Hippogriff ran off, he said. Go after it, he said.

What business did the man honestly have chasing after overgrown birds that couldn't decide what they wanted to look like when they grew up? This wasn't his problem. Aside from his jarvey, the man had never professed any large love for creatures. He was the Groundskeeper and the grounds hadn't run away. Technically he was still well within his right to say NO.

Fool he was still for heading this way despite his better knowledge. "Henry?! Ye 'n here boy? Oi! Hippogriff! I don' reckon I've go' all day ter be walkin' around this dark place lookin' fer ye!"

He ran a shaky hand through his perfectly done hair. The man was having a good hair day. Nothing bad every happened on a good hair day. In theory he should be safe...so why didn't that make him feel better?

"Henry?!"

This Hippogriff may have looked like a coward from the galloping it did to escape that play area, but it was for his friends own good. (Henry) could hear the faint rustling behind him that was under the snow. Good. It was staying with him and not back there. They had to be safe.

SQUAWK!

Move over human. This Hippogriff did not have time to stop and play. Even if he had to drag said human with him. He rose on the hooves attempting to scare him off with the claws. Go human. As the rustling behind under the snow was sounding not so faint anymore.

Blessed holy Circe that was starting to sound like hooves! He was looking for hooves, yes and drew his wand immediately. Didn't matter what large plans this thing had for escaping. The Scottsman was immobilising him and hauling him right back to the creature holding area with the others.

"Now now, there's no need t' be gettin' flustered. 'm riskin' my own hide tryin' t' save ye." The man said carefully as he took aim. The fact it reared back on its hind legs in resistance bothered him VERY LITTLE. "Listen here ye bloody thing. Today's no' th' day I die in some dark forres' jus' because ye don' like th' food Javy's been feedin' ye so I recommend ye calm yer hooves an' don' make this anymore difficult than i' already has t' be--"

What was that?

The man spun quickly at the rustling sound coming up behind him. Was it behind? To the side? The direction Henry was coming from??

bsdiyfdrgfiysregftiseatr!!!

"Wha' did ye DO???" He must have brought something along with him. By now his breathing had increased ten fold and the man could suddenly remember everything he wanted to do this morning when he woke up. Funny, chasing hippogriffs was not one of them. Now his diminishing ability for rational thought argued it could have been Thompson and the others but they had mouths and would have been calling. It must have been whatever was at his hut. Not so far gone in his maddening spiral, the man refrained from jumping forward to grab the Hippogriff but he was now giving him desperate looks. "Come on ye stupid thing! Don' ye wan' t' live???? Move it! Shoo! Shoo this way!!" This was just his luck. He expected a large increase after this was all over. Emotional damage was a real thing.

This human was crazy! Almost not human to (Henry) the hippogriff with his wrong attempts to get his attention. How dare such a human speak to him that way? (Henry) had enough nerve built up to kick him as his eyes glared almost misting in anger.

SQUAWK!

But he could not. As angry as this Hippogriff was. (Henry) did not ever intend to kill a human at its worst. Only maim or injure.. But that had to wait because the snow was moving even closer...... to the human!

SQUAWK!

That's it human. You were coming with (Henry). The human was now a target and the only way to keep the danger from going back after his friends too was to take the bait with him. With another loud squawk, (Henry) lowered his claws and his head to scoop up the human onto his feathery back.

And they were off. Off into the Forbidden Forest they went. (Henry) would need to pick up the speed again and take off in flight at the first sight of clearing through all these trees. Wherever it was. They could try to come back after.

SQUAWK!

And the moving snow continued following right behind them...

Typical of a dumb animal to be squawking at him when he was trying to save its life. Typical of him to be caught in a situation like this at Hogwarts. Could he say he expected anything less?

Whatever it was was getting closer and the man was beginning to lose the feeling in his legs. If the sound was getting louder but nothing was coming into sight then it spoke volumes about what it could have been. Needless to say, none of the options appealed to him. Another thing that did not appeal to him was suddenly being lifted and...well quite frankly this was kidnap.

"Help!" He cried in the same overly shrill voice as the day he'd seen something by his hut. "Help! This creature's lost its mind an' wants t' make off with me! Help! HEEEEELLLLPPPPPPP!!!!!"

While they moved, he heard the movements in pursuit, dragging along in the snow. It was hard at first with his own screams and hollers and eventual wailing getting in the way but he heard it and that had him changing his tune quick as that. "I's after us! Heeeeelllpppp! Goin' t' eat us alive! Merlin! Somebody! Anybody!"

The man clung tightly to the creature, hoping against all else that it was faster than anything that might have been after them while he sobbed and wailed openly for anyone to hear. It shouldn't have to end like this. The man refused.

Well, this wasn't good..

Professor Thompson eventually made the trek over with Professor Culloden and the few students that had decided to come along. He didn't hear or see any sign of the Groundskeeper or that Hippogriff.. other than their footprints and a trail of that raised snow. Fresh tracks from the look of it.

It looks like they had no choice, but to go in and hopefully not very far. "Stay close," It was imperative that this was repeated before Javier entered in first wand drawn out.

Adi followed closely behind the two Professors, bringing out his wand as they moved closer to the Forest. 'Constant Vigilance' was constantly playing in his head. Gosh, it seemed that along with learning to clean every equipment before it was used in potion making, Adi would forever have the lesson of vigilance with him even after graduating.

Anywayyy, he kept his eyes peeled. Where was that Groundskeeper and Hippogriff? Everything seemed calm... except for those tracks in the snow. WHAT had happened here? O_O

It was all Toby could do not to run ahead ahead of the group and into the Forest to try and look for Henry. In fact, it took every single ounce of his willpower not to give into the urge, but he managed it. He knew, without a doubt, that if he'd not taken his potions, he'd have already have run off and disappeared into the trees. Small mercies, eh?

So he stuck by Javy, very clearly jittery, though more because of fighting those impulses rather than because he sensed any danger. The only thing on his mind was finding the upset Hippogriff; the concept of danger didn't seem to exist to him. Toby had his own wand drawn still, but only because he needed something to fidget with. Once again, it had become a real effort to not appear visibly upset; he'd been expecting (hoping?) to see Henry and the groundskeeper as soon as they'd got here. He twisted his wand anxiously in his hands. Calm, stay calm.

"Where are they?" Toby asked the obvious question, looking up at the professor and then down at the Forest floor, searching for tracks... clues... anything. He took couple of steps off to the side from the professors, as far as he dared go - as far as he thought he'd be able to go without earning a rebuke from either - and squinted off through the trees, looking for movement.

Sophie Brown was not scared. Quite the opposite, actually, as her thoughts were clear and composed and she was visibly relaxed as far as fear went, but there was apparent excitement in the way she hurried along, sticking close to Culloden with her wand brandished in front of her with every step they took. Any noise that was made, any rustle of trees or branches around them caught her attention, and she pointed her wand suspiciously in each direction that a sound came from - constantly vigilant.

She had this mantra down.

Honestly, though, she probably would have been fearful had she not been with Javy, Culloden, and Tobes - though currently with Tobes in his frenzied sort of state, he was making her slightly anxious, but still. She had her core group of favorite guys - minus Piers and Zander - and she knew they would find the hippogriff and the groundskeeper and get everyone back to safety. There was nothing this group couldn't handle. They were unstoppable.

"Being realistic here," she spoke quietly, as if talking too loudly would attract the wrong kind of forest company, "how are we gonna catch up with them? Hippogriffs are way faster than we are - who knows how far in they could be by now." She was all for a rescue mission, but like... didn't they have professionals for crises like this? Wasn't this how people died and Hogwarts got its bad reputation?

Cosgrach walked only a little behind Javy and Toby. He was careful to have both Adi and Sophie on both of his sides to always have them in his sight. He wasn't going to let anything happen today. He just wished Toby wasn't so eager and heard Sophie's very reasonable observation: Hippogriffs were fast. But he didn't say anything. It wouldn't be right to say, "you're right, let's go back". So, he said "We'll try to see where they went, at least." Hopefully out of the forest, but the trails didn't look so . . .

If he died in here, he was quitting.

It was minuscule as a faint cry could be heard off in the far, far distance with the many trees. Where did it come from though? That was for the Forbidden Forest to know and the new entries to never figure out from the direction they were heading.

Before the students could step any further in the forest a barrier that acted as an invisible wall stopped them. Separating them from the adult professors who were able to step into the forest easily. Come on, you didn't think crossing the barrier would be that easy, did you?

Adi made sure to stay close by to Culloden's side, his hand gripping his Hippogriff feathered core wand rather firmly. He tried to keep a look in all directions as much as possible as he listened to the others talk. "It would be a good time for my Potion to come in handy, Professor,'' he said to Culloden, squinting in the distance directly ahead of him. Suddenly Adi tilted his head. "Did you guys hear that?'' He tilted his head to the next side, trying to hear the sound again or to pin point where that one had come from.

That was when the sixth year realised he had stopped moving forward. What, what, WHAT?! There was nothing in his path... and yet the Professors were allowed to go on into the Forest but him, Toby and Sophie were not. Adi shot a quizzical look at his two friends. "Hey, Professors! Do you think you could help us out here? It doesn't seem we can go further.''

Her nerves were on end, her fingers tightly curled around her wand. Right now. That was the only thing she trust down to the core. Her dad's always told her to trust instinct and right now instinct told her to keep her eyes alert...and that she should go back to the castle because this wasn't safe. Or maybe that was her paranoid mind telling her that.

She froze in her track, willing her ears to take every single sound in. "Maybe there's someone else in there," she said, her eyes raking the barrier of the trees.

Just as she proceeded to take another step and invisible wall stopped her. OOMPH! Ugh. Whaaaaaaat?!

The barrier, of course. Maybe it was a good thing they weren't allowed inside? Did the professor's have permission to let them in?

Yes it would, but the potion was far away and Javy did manage to calm down the rest of Hippogriffs. It was just this one that took off - or maybe didn't really take off, but... ugh.

"We can't get it now," he said gravely and he DID hear THAT. A cry. A distant cry. He hated this with passion. Maybe it was time to go back?

Cosgrach was too occupied with gauging how distant the cry could be to notice the students couldn't come further. He took only two steps when he snapped out of it - that was when Adi talked too, and he turned back to look at them.

Actually, it was better like this. The students would be safe, at least. So he shook his head.

"We can't lift it," he said, "so you should go back and help Lux with the trails." Javy and he got this, as soon as they called for more professors.

...They couldn't go? But that meant... Javy and Culloden would have to go in there on their OWN.

Wibble.

Tears pooled in the Ravenclaw's eyes - tears of fear for them and tears of frustration that she couldn't go in with them. There was power in numbers, even if they were just students, but... they WERE of age, so why couldn't they go IN WITH THEM? What if something happened RIGHT THERE up ahead and they couldn't get to them to help because of a stupid invisible barrier?

Sophie couldn't stand to have anything happen to either one of them. They may have been highly capable professors, but... she wanted to help ensure their safety. They were like fathers to her.

She wanted to open her mouth and protest this whole thing. The Groundskeeper could look out for himself and handle a hippogriff, couldn't he? He was the keeper of the grounds, so it was pretty much the guy's duty to be able to handle the perimeter. It wasn't worth risking Javy and Culloden going in there, what with... who knew what in the forest. Too many XXX-XXXXX classified creatures came to mind, and... for the first time, she was properly afraid. Not for herself, but for them. More Culloden than Javy, though, for Javy's JOB was to work with creatures. But the potions master... well... that WASN'T his job.

Don't go, she wanted to say, but when she opened her mouth to say so, no noise came out, so she closed it and... stared somberly between Culloden and Javy, silently conveying her fear for them with her eyes. Just staring. Hoping the barrier would somehow change its mind and let them through.

*OOFT*

...

Wait...

... what?

Toby had HEARD that cry, because he'd been LISTENING for any sort of noise. And so he'd hurried forwards automatically and SMACKED straight into... nothing. Nothing? A barrier? But... they'd said they were going in. Toby looked between Thompson and Culloden with wide eyes. Now THEY were in there with whatever had caused that noise and... and...

...

...

thiswasawful

Toby looked at the others in their group, to see their reactions to this. When he caught Soph's expression, that's when the panic set in. He pushed and pushed at the barrier, throwing his shoulder at it with all his weight behind him (really, he was pretty small, had lost basically all his muscle tone, what was that gonna do?) but to no avail. After a particularly painful slam, he finally gave up and stepped back. Toby didn't want to go back. He wanted to help.

"Are you going in? Shall we get someone to help to help? More adults? Adultier adults than us? Maybe the Headmistress? Should we let her know what's going on?" Once again, he had forgotten about the whole 'magic is a thing that exists' situation, and that they had patronuses and stuff. He chewed on his lip, glanced over his shoulder to look the way they had come, and then back at the professors. "Please be careful." He'd definitely heard that cry.

At least... at least this meant none of the other students here could go in there? Even if that meant HE couldn't go in to help, Toby was able to see that bright side. He may have had little regard for his own safety, bit everyone else's was top priority in his own weird little way.

There was that cry. Javier heard it and with how quiet the others were, they definitely heard it as well. But where did it come from as his eyebrows nearly joined in consideration.

He felt a sense of solitude which made him quickly turn his head at the absence of students by his side. Wait, where did- Hmm.. Right. "This is more than just an age barrier.." He quietly deduced. The Professor had helped in creating the barrier last year, but it looks like it had been given some more adjustments. Adjustments he didn't know of exactly to even consider trying to remove it. No. Javier remembered exactly why this was put in, so he was a little relieved at the effects it showed.

" Professor Culloden is correct, you'll have to go back.." From the looks on their faces, he couldn't tell if it was at this being the end of their journey or.. Though Javier's statute remained as bold and fearless, his eyes shifted to a gentle appearance at this suggestion, "That's not a bad idea.. if either of you can reach Professor Dakest as well to meet us here, that would be most appreciated." The Creature Professor had no doubts on his and Cosgrach's own safety here, but he would be foolish to not have a backup plan for worst case scenario. "Now hurry, we don't have a lot of time left from the sound of that."

"Ready?" Javy last asked Cosgrach before he first went further in with.

UGH!

This SUCKED majorly!

Adi wanted to go on with his Professors and he was sure the others felt the same way but if the barrier couldn't be lifted... He fell back in step beside Beverly. Toby had already said what he wanted to say so he tried not to make the whole situation tougher than it already was by making it all sentimental. Merlin knew it was difficult to both sets- Professors and students- that one set was going towards potential danger. Poor Sophie looked so worried for them. He put a comforting arm around her.

"Don't you want to wait for the other Professors?" No... it didn't seem that way. Thompson was already setting off. Adi subconsciously crossed the fingers of his left hand in his pocket as he watched the older people set off. This was NOT the last time he was seeing either of them. Both had to come back and teach him about dangerous creatures and to brew difficult potions.

POSITIVE THOUGHTS!

Toby tried once more, just for good measure, to push against the barrier. But still, no matter how hard he tried, he remained firmly on one side of it, on the border of the Forest with the others.

Javy was talking again, and Toby looked up at him, nodding along automatically. The sound of that cry before had sent chills through him, and the feeling of dread wasn't going away any time soon. He didn't even want to ignore it now, not when it clearly meant something was wrong.

Okay... yes... find Truebridge, and maybe... Dakest. DAKEST! Yes, YES! GREAT IDEA. And the best part was that his office was on the way up to the Headmistress' office, though he might already be wandering the grounds anyway. "Okay, we'll, yeah... Do that. Yeah." Toby spoke very quickly, already taking a couple of steps back, fixing his mind firmly on the prospect on HELPING.

Now hurry, we don't have a lot of time left from the sound of that.

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

Did he just...? 'Don't have a lot of time left'? What did that.............?

... Toby's eyes widened as he involuntarily imagined the many scenarios that that phrase had prompted in his imagination, all of which involved a hurt Henry, or Groundskeeper, or worse. He watched the professors disappear into the gloom of the Forest and stared for a few moments more, rooted to the spot. Then, remembering exactly what it was that had stunned him into inaction, turned to the others. "Truebridge, we need to get... and... and Dakest, yeah," he said to Soph, Adi, and Beverly, really very flustered and distressed but trYING TO KEEP IT TOGETHER but hardcore failing. "I'm gonna run to Dakest's office. But someone should... should go straight to Truebridge, yeah?"

He didn't wait around long enough for any answers, or to see if anyone was going to come with him, because Javy had said to hurry. Toby turned back and ran off towards the castle, sprinting as fast as he could go, trying to simultaneously convince himself that everything would be fine while another part of his brain was screaming that everything was not okay. It hurt his head, so he just focused on running.

Wibble. Wibble.

Adi's arm around her only made her emotions worse, as did Javy confirming that no, they really couldn't come, and yes, they needed to go find back-up for them. Tobes was quick to make a decision, though his quick decision-making skills seemed to be stemmed purely from fear and panic. Still... he was going to go get Dakest, which was more than she'd decided yet.

So she was going with him.

"I'll go with Tobes. Adi? Bev? The Headmistress?" She looked to her fellow prefects to confirm with them that they would get her and shot one last worried look toward Culloden - then Soph took off in a full sprint after Tobes, her wand still in hand.

What good was being able to produce a patronus if she wasn't sure how to send a messenger one?

Sophie and Toby looked like they would crack at any moment. He felt sorry for them but yeah. Adults... more staff he meant, they needed to get those. The current duo of Professors needed their backup and pronto. He withdrew his arm from around Sophie, gave Toby an encouraging smile and cast another look in Culloden's and Thompson's direction.

"We'll get her,'' the Hufflepuff called after his retreating friends. "Come on, Bevvy,'' he urged, not realising he had used the nickname she didn't like. He took off at full speed. The faster they got the other staff, they better.

So their mission was to get adults, and she couldn't agree more. In all honestly, no matter how well she they were taught or trained, adults would be more experienced. Beverly has learned that. It was also a process of staying alive. Seeing as she almost died, she tagged along with Adi, shooting the professors an affirmative nod.

Not minding that Adi used that nickname in PUBLIC, she followed at speed of light.

They were getting help!

The professors would be okay....................

No, Cosgrach wasn't ready.

Yes, he wanted to wait for back up.

He was still joining Javy as he took another step to catch the man.

"Don't worry, guys," he said to the students, even though HE was worrying. But it was a relief that thet ran.

"So," he said to Javy and began walking at a slightly fast pace to track the trails.

Okay, yes. So. Sophie had managed to go into a lot more detail than Toby had. And he totally WOULD have said all that, but in his mind, he'd already covered all the bases. For some reason he just assumed that... that Dakest would KNOW all the things once Toby had said his very edited version. In any case, he had simply stayed quiet while Soph spoke, running along with them, feeling a renewed surge of anxiety adrenaline as a result of seeing Dakest move along so urgently. Definitely time to panic.

"I think..." Toby had said, without slowing his pace, as the moved through the castle and closer to the Forbidden Forest. "I think the others went for her." He glanced across at Soph for confirmation, because he honestly didn't know, on account of how he'd simply run straight for Dakest's office. Still, he had no reason to believe they hadn't gone there, being Prefects and totally on their game.

Closer and closer they got, and Toby remained quiet for the rest of the journey there, just focused on getting back before he forgot any of the details. This section up ahead looked was it, was exactly where they'd left the professors. He could tell because of the footprints in the snow that led in there and back out, and, of course, the mysterious trails from the Creature Playpens that he was careful not to disturb more than they already had been.

"We went with them. To here," he suddenly picked up his explanation as though he'd never stopped now that they neared the boundary of the Forest. "And we tried to go in, but there was a barrier, and it wouldn't let us, and it stopped us, right-"

*SMACK*

Toby had been running full pelt, forgetting to slow down in his urgency to at least do this job right. As a result, he smacked straight into the barrier again and reeled off of it, staggering slightly and blinking, dazed. He'd forgotten just how close it was. But it was fine, he was fine.

"-here. Right here. The barrier." Toby blinked again and shook his head to clear it, before pointing into the trees, towards the tracks that Javy and Culloden were likely already following. "We heard screams when we were here, and they went in there, saying 'not much time', y'know?" Was he babbling? Definitely. Toby wrung his hands, thinking again of Henry and Maclaren, then looked back over his shoulder and across the grounds to see if the others had managed to get Truebridge and bring her out here, unless she was already in there. "I heard yelling when we were all the way over there." Toby nodded his head back towards the Creature Playpens they'd been mapping when the Hippogriffs had freaked out.

... Toby hoped Monty was okay. He felt terrible for leaving him, now.