SWEET CIRCE!!!

O________O

Jumping slightly, Lux squealed. Someone was whispering in her ear. Oh...it was just Culloden. Laughing, she waited for her heart rate to slow back down to normal. "I didn't know you were here, Professor." The Headmistress might have said that she failed at the whole CONSTANT VIGILANCE thing, but she never thought there was any threat to being in Hogsmeade.

And as far as her planning anything? "Do I seem the type?" BEAM.

...

.......

..............

"Errrrr, Professor? I think those are muggles?" Her attention was focused on the people nearby. They were sure acting like muggles and Lux would know because she DID live among them.

Don't mind him, just casually looking for nice hang out spots in Hogsmeade. Nothing to see here, nope. Just a Benzi roaming the streets alone. He wasn't avoiding anyone because why would he need to be avoiding anyone that made no sense he was completely fine. Hands stuck deeply in his pockets, Benzi was just chilling out here and breathing in the fine winter air.

... It was amazing how much he could both crave a place and simultaneously hate it with every fibre of his being.

Hang on. Hold up. Frowning, Benzi squinted at the group heading up the street towards him. Were those... mobile phones?! What kind of wizards walked around with phones out in the open like that? Was there even a signal in Hogsmeade? Staying casual, Benzi dropped his head to study the cobbled street as he attempted to eavesdrop.

"... no such thing as ghosts."

Er. Not wizards? Muggles?! Now completely perplexed, he cast around looking for a familiar face and spotted a boy whom he was around 80% sure was in his class just off the road. Benzi made a beeline for said boy while still trying to catch snippets of this very odd group of people smack bang in the middle of Hogsmeade.

"Hey. D'you see the muggles?" Yes hi hello person.

Well, okay, maybe Cosgrach should have been much more visible as he approached, even though he didn't even approach her secretly.

Well, she might be willing to shout it to the world that she was up to something, but he whispered back "Not at all." Sorry Lux, but she really wasn't the -

Wait, muggles?

The mere idea was so absurd that he didn't even turn to check. Must be someone's prank. Boring, to be honest.

"C'mon now, Lux," he said, "there are no such thing as muggles on Hogsmeade." Just so she knew.

He was surprised she fell for such a silly joke, to be honest.

The argument has piqued, the words indiscernible as the women talk over one another. The oval man keeps clicking pictures on his phone, holding it at length and grinning in front of shop, after shop.

Until the rectangular one, the leader, spots something. He pauses, watches and strides forward towards the two watchful boys. Children know things, his walk suggests. See all the things adults don't. And by closer appearance, these people, this mob, are in their adult-hood years.

"Afternoon. You boys look like knowledgeable gents." The leader stops in front of the boys, his companions gathering in behind. He holds up his phone, the screen with an image on it. "Have you two seen this man? Name's Ryan Claggain. About six-foot one. Chatty bloke with a right-weird sense of humor."

The three crowd in from behind, straining to listen. One of them types while watching. Another snaps a picture, flash on this time.

Gabriel was obvious to any unusual happenings; mind more focused on refilling his pumpkin pastie supply and meeting with friends. The Ravenclaw had long since come to terms with the insanity that was the magical world, even though he'd been raised in it.

It was always something. Even when it wasn't anything.

Before he could enter any shops, however, he caught sight of Professor Culloden (standing with Lux Carrington, but that wasn't too terrible). Culloden just so happened to be one of his favorites, as everyone knew. So, the previous intentions were forgotten as he approached the older man.

"Professor." There might've been some smiling. Gabes could smile. New development. And so he wasn't being rude..."Lux." Pause. "How are you both doing?"

His hands were tucked away in his pockets as Cutty approached the main thoroughfare of the still tiny village. He was on his way to meet up with the wee Bellaireling. He'd come to appreciate her existence all the more knowing that for some stretch of time, Professor Bellaire had kept her family life a secret from the student body. Such professionalism. But then maybe others had families as well. He hadn't known that foul temptress, Meredith Moxley had a husband afterall.


The scarf around his neck billowed and waved in the gust as if a friendly butterscotch snake coiled around the neck and shoulders of a devil may care.

He was going to Scrivenshafts. He was. But then he saw Benzi & Damien...talkin' to some folks dressed up as muggles...and doing a poor job of being dressed up like them as well.

Damien was scrunching his face at the dude taking selfies and the bickering women, and then he was staring at their clothes, and their shoes, merlin's pants they were dressed terribly, so trendy and he suddenly realized he was dealing with... hipsters.

The boy shivered, Hipsters were the bane of his inner punk-rock heart, before he could do anything more than question and lament their presence, he found himself being spoken to. Damien knew this boy, he'd seen him around the castle and with Cutty... He just couldn't remember the name attached to the face. "They are muggles, right? They must be... " Damien said in an undertone to the other boy, eyes passing once more over the shapes of the odd people.

It was instinct, or paranoia (probably inherited from Rorie) that made Damien slip his hand into his pocket to casually take hod of his wand. He was sure the Muggles wouldn't harm him, but the action gave him a sense of calm, of control. "Er... I.. I dunno, guy." The man looked vaguely familiar, but Damien wasn't sure. He glanced to Cutty's friend before adding; "Has... Was he here before?" That seemed so unlikely, but then, so was this.

His eye briefly caught sight of a tall lanky shape nearby and he glanced over, seeing Cutty Mordaunt himself, had he summoned him with his thoughts? Seemed like it.

This was going to be weird, he could feel it in his bones.

Professor Culloden's response to her question got a chuckle from Lux. She really wasn't the pranking type - he was right about that. It was more of something that Bay would do.

He didn't think that the small group of people were muggles, but she wasn't as sure... "They are using muggle devices. Does that happen here often?" Lux had no idea. She also recalled the strange objects found in the alley earlier this term. Before she could mention that, however, Gabe had arrived. She offered the older boy a smile. "Hey, I'm doing well. How are you? I was just wondering what was up with those strange people. They are acting like muggles." But she had no idea why muggles would be in Hogsmeade.

The rectangle man, the leader, blinked at the boy who had just spoken. "Maybe not so smart." Another blink. Drawing back he huffed. "Well of course he was here, boy."

A gasp from the triangle woman. Sensitive nerves, this one.

"Round about Christmas time. Sent us a slew of photos." He withdrew the phone, flicked the screen. Flicked again. Turned the phone about. More pictures. Pictures of the buildings on the street, and the red-headed man posing in front. The rectangle man shoved it in the boy's face. "This looks like the place, doesn't it?"

The square woman was there suddenly, brushing the phone and hand away like a fly. "Lay off, Jason. Geez. They're only kids." Bending over double at the waist, propping her hands on her knees, leveling her eyes at the boys the woman's voice took on a sickly sweet pitch. "Dears, I am sorry for his lack of tact. We are really worried. So if you know anything you will ---"

She's interrupted by the oval man, shoving through with his meaty shoulders to stand between the two boys. Once there, he turns and holds up his phone, grinning widely. "SAY CHEESE!"

A synchronized eyeroll from the rest of the mob. They see others watching from the sides of the street. Others that may be helpful. An adult too.

The rectangle man, Jason, holds up his phone, projects his voice. "ANY OF YOU LOT SEEN THIS MAN?" A finger-jab at the screen. "WENT MISSING A WHILE BACK. HAVEN'T HEARD FROM HIM SINCE. ANYONE?!"

Muggle devices? Lux, please. None of those devices would work here, everyone knew that. He opened his mouth to tell her that, but Gabe appeared and he smiled at him.


"Gabe!" he exclaimed, "we're fine, Lux - yeah, she says those are muggles." Which didn't make much -

Cosgrach winced when he heard a shriek from that group and he finally turned towards them as the man kept shouting in the street. Brown eyes examined the man closely and landed on the phone at last. Okay. They really WERE muggles, or a PERFECT imitation of them. Either case, this was RED ALERT. He rushed towards them. Hopefully, Lux and Gabe would follow.

"Hello," he greeted them as calmly as he could, "what's wrong?" In the meantime, he could examine them and see if they really were muggles.

He just needed to keep them calm...

Harold wasn't one to head out of his shop during a busy day like a Hogsmeade weekend for students, but there was something that brought him out of the shop. A noise that sounded as if someone was screaming and if there was one thing he couldn't stand was teenagers fighting.

Making his way out in the cold February air he glanced up and down the street. Turning when he saw the group that the noise had to come from, but he stopped without going over. There seemed to be an adult already over there and the group didn't seem like teenagers at all.

His head tilted as he watched them curiously.

Saul never left his shop unattended, certainly not when there were still customers inside and teenaged ones at that. But he had heard some shouting coming from out in the street and if prior experience taught him nothing else, he knew he couldn't just sit back and expect someone else to take care of things. He needed to make sure a fight wasn't breaking out or there wasn't something else otherwise going on that someone might need assistance.

He stepped out of his shop, glancing down the street and noticing a group not far from his door. Figuring he'd better check things out, Saul took a few steps in that direction, knowing that he had an anti-shoplifting jinx on his store so he wasn't too worried about leaving a handful of customers inside. Before he got to the crowd, he noticed Hops a short distance away from them and he sidled up next to him, following his gaze towards the loud group. "What do yer figure that's about?"

"What's....wrong?" The repeated question was echoed in each of the muggles: triangle, square, oval and rectangle. They all blinked, in unison, at the man who had addressed them.

Jason broke the heavy silence first. The cell phone shoved forward, nearly against the man's nose. "What's wrong are you lot are deaf. This bloke. This guy. Our friend. He. Went. MISSING!"

The triangle woman gasps. Moves over to the square one, cupping a hand over her mouth to whisper. A whisper that's not much of a whisper. "What if they did it. These people. What if they ...." A gulp, gasp and whimper. "Disposed of Ryan."

The oval man hears. Stops taking the selfie. Freezes, his frown turning right upside down. His beady eyes slip over to the new additions to the street. Adults, lingering a distance, but not too far. His skin looses some of its color. The rectangle man's face gains color.

Hops watched the scene for a moment trying to decide if he should move closer. It seemed there was a professor there so he hoped he could just go back into the shop before someone tried to take something, but he did have his workers in there to watch over the teenagers.

Glancing around he saw Saul coming closer, "Not sure, just looks like an odd group. They don't look like they are from around here. What do you think?" He could swear they looked a bit like muggles, but that couldn't be. There were charms to keep muggles out. "Look at the one taking those pictures." He pointed and glanced around.

Something was off about this and Hops was going to just watch a bit longer.

Ow - owowowow, OKAY, Operation Keeping the muggles calm failed.

Cosgrach wasn't expecting THAT, so he tried to step back quickly, but it was an awkward step and he stumbled a little. He got it perfectly well that their friend was missing, though. Perfectly. If they had been under different circumstances, he'd have joined them in the search, but he had just conducted his own search for another man - the silly groundskeeper - so he had to pass this one, sorry. He opened his mouth to DISTRACT THEM MAYBE IDK when the woman - one of them - suggested that they...

. . .

"Guys, who do you think we are?" he asked in a conciliatory tone, "I'm sure your friend is just fine..." While he said that, he discreetly signalled to the shopkeepers behind him to come quickly, and he pointedly looked at the students to SAY or DO SOMETHING.

The woman was still watching, something wasn't right around here. Her nervous gasp turned into moving closer to her friend. "I think we should go." Why hadn't the children spoken to them and why was the man looking like they had to be wrong?

Jason felt his female friend move closer and his eyes flickered around. "We aren't leaving until these gits give us some information about Ryan, I know they know something." He glared at the man in front of him again not bothering to answer any of his questions. They had to know something, someone had to have seen Ryan.

The other two friends stayed where they were, the one smiling kept his grin hoping there might be some action. The other felt his heart jump to his throat, if their friend had something happen wrongly here then it was probably not safe for them to be here. "If you could just help us we'll be on our way, we don't want any trouble." He looked at some of the kids walking around. One of them would have seen something and could help them he was sure of it.

Saul turned his eyes from Hops to the crowd and back to Hops again. Sure, they looked a little out of place, but he was sure he did as well to some people. Still, something was very off about this whole scene. "Definitely not local, tourists maybe." Not that Hogsmeade was a big vacation draw, but it was possible. Though his eyes did stay on the one man's camera a little longer.

"That camera. Looks a little like one of the replica muggle cameras I have back in the shop." They didn't work like a muggle one would of course, but some people appreciated the novelty of such merchandise. Saul gave Hops a look. There couldn't be muggles in Hogsmeade, could there? There were charms to repel them and keep their wizard village hidden from muggles.

But the people looked awfully agitated and he caught the look from one of the adults, someone Saul presumed to be a teacher from the school across the way. "I think they might need some assistance, we best check things out." He gave a nod to Hops, then started meandering towards the group.

"Think tourist would be here this time of year?" Hops knew they came in the summer and many families came for Hogwarts weekends to visit their kids, but would just plain tourist be here? He kept a watchful eye on the group. Something was not right with them. "I haven't seen a muggle style camera in awhile, but it doesn't look like anything our kids have. The one looks a bit nervous." He nudged his head towards the man with the frown.

Seeing the professor wave them over he was sure something was out of place, "You don't think the charms faulted do you?" Couldn't be, there was just no way. These people were really looking like muggles though. He was certain the group was getting a bit upset and the voice of the man didn't seem very polite. Something was going on and Hops was not going to just walk away. He pulled his wand as close to his side as possible so they didn't notice and started heading over with Saul.

O_O

Well, things sure escalated quickly.

Lux stared back and forth between the muggles, the shopkeepers, and Professor Culloden not really sure what to say or do given the circumstances. She did, however, wonder if their friend was connected to the objects found in the alleyway earlier this term.

"Professor Culloden, I think me and a few others came across some of their friend's things." Whispering, she hoped that none of the muggles could hear her in case that really got them riled up.

The woman was getting more and more anxious watching the students stare at them and the man not really give any information. "Jason they must not know anything let's just go." Something just didn't seem right and what if they were the ones that did something to Ryan. All she wanted was to find her friend. She moved closer to Jason in fear of what could have happened and what could happen.


The man that was frowning watched as two men seemed to be approaching. He felt the same as his female friend. Something wasn't right. These people were not like them. His eyes widened and he hit his other friend as he saw the man coming towards him pull something from his pocket. "Jason we need to go."

Jason glared at the rest of the group not sure why they were all acting as if something bad was going to happen. He wanted to find Ryan and he knew someone here had to have some information. "Please if you know anything or can find out anything let us know. I'll give you my cell phone number and you can call me anytime." He started looking for a pen and paper to write it down on when he heard the girl whisper. "Wait you do know something? Why haven't you told us? What did you find?" She was hiding something, but Jason didn't know why.

The fourth friend was smiling and hopeful something bad was going to happen. This could make their adventure fun and he had his phone out and ready to take some more pictures. His eyes moved to Jason when he seemed to get excited. "Find something?"

Cinna was just walking up the streets of Hogmeade, she had a little girls day with Stella who had came to visit. They had spent all day getting their nails and hair done. After a lot of of girl talk and making plans for the summer. She was really excited about the plans she had started. Summer was going to awesome. She could not wait!

The Gryffindor had a long day and was thinking about grabbing a butterbeer before heading back to her dorm to take a nap after this very long day. The problem was she was absentmindedly playing with her necklace that she had gotten from Bart for valentines day. She had gotten in a habit of playing with it when was bored or just got to thinking about something. She walked right by The Three Broomsticks. She was just about to turn around and double back when she heard a commotion just down the street.

She couldn't help but want to check it out, curiosity. She was always wanting to know what was up? She spotted Lux, Cossy, and the Banner boy Gabe. Did someone say muggles? like muggle muggles? Why were they here? And why were they so upset? She walked, "What's going on, muggles?" She stood mostly closer to Lux, since they were on the track to being friends again. So her protective side was showing, maybe just little.

Abby was just wandering the high street and saw a crowd of muggles and wandered up beside Lux she was curious as to what was going on

CINNA WAS HERE.

Lux felt really happy to see her friend. Okay, they were still on the way to being friends again, but still. It was a nice distraction from the drama that was going in around her. Smiling at Abby as she joined the group as well, she caught what the muggle said to her.

Oh.

This wasn't going to get them after wizard blood was it? She had hoped that only the professor could hear because it might help him diffuse the situation...but looked like the muggle had super hearing. "Well, we just found a few things in the alleyway a while back. Ummm, one of the things was a camera that was still flashing." She hadn't just doomed them all, had she?

Well, Cosgrach sure didn't like the tone of this muggle. However, he was much wiser than aggravating them even more, so he smiled. "We're gonna help ya, okay?" Okay. Were the shopkeepers here, yet? He needed them for this trick, because he didn't have the ability to stun 4 people at once...

Lux said what?

THE MUGGLE HEARD WHAT?

Cosgrach didn't know what to do for a moment, but Cinna, the shopkeepers and Abby appeared at the right moment and Lux was taking care of this just fine. So, instead, he waited for a moment and said QUICKLY...

"Everyone stun the closest muggle to you!" They were MORE than four, and if everyone stunned the CLOSEST ONE, all four of the muggles would be down. Sure, some curses would overlap and some muggles could be hit twice but right now, their security mattered much more than the minor impact it might have on them.

In case he'd talked too quickly for comprehension, he QUICKLY raised his wand and shot a "Stupefy!" at the muggle across him - the man that tried to get information from them.

Now, hopefully everyone would follow...

Abby looked at Professor Culloden and thought yeah true there probably would be more about and saw him go to stun the closest muggle and nodded to the Potions Professor and said "Stupefy" Abby aimed her wand at the closest muggle and hoped that her spell would hit