough that you could just summons Bob to you?"

These were all questions she was doing to make everyone think. Were they seeing how easy questioning could be? Seeing a few hands she turned her eyes to the class.



"I'm glad you are supporting your friend, but his sieve did move and there has to be a reason for it. We will get to the bottom of it don't worry." Giving Benny a nod she turned to the next student.



"That could certainly be why the sieves moved, but we will get to the bottom of that during this make shift hearing." She glanced back up at the guilty as she continued to pace back and forth in front of them. "There were many people last lesson who wanted to touch and play with Bob, so there is plenty of evidence that points to someone in this room taking him. Why during class, well that could be a good question for our friends." She looked back to the four, "Why would someone take a turtle during class?"



"I'm glad you think they are all innocent, but I have my reasons to why I don't think that. So we will continue with this for now. So if you have a question for any of them please go ahead and ask."



"We are wasting time, he could be in danger by now. So instead of the class asking me questions they should be asking the four accused to find out which have him." She turned her eyes back to the four, "Out of the four we have three girls, who probably have purses. Would you put Bob in a purse if you did take him?" She glanced at them all, "Adi you have your robe which has big pockets, could you have put him there?"

She looked at the class, "You have a few more minutes for questioning the accused, I would use this time to concentrate on them and try to figure out which of the four is the one that took Bob."

Obviously it was one of them.

"It's very good to know that you don't sleep in my class." She gave her a bit of a smile, "Yes I can understand exams are getting exhausting. Could you possibly taken Bob without realizing because of your stressed induced sleep?" Could she have been sleeping and just thought she wasn't and had taken Bob that way? She hoped the class was paying attention to these types of questions. How easily things can be turned on someone.

SPOILER!!: Toby

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Toby was uncomfortable. In a figurative sense, of course. He wasn't sure he liked seeing this side of Professor Cassie. Even though he knew it was just because she was worried about Bob, it unnerved the Hufflepuff to see usually happy and upbeat and positive people do a sudden turnabout in attitude and get all weird. It was sort of borderline scary, if only just because of how unexpected it had been in this case. But then, Toby was quite a dramatic little Hufflepuff.

He went on watching, mostly sitting there quietly, but he'd also started to think of a question he might be able to ask each of the students that would lead to proving their innocence, rather than their guilt. He was originally sure that someone had just borrowed Bob and was now scared into silence, but everyone was very adamant that they'd not taken him, and Toby believed them all.

Think think think. Toby racked his brains, but he couldn't think of a single question he could ask that might help. Finally he sat up again and looked at the professor. "Can't you just ask them to empty their bags and pockets?" he suggested, his face somewhere between anxious and hopeful. "Everyone could do that too, y'know?" This trial set-up was making him antsy, and Toby was willing to suggest anything to end it. It did not occur to him that anyone in this room might have something to hide at all. "Hey, perhaps whoever borrowed him is invisible?" Wasn't there a spell for that? To reveal people? Was there a spell for revealing turtles, too? Would ACCIO work, if he was still in the room? "Perhaps it was Peeves?"

Perhaps they could all go back to being happy and trusting each other?

... Toby went back to slumping on his desk and watching the trial thing. What time was it? Could they go soon? Would they be ALLOWED to go if Bob didn't turn up?

Poor Bob. What if he was alone and scared? Toby tried to communicate to him telepathically that everything was okay, quite convinced he was getting through to him.

She eyed Toby for a moment, was he losing it? He did know she wasn't going to harm any of them and this was a lesson even though she was trying to find the turtle. "We could, but what would you learn of Coscinomancy if I just automatically had everyone pull their pockets. Even in the worst situations one can learn something new." She gave him an encouraging looked.

"Now in a courtroom we have hit the point that no one is owning up to being guilty so the diviner would be asked to take their turn." She picked up four sieves and started placing one in front of each of the four students. "You need to make sure they are directly in the middle of you and the accused. Just as you practiced earlier." She then pulled her wand and stood in front of Adi, "damnare ostendere" She pointed at the sieve and then looked at Adi, "Aditya Rehman " She watched to see if his sieve would move.

Moving on to the next person she looked at Janelle for a moment before touching her sieve, "damnare ostendere" Last chance to confess? "Janelle Guidry" She only gave a moment to look at her sieve before moving to the next one. Touching the sieve, "damnare ostendere" Looking up she curiously gave a dramatic moment to Zhenya before stating her full name, "[/b] Zhenya Burton"[/b] Would it be here to have a sieve move?

Now to the quietest one in the group, "You have any last words before we do this?" She gave her final accused a glance before touching the sieve, "damnare ostendere" She couldn't help the tiniest grin as she looked at Cinna, "Cinnamon Bayless" and her green eyes fell on the sieve waiting to see if something would happen.

Adi's eyes trained back on Angel. Apparently he was going to have to repeat another answer to her. "Yes, I did. And no, I didn't because the light came on so fast. The moment I had cast Lumos practically at the same time it came back on. It was the only thing I used my wand for.'' Nooooo summoning of cute turtles had been done by him.

The Puff also like his Housemate's Toby's suggestion. Yesh, they could all do that, couldn't they? But if the culprit had stashed Bob elsewhere... His attention back on Zhenya. He knew EXACTLY what she was going through, having done the same last year. It was normal for any student to want to sleep the next day after late night studies. Nothing wrong there, Professor Cassie.

"Yes, I could have taken him but I did NOT.'' Adi emphasised on the last word. Did he mention how much he disliked the way Cassie was acting towards the four of them? Yes, he did. And it bother him especially because he was always on such great terms with her. Sweet, happy Cassie had become so stern in a matter of seconds. It was DEPRESSING.

He looked down at the sieve she had in front of him and her, willing it not to move as she cast the spell. OH, HEY! IT DIDN'T! His head tilted to the left as he surveyed the sieve. What was so different this time around that it stayed still? He frowned and looked questioningly at Cassie. Cue one confused Hufflepuff!

...Was Professor Cassie seriously accusing her of turtlenapping Bob and framing Adi?

Poor woman. Lux felt bad for her because she could imagine how it would feel to lose a pet. "But I was scared there was a snake in the classroom, and Adi doesn't have Bob in his pocket." Besides, it wouldn't be nice to do that to one of her best friends.

Curiously she watched as Coscinomancy was performed once again on the accused. Adi's sieve remained where it was, and Lux was sure that the other three would as well.

Okay... well... yes, that was a good point, but it still didn't change the fact that the atmosphere in the room had Toby all sorts of anxious, even though he couldn't rightly say why. But that was the only reason he wanted to get this over with. And he wanted to see Bob again with his own eyes, sooner rather than later. AND... and they'd already all done the sieve thing, so technically they'd already learnt it.

All of these things were things that Toby did not say. Nope, kept them right to himself. Kept the fact that he didn't actuaaly want to find out if anyone was guilty to himself too.

In fact, when the professor turned her back to the majority of the room in order to do the sieve thing again, Toby may have accidentally-on-purpose nudged his notes, quill and textbook off his desk. Immediately, he ducked down under the desk to pick it all back up again. He was just gonna... take his time and stay here until the courtroom drama was more or less over and Bob had been relocated.

Penelope listened as the four accused of taking Bob were questioned. It just didn't make sense that someone would take a professor's turtle in the middle of a lesson. Why would anyone do that? This was all so confusing. She was sure that none of the students would steal Bob, yet it appeared that someone had. Now Professor Cassie was trying the coscinomancy again. Would it work this time? What if more than one sieve moved again? What if none of the sieves moved? Had anyone in this room taken Bob?

Janelle didn't think that she could take much more of this. Now she was being called defensive........again. Well why shouldn't she be defensive? She hadn't done anything. She was really feeling awful about the whole situation. Janelle couldn't win. If she maintained her innoncence, she was defensive and guilty. If she didn't she anything, she was hiding something......and guilty. She was starting to question her choice to take Divination class.

So they were going to do the sieve thing again. Professor Cassie placed the sieve in the proper place and performed the spell. Janelle heard her name being spoken and looked at the sieve. It did not move, not even a little shake. Of course it didn't move because she was innocent. She had no idea why it had moved in the first place.

While she should have been relieved, Janelle was not. She just wanted to leave and get away from all of the madness. Janelle was not a girl who cried easily, but if she was.......this would have been a good time for it. That was just how badly she felt. Instead, she just sat and stared straight ahead, wondering if they would actually find Bob..