Kate stepped onto the floor of the Chamber and moved to stand by Professor Cassie. "Groups of two or more? I choose you," she said to the professor. She smiled at the woman then looked down at the floor below. Of course it'd be too easy to just find three perfectly good teeth sitting right there at her feet.

Kate didn't have any questions. She just needed to find three Basilisk teeth, show them to the professor and then get out of here. She'd Accio the teeth, but something told her she didn't want every Basilisk tooth in the Chamber flying at her at once.

Zhenya landed in the chamber, after Professor Cassie and Kate, and listened. Groups? Zhenya was okay to follow whatever group was in need of an extra member. She followed Professor Cassie down through the tunnels, deeper into the Chamber. It wasn't really a Chamber of Secrets anymore, was it? Everyone knew what was in there. Zhenya didn't have any questions, so she kept closely behind the group in front, her eyes darting everywhere to see anything that looked like a tooth, her wand at the ready in case she needed to use it.

His wand had been lit on that wild, crazy ride down to the Chamber. Adi jumped up from his seated position on the ground where he had been uncerimoniously dumped. Kate was already going with Cassie? Okay, so he would just stick with Benny. And AJ, Angel, Zhenya and Bevvy. If they wanted to stick with him, that is.

"Let's get searching,'' the Puff told no one in particular. Already he was scanning the Chamber, holding his wand aloof. CONSTANT VIGILANCE kept running through his head. Yeah, he was sure everyone in here had that thought with them right now too.

Thank Merlin for jeans and boots. This was no place for uniform skirt. She was sure of it after she landed. Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets, the land of the dead basilisk.

Things were starting to become more serious now that she was down here. Whatever was down here could actually hurt them. Her fingers curled tightly around her wand. Beverly refused to produce a light. It was like saying, 'HEY I'M OVER HERE!' That's how bad things happened. Instead, she guided herself with the light of others, using her senses and gut to guide her.

She stayed close to Adi, but also kept an eye on the professor. "Accio wouldn't work to summon the fangs?" They could all produce a shield as one of the professors did it. Fast.

Groups. They were working in groups. She was more a loner, BUT seeing as this was serious, she'd rather not be alone. "You guys, back to back," she said to the students near Adi. "That way we have each others back and don't have to focus too much on what's behind us."

Teamwork.

Zhenya found herself drifting towards Adi. "Oh, hi Adi," she said, her face totally serious and her wand extended. Was this the first time the Slytherpuff was serious? Totally.

Zhenya found herself walking forward with the group, "OH LOOK!" she exclaimed, pointing to the ground. She bent over to look at what it was and stood up again, blinking. "Erm... sorry... just a rat," That wasn't a fang. Oops.

And now Beverly was suggesting they stand back to back? It was good enough for her. She shifted in her position slightly so that her back was against someone else's.

"WHHHEEEEEE," she cried the entire way down. So cool. Everybody was on edge, but AJ was actually thrilled and couldn't wait to see what they would be faced with. The lion landed on the floor with a plop.

Groups? She could do that. Yes, she would be careful-ish. At least she would try really hard to not go searching for trouble, but if it found her...

No questions. Nope. AJ scooted over towards the boyfriend and the group of people that were around him. The Slytherin prefect actually had a pretty good idea. "Good idea." AJ just would have went around by herself without worrying about anybody having her back. This was better though.

"WHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! " Angel giggled, seriously that was like a giant slide, though she wanted to know how they were going to get back out since it looked harder to walk up than it did to get down.

Angel smiled as she stood next to the Professor, she then raised her hand since she had a question. "Why don't we search were the last Basilisk was known to have fallen won't that be a place to start?" Angel had no idea if it would work since the tidal wave would have moved everything at the battle of Hogwarts.

The slide down was uneventful but Benny's mind was racing as he tried to prepare for what might be coming. There was a not so graceful dismount from the slide this time around but Benny managed to scramble back up to feet properly without trouble. Thanlfully he had kept his wand in his grasp which he lit just a bit to help illuminate their surroundings.

The Gryffindor returned besides Adi out of habit, though his attention was on Angel as well. She may have been concerned around dragons but she didn't appear as unnerved here and here was the place to be more cautious. "Backs...right," he mused at Beverley's suggestion. Having each other's backs was good. "Hello backbuddy," he said to his bestie, the 6th year moving to stand first behind Adi and then moving when he did, covering the spots behind them and anything that might have been missed.

There came AJ and Angel soon afterwards. Adi tried to act normal because he had promised AJ he wouldn't be over protective of her ever since the taco surprise in that joint Muggle Studies- Arithmancy class. But that didn't mean he wasn't keeping his eyes on her. Nope. Nothing was going to hurt his girl. Eyes on the little sister, too.

Apparently he was attracting the Slytherin girls'. Hehe. "Hello, Zhenya,'' the Hufflepuff said, giving his friend a faint smile. Even she was serious. "You see a fang?'' He moved his wand just in time to see something scuttling across the floor in the light. False alarm! It was just a rat. "No worries.'' Adi reassuringly squeezed her upper arm.

Then there was Beverly who seemed to have become his shadow for this little expedition. Ohh! She had a great suggestion! But they would need to take precautions if they went ahead to use the Summoning Charm, yeah? "You're on a roll with these ideas.'' Adi grinned and gave Beverly a thumbs up. He liked her ideas especially the last one. Soon he was surrounded by his girlfriend, Beverly and Zhenya. And there was a Benny on his back. "Hiya, yourself.'' These two always had each other backs figuratively speaking and now they literally had them.

SPOILER!!: Bev

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz

Thank Merlin for jeans and boots. This was no place for uniform skirt. She was sure of it after she landed. Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets, the land of the dead basilisk.

Things were starting to become more serious now that she was down here. Whatever was down here could actually hurt them. Her fingers curled tightly around her wand. Beverly refused to produce a light. It was like saying, 'HEY I'M OVER HERE!' That's how bad things happened. Instead, she guided herself with the light of others, using her senses and gut to guide her.

She stayed close to Adi, but also kept an eye on the professor. "Accio wouldn't work to summon the fangs?" They could all produce a shield as one of the professors did it. Fast.

Groups. They were working in groups. She was more a loner, BUT seeing as this was serious, she'd rather not be alone. "You guys, back to back," she said to the students near Adi. "That way we have each others back and don't have to focus too much on what's behind us."

Teamwork.

Cassie was looking around the chamber as she walked slowly, spotting something white she bent down carefully and picked it up once she knew it wasn't dangerous. Sighing and setting it back down it was only a piece. They had to find it. Hearing a question she turned towards the group, "It's too dangerous to send the many little pieces of teeth that might come flying at us." She trusted shields, but she wasn't taking the chances of focus leaving if a mouse or something came running past. "Just keep your eyes open and look carefully."

SPOILER!!: Zhenya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

Zhenya found herself drifting towards Adi. "Oh, hi Adi," she said, her face totally serious and her wand extended. Was this the first time the Slytherpuff was serious? Totally.

Zhenya found herself walking forward with the group, "OH LOOK!" she exclaimed, pointing to the ground. She bent over to look at what it was and stood up again, blinking. "Erm... sorry... just a rat," That wasn't a fang. Oops.

And now Beverly was suggesting they stand back to back? It was good enough for her. She shifted in her position slightly so that her back was against someone else's.

Hearing someone yell to look Cassie jumped a bit and spun with her wand to see what she was looking at. Though it had only been a rat, darn. "Yes there are many lurking around, but they are scared right now." She was disappoint, but they had just got there she couldn't expect it to be that quick.

SPOILER!!: Angel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

"WHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! " Angel giggled, seriously that was like a giant slide, though she wanted to know how they were going to get back out since it looked harder to walk up than it did to get down.

Angel smiled as she stood next to the Professor, she then raised her hand since she had a question. "Why don't we search were the last Basilisk was known to have fallen won't that be a place to start?" Angel had no idea if it would work since the tidal wave would have moved everything at the battle of Hogwarts.

"It was so long ago and there has been water, animals, and people down here since. We will just have to look everywhere and hope for the best." She wanted to be encouraging, but at the moment her head was hearing way too many sounds and she was trying to force focus.

"Alright everyone, let's get looking."

Right!

Adi had started looking for the fangs even BEFORE the had all gotten into the formation Beverly had suggested though right now he might be straying a bit away from the group. Don't worry. He was just about two steps away from them.

He moved his wand to the left, checking here and there for the fangs. He could feel the tension and urgency among everyone so he was doing it best to locate at least one fang really quickly. So far he was having no luck though and it didn't seem anyone else was having any because they would have said something.

The Hufflepuff took a tiny step forward, his brown eyes (free from the specs his time around) moving from place to place illuminated by the light. Suddenly he stepped on something. Well, the tip of his footwear did, anyway, causing him to jump back and hitting Benny's back with his own. GAAAH! He had stepped on a rat!

He hurriedly look down. HEY! Noooooo! It wasn't a rat! "Professors! I found one!'' WOOT! Adi had found a Basilisk fang! This was great news since Summoning the fangs had been shot down. One down, three to go! He snatched up the thing, careful to keep it away from his person lest the pointy thing still had venom in it. But that's when his eyes caught something else. Black fabric a few feet away from the fang.

The sixth year bent to examine the materials. "Uhh, are these remnants of robes?'' he asked out loud. Yesh, he had determined these were same fabrics that made robes and they looked like they hadn't been here long. If the pieces had been, they would have been faded and frayed. "Was someone down here recently?" O__O Who would want to be in here?

Last time they'd gone down the pipe, Toby hadn't lit up his wand first. It was much more interesting to do it this way; watching the beam of like flicker on the 'walls' of the pipe, lighting up little offshoots and everything. And though being able to see instead of plummeting into darkness was much less exciting, Toby figured that the fact that they'd already made this trip once would have contributed to that anyway.

Sooooo, now he was there with the group in the chamber, brushing away at his clothes because OF COURSE there were MORE COBWEBS from the slide down. Merlin. Toby couldn't wait to graduate and BE FREE OF COBWEBS FOREVER kinda sorta almost not really.

"Wouldn't the teeth all be in one place?" he asked the group at large, though mainly speaking to Professor Cassie (and Glendower if everyone was down yet, because he remembered hearing she'd be sliding down last). "Like... still rooted in the jaw." Pause. "... Of the skeleton." Longer pause. "Because it died." Eeeeeeeven longer pause. "Like... presumably with all its teeth?"

Or had it... disintegrated?

... Oh. No. No, it was not pleasant to think about. LALALA. NOPE. WHY WAS HE DOWN HERE LOOKING FOR DEAD THINGS. Was it too late to shimmy back up the pipe? Like, rather than find the passage out... less likely to find the skeleton and all.

"Huh?" Toby's mind was partially focused one whereabouts the pipe was, so what Adi said didn't really register at first. He raised his wand a little to spread the light out and squinted towards the prefect. "Probably left behind from last term." Oooooh, or from ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. Maybe they were HARRY POTTER'S ROBES. That would be cool.

So the besties had each others backs which was perfectly fine by Benny and seemingly fine by Adi. Even as the Hufflepuff moved a little away from the rest of the group, the Gryffindor followed, exploring and looking for fangs just like Professor Morgan instructed them and nudged them to do. Both their lit wands certainly lit their way along the cavernous area where they picked their way towards the left of the chamber.

He had been following Adi pretty close though not completely on top of him. However he was still close enough to stumble as his friend suddenly pushed backwards into him. "What's going on?" he asked once he was sure he wasn't falling. The answer was given a moment later as Adi announced to the group that he had found a basilisk fang. WOOT! That meant they were one step closer to having what was apparently needed and they all could return back up in the castle proper.

Benny turned to look at his bestie only to spot the fact that Adi had noticed something else nearby. "Robes..." he mused having a bad feeling about things. Why indeed would their robes be down here as Toby asked, yet not themselves? The Gryffindor looked to his shadow, wondering what the other boy thought.

What had possibly happened?

Back to back. Right. That made perfect sense, and Kate found herself looking around for anybody who didn't have a back-to-back buddy yet. "Anybody still need somebody to take their back?" she asked. Because she had nobody yet, and she preferred not to walk around with her back wide open to anything that was down here.

Kate turned to look at Adi when he mentioned finding a torn robe and a Basilisk tooth. Of course the older students would be better at finding something than the younger students. Kate wondered how many times the older students had been down here. She turned the corner and almost walked right into a spider web. She blinked and took a step back.

Was that... "I also found somebody's shoe," she said, "...in a web." Uhh... "Are we missing any students?" she asked the professor. Because it was starting to look like somebody had made their way down here only to not make their way back out.

...GULP.

Gosh, this place was just so fascinating, which shouldn't be surprising given that she was the History teacher and this place was so rich in history, and Nessa temporarily forgot the danger as she looked around once she had gotten into the chamber after all the students. "Oh, you can have my back, dear," she said to Kate as she lightly rested a hand on her shoulder. Now.. had they found anything in the few minutes the students had been in the chamber before she had gotten there?

Uh.. robes? And a shoe? Nessa glanced at the shoe Kate saw in a web then mentally did a head count. "Well, we have everyone here that came down in our group." Thank Merlin. And she felt a shiver go up her spine which made her want to get what they had come for and get out. Exploring this place was interesting, but she knew it wasn't the right time.

And then she stepped a little closer to Adi who was bent over some robes. "We don't really have a way of knowing how long those could have been here." It wasn't that concerning to her as it the chamber had been known about as fact for decades and she wouldn't be surprised if a few daring students would come down to explore and think of it as a secret hiding place. And they were starting to get off-track.. "We really need to focus on the basilisk fangs. Has anyone found any yet?"

In all honesty, having Zhenya at her back was more comforting than wandering on her own. Beverly was all about vigilance, but it was easier when you weren't alone. She did wrinkle her nose at the rat her housemate pointed out. Nope. Those weren't needed.

She nodded over at the Gryffindor (AJ) at her compliment. Just looking out for herself and club members, y'know.

A small smile was shot in Adi's direction. Yes, a smile. The situation was serious enough that if--Merlin forbid--something happened, at least she smiled at him. "Just keeping us safe," she said, squinting her eyes at the ground.

So no summoning charm. Okay. She guessed it could be dangerous, besides if the fangs were brittle then summoning them might shatter them. Keeping her eyes open as Morgan suggested, Beverly still used the light her companions provided. Not even five minutes later Adi found the first fang. That was her friend. See. Good finder right there.

Wait...they found...

Piece of a robe...and a shoe???

Beverly wrinkled her nose. "The shoe doesn't look aged at all," she said, after getting a look at it. "What if someone was down here looking for what we're looking for." DUN DUN DUN. "Or looking for something else?" DUUUUUN.

Somebody's shoe

Caught in a web.

Benny heard that coming from Kate the young Ravenclaw. Okay so robes could have casually gotten left behind. But who left a shoe behind on accident? Wouldn't it make more sense for it to have been purposely if it hadn't been able to be freed from the web. But then there was magic to free it surely. Unless there had been no time. The Gryffindor's brain was trying to piece the pieces together and it wasn't looking pretty.

Easy there Atreyu...don't get all nervous about something you have no way of knowing completely about. Crazy things happened all the time at Hogwarts...

...right?

A new arrival was heard from the tunnel down from the bathroom. Professor Glendower had finally come down and joined them. They were all there now and it was up tp the small group to find those basilisk fangs. Ben's attention momentarily went back to his surroundings, wishing he knew of a better way to look for the items. It wasn't like the chamber was clean and orderly and it could take a while at this rate.

If there were even more here.

Still close to Adi, he heard the comment about the robes bringing his attention back to them. They did look like they hadn't been there THAT long. But that was just his opinion, the boy shrugging absently before backing up and turning around as if to walk further. Benny had gotten a few steps before the sneezes that had been held partly at bay by the anti-aligen potion he had taken gave way to a sudden sneeze.

"AchOO!"

He randomly stepped in reaction and wound up falling to the ground and rolling as his movement hit an unstable piece of flooring. Or whatever was covering the floor anyway.

Angel was walking, looking for the fangs or teeth or anything to do with a basilisk, she wasn't paying attention when she suddenly she tripped over something.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEK!!!!!!!!" Angel screamed as she felt something. "Professors there's nothing dangerous around this right?" Angel hoped there wasn't.

Angel looked down and then she suddenly realised that it was just Benny. "Oh sorry guys." Angel blushed. "It's just a lion." Well sort of. "Need a hand?" Angel held out her hand for her boyfriend to take.

Zhenya was walking along, slowly, wand at the ready, when Adi found a fang. "Good job Adi." she said, happy. That was one down, two to go... then they could get out of the chamber.

But the smile vanished from her face almost immediately.

Robes?

Zhenya gulped, her heart rate racing. Were they... remnants from many many years ago? "What house logo is on them?" Zhenya asked, not knowing if there would be enough to be able to see that information.

Toby said something about last term. Zhenya hadn't realised anyone had been down to the Chamber last term. Mind you, she didn't know much about what was going on around the Castle at times.

Wait... and then Kate had found a shoe? A shoe!? And that was in a web... oh Merlin. Zhenya wished she had a little Gryffindor blood in her right now, because she might be slightly more brave than she was feeling. Could it be someone that had come down before their group? Was anyone in the castle missing? Or the SNAC group? Zhenya really hoped it was from many terms ago...

All good, Professor Glendower did a head count. None from their SNAC group was missing. That still didn't mean that some students had still come down before their group. Although hopefully it was from a different time, many years ago. Although Professor Glendower didn't seem too concerned about the discovery of the shoes and robes, so for a while, Zhenya seemed to calm down.

Beverly said that she was just trying to keep them safe. "Well it was a very good suggestion," she said, having felt much safer with Beverly as her other set of eyes. They had each other's back! But then Beverly commented that she shoe didn't look aged. When Zhenya could look far enough over her shoulder she got a glimpse of the shoe. Beverly was right; it didn't look aged. Maybe it had been down there a few weeks at most, but certainly not a few years.

Benny's loud sneeze actually got a jump of surprise from Zhenya. She hadn't been expecting such a loud noise... After a few moments, her shocked heart and lungs returned to normal, and she felt slightly more at ease. And then Benny fell... "Are you okay?" Zhenya started to ask...

"You found something?" Her eyes widened and her hopes jumped as she heard Adi say he found one. Moving closer to him she looked down. It was a bit cracked, but still it would work. "Very good Adi!" She wanted to give some snaps, but some chatter pulled her focus again and her body turned to a corner where she pulled her wand, but whatever it was had gone.

Hearing Toby she shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not. The Basilisk had decomposed enough and there has been enough other things in here that things have been moved around and it won't be all in just one place. " Unfortunate really.

WHAT?

She turned and watched where Adi and Kate were then listened as Nessa spoke. She moved closer and looked at the items. The shoe, she couldn't place it, but her thoughts went to last night and she gently touched Nessa's arm. She had sensed activity, but could it have been? No, it couldn't have been. "Nessa, can you collect those things and bring them with us." She whispered hoping that only her friend would here.

"Yes, we have one fang, let's go for another. Everyone keep looking please."

She moved further down the chamber looking as well. Her eyes darting back and forth as much as she could. Hearing Beverly she turned, "I don't think they'd be looking for what we are, but if they were that wouldn't be a bad thing." If someone else thought of this already then it was good for the students. "But yes I think someone has been down here recently." Hearing a question from Zhenya, "It's just pieces dear, so I'm not sure." It was weird that it was just pieces. What had gone on. She sighed thinking about her own thoughts.

Then someone screamed and she jumped, "What's wrong?" Her wand ready to attack if needed, but it was just Benny on the floor. "Are you alright?"

It was looking like they were all going to stick together as a group. That was cool. Safety was better in numbers. At least that was what she always heard. To be honest AJ would be still be okay with going off on her own, but she figured that wouldn't be happening.

Staying as close as possible to the group, she began to look around for more than just fangs. There could be something else going on down here, but they could very well be over looking it. Nothing. She wasn't seeing anything. Not even a rat like someone else had been lucky enough to see. Why did she always get the short end of the stick?

Wait. Adi found a fang? Cooool. "Can I touch it?" Never had she felt one before. What was someone going on about about? A shoe? And the plot thickens.

"Wonder if anybody else has been missing... outside of our group I mean." This was getting real, and she really didn't want anybody getting hurt, but she couldn't help but to feel a teensy bit interested.

Toby, who hadn't found himself to go back-to-back with yet on account of not really anticipating much in the was of danger for himself, was starting to feel a little unnerved. He had been pretty sure that the robes were like super old, but Cassie mentioned thinking someone else had been down here when they were discussing the robes and... and yeah.

Also. Dead things. Toby wasn't really about that. He gave a small shudder and looked between the people he could see in the wandlight and glanced over his shoulder towards the pipe that lead back up to the school. He didn't doubt he could make it back up there, but didn't really want to say out loud that that was what he wanted to do. Very negative, wasn't it?

So, instead, he walked along with the group, manoeuvring his way around people so he could try and stand a little closer to Professor Cassie, and kept his eyes on the floor for basilisk fangs.

That scream though. WOW. Toby stopped in his tracks and jumped about a foot in the air. He had NOT been expecting that. "Merlin..." he muttered, clutching at his chest over his heart, thinking mainly of screaming spiders. He didn't want to see spiders, screaming or otherwise, but now they were DOWN here the possibility felt very real. Spiders and dead things.

Why. Was. He. Down. Here.

Kate took a step away from the shoe in the web. She hadn't thought much of it at first, but now she was starting to think it was a clue that someone was or IS in trouble. She found herself inching closer toward the professors, one of which was offering to take her back. "Thanks, Professor," she said to her History of Magic professor. She didn't immediately take the woman's back, though, because Professor Cassie had told her to collect the fabric and the shoe, and Kate didn't want to go back toward either one right now.

She stepped away, and it was only then that she found what she'd been looking for all along. At her feet was a basilisk tooth, and she thought it looked like it was in pretty good shape! "I found another one!" she said, pointing at it. "Whoever wants to pick it up can have at it." Kate just wanted to get as far away from anything that was down here.

Benny had just come to a stop on the ground when he felt feet against his frozen form, the scream came from a familiar voice and identifying who had tripped over him. He was about to identify himself to ease her concern when Angel actually registered who it was on the ground. A lion...right...and aww she was being a helpful girlfriend, even if he knew not to put his full wait on her. "I do..." he said, accepting her hand as her made his way back up to his knees.

Either his fall or Angel's scream got the attention of other members of their group as first Zhenya and Professor Morgan asked after them, or at least him, with a touch of concern. "I'm okay," he answered to assure them, about to stand up when he realized his wand had falled from his grasp, its light faded a bit making it harder to see, it or their surroundings.

It appeared his luck hadn't held.

Benny bit his lip and moved to search for it, staying quiet as he didn't want to worry Angel any more. Eventually his hand touched the familiar wood and he let out a sigh of relief. "Lumos!" he cast, lighting it once more. Again he moved to stand until he noticed something further away. Something that was both white and dirty. " I think I found something..." he said as he moved closer to retrieve it from its dirty surroundings.

Angel was glad when she realised that Benny was okay, she then heard the Professor say that they had one down. Angel wondered if there was any more basilisk anywhere in the world that they could have had dropped in though then again they were dangerous so she probably knew the answer and so decided not to ask the question to the professor.