SPOILER!!: Cece

"You can go over to Professor Flamsteed's group. Help them with securing the Great Hall." Just because they were staying inside didn't mean there wasn't anything for them to do.

At hearing what her Head of House told her to do the third year gave a firm confident nod of her head. "I can do that," she readily agreed. Spinning around on her heels Hady gently clasped Echo by the wrist lightly tugging the younger girl along with her. Friends stuck together whether or not one was older or younger or even in the same house. It's just how things worked in Hady's mind. Echo was her friend and she was going to make sure that she remained safe.

With Echo at her side the Slytherin made her way to Professor Flemsteed's group. "We're here to help out, Professor." She told him calmly, grasping her wand firmly in her hand (the one that wasn't holding Echo's wrist xD). She was ready to get working on securing the Great Hall and helping to keep everyone safe. After announcing that she was there to help she following what everyone else was doing and instantly got to work.

NO ONE LISTENED TO SOPHIE BROWN.

Underage kids were still coming. And Cutty was GOING to come, but Murdoch was being a controlling pain in the butt and took away a fully capable asset to their team. Annoying, that was, and Sophie wanted to get mouthy and say something about how she didn't have the right to keep the Slytherins from coming with them and that it seemed entirely selfish on her part - but other people actually voiced their opinions and... Sophie was impressed. It was easier when others spoke their minds instead of her anyway - less blood on her hands. As long as people got put in their place.

A smile graced her features when Culloden joined their group, then, and she wanted to beckon him over to her so she would be standing in between him and Dakest, but... she WAS an adult and she was supposed to be putting on a fearless, brave facade for the world, not cower in between two fatherly figures who she knew would look out for her. And Dakest was talking in the next moment anyway, giving orders and directions and-- DAKEST SAY WHAT? He was PAIRING THEM UP? And she was getting paired with... of course. One of the underage kids. Which meant, of course, that now she wasn't just responsible for herself. She couldn't just protect herself and efficiently prove herself to everyone by keeping herself safe. No, now she had to put a younger Hufflepuff boy before herself. Which meant she could get hurt or killed while defending the younger boy who was now her partner, as she'd have to be looking out for TWO of them instead of just covering her own back.

She. Was. Livid.

But she didn't show it on her face - in fact, her expression remained stoic and expressionless as Dakest gave his orders, though her eyes did briefly flicker over to meet Henric's before locking back onto the man standing beside her. She was close to frustrated tears, though, as Dakest gave further directions on the buddy system and their plan of action-- and then a new presence beside her took her attention away from the professor, and up at the potions master beside her. He was... going to be sticking with them? With her and Henric? It looked that way, and Sophie grinned and gave the man a quick impulsive hug around the middle before letting go when Henric introduced himself to her. Yes, of course Soph already knew who the boy was, but she offered him a half-hearted smile in response to his words anyway. "Yeah, I know who you are." The kid wasn't bad to look at, not at all, so of course he'd caught her eye once or twice. Ahem. And as she was only 5'2", the boy had quite a few inches on her in height, but that didn't stop her from feeling a sense of dread that she was partnered with him. She didn't know for certain if he was skilled enough to take care of himself. She wanted to trust, but she just didn't know. At least he was big(ger than her) and had that working for him. Maybe he'd turn out to be a valuable asset, who knew? He looked strong. Maybe she could climb on his back and they could act as one unit and shoot spells from all sides instead of being two separate vulnerable bodies.

...There was no way she was going to voice that suggestion, though. Didn't know the boy well enough to suggest a piggyback ride, and she also couldn't even trust him to be fast. She'd never seen him run before either. At least for herself, she knew she was wicked speedy, small, and agile. When it came down to it, the only person - aside from Dakest and Culloden - she felt she could trust would be herself. But... that didn't stop her from having high hopes that Henric would impress her, especially with his bandaged arm. Pleeeeeeease, Mister Attractive Hufflepuff Boy, BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

Who knew, maybe even friendship could come of this?

Before she could say anything more to anyone, the spiders were making their presence known in the entrance hall, and she could hear those putting the daydream charm into action. Cole and Dakest were leading them, then, and Sophie wiggled her way in between both Henric and Culloden, staying as close to both of them as possible, at least for the time being. The presence of her mentor made her feel empowered, but she kept a tight grip on her wand and a nervous gaze on Henric and his arm, silently praying to Merlin that they'd get out of this in one piece.

And then they were off.

Yes, no. Perhaps it was really very wise of Airey not to call Toby's bluff on the whole crying front. People had done so in the past in matters of emotions and it had never ended, uhh... well, it had never ended... well. Luckily Toby was not a mind-reader, and as far as he was concerned nobody could tell thought he'd been crying. So... it was fine.

He nodded at Airey, getting his wand from its holster again, unable to remember when he'd even put it back there after the debacle in the Entrance Hall. "W-wand," he repeated, voice sounding a little too strained for his liking, but there it was. This was fine. Everything was fine. "One step at a time. G-got it." Toby was okay. He was calm. He was in control.

Until... conflict happened.

Conflict INSIDE the Hall, conflict OUTSIDE the Hall. No matter where Toby went, there would be conflict. In fact, with this little interaction between Murdoch and Airey, Toby wasn't entirely sure whether he wouldn't prefer heading out to deal with those great big spiders. It didn't matter, though, because that was no longer an option. He was stuck in here.

When the Healer made her thoughts known and gave orders to the kids in her house, and Airey and a bunch of others spoke up against it, Toby looked very pointedly away and out of the windows of the Great Hall.

Which, y'know, turned out to be a monumental mistake, because he could SEE the oncoming hoard of acromantulas and that only served to remind him of exactly what people - people he really actually cared about quite a lot, okay? - were heading out into. So Toby quickly looked away from that again.

Gah. Conflict. Okay. OKAY. BLUEBELL FLAMES. OKAY? OKAY.

For a horrible moment, Toby had thought Airey was going to say that they Incendio the spiders from inside the Hall, and he'd been really quite thankful that that wasn't the case. Part of the reason he was here, after all, was to avoid seeing anything like... like that again. But yes, the bluebell flames idea was a whole lot better, in his opinion. So, at the go ahead from Airey, Toby gave a nod to nobody in particular and sort of... side-stepped away to... go do that.

On his own. Away from anyone else and conveniently away from any conflict. Or any people who might see any sneaky tears. Allergy tears, of course.

Toby could focus everything he had on these bluebell flame distractions, yep. Hyperfocus. Think of nothing else. Just bluebell flames, using scraps of his school robes which were really more of a hindrance right now anyway.

............... Did... did he hear... screaming? Was that Gabe?



Oh boy.

Toby looked to Airey again, automatically viewing him as the captain of this ship, to see if he was about to give the order to launch the bluebell flames. As for Toby himself, he was past the point of pale and had now gone positively grey. Merlin. This was happening. Again. Still.

Don't pass out, don't throw up. Don't pass out, don't throw up. Don't pass out, don't throw up...

Cutty was about to join up with the rest of the Search & Rescue team. It'd be brilliant. Benzi always zigged when he zagged and they knew how to work together. Truly one of few people who understood his brain and it would make for an effective defense. Then he felt the iron grip that could've only come from one healer's bedside manner. He turned calmly to face his head of house giving no struggle.

"I'm of age, Healer Murdoch." He said calmly, turning and squirming out of the outer layer of his robes, the lining making this easier than it would be were it not of smooth material. "I know what I'm doing. Besides, Caleb is mother enough fer the littluns. We don't want ter go and smother 'em now." He took out his Aspen wand and sniffed it as if it were a fine cigar and headed in the direction to join Professor Dakest and the search and rescue group. Although now he wasn't part of the briefing. Which was directly translated into freestyle.

Having followed orders to return, Zeke found himself back where they started. He only hoped that they wouldn't simply be sitting around, he'd opt for life threatening over being bored right now. Besides, they had safety in numbers.

"The spiders are here!" he announced, feeling as though a little heads up might be appreciated.

Standing a way away from the groups, his hazel eyes roamed around the room, assessing who was still with them.

She listened to Sabel and nodded at his plan. Her focus switched as she sensed the arrival and then Zeke was there to confirm. "Yes, it's time to go. Children please get out your wands and be ready. Use the stunning spells if needed and stay close to the adults. Please pay attention out there." This was a very serious matter and even if Cece didn't think they could handle it and protect the children she felt they could.


Turning on her pretty pink heels she moved towards the door and watched as the scene unfolded in the Great Hall. Taking a deep breath she locked eyes with Leo once before she turned, "They are confused we should be good." She felt the confusion and that was the time to act. She moved quickly and headed out the door and across the grounds with the search group.

SENSORY OVERLOAD!

As if the man didn't already struggle with keeping his mind focused on one thing at a time, what transpired over the next several minutes was more than enough to send the Astronomy professor's brain spinning into hyperdrive. There was Cecelia being a Slytherin, complete with house encompassing self preservation that he found rather absurd given the circumstances. Then there were further exchanges of words between his colleagues and talk about brooms (quidditch at a time like this?! The broom closet was just down the hall there somewhere...he supposed...) and chocolate wands and...

SDJFKLSDJSJDFLSDJFSJLSJDLSJSL!

SAY WHAT, MR. ZEKE?!

Head snapping towards the door, the man thrust his finger in its general direction as little by little people came running inside from the horde making all sorts of noise out in the entrance hall.

"NOW!" he barked. "Direct some of your bluebell flames with your wand at the door."

Cue the distractions! That may not actually be distractions. But they were all just going to pretend that they were for their own peace of mind and for a sense of contribution.

Live long and prosper, rescue team. A thought he had as he watched that group finally depart from the Great Hall.

He had his wand at the ready as Professor Flamsteed had said to do but was wanting to dive under the table and join Chris now. Merlin! He was not happy about this. He watched as students created the bluebell flames and listened to the incantation and watched how it was done. It took him a few tries but he finally got some flames. Ohhh! That was really cool! HEH! He'd learned a new tr....

OH MERLIN! Did that kid just say the spiders were here? Torie's eyes went huge and turned towards the doors to the Entrance Hall. They were safe in the Great Hall right? He really hoped they were safe! He could do bluebell flamey things but.....Where was Jay? No way could his brother still think these were those cute little spiders they had in the garden. Nope those cute little spiders didn't talk, these things were huge and scary and they talked!

Chris had stayed under the table but was listening intently to all that was going on. At the mention of spiders being here though his eyes widened. Nope. He couldn't stay here they'd surely eat him then! Finding Torie in the crowd he quietly slid out from under the table and maneuvered through the kids until he was standing right next to Torie his wand out. He could do this. He could do this.

Swallowing he looked at Torie and nodded. Yup he could do this. He waved his wand and repeated the motion that Professor Flamsteed showed everyone and saw the flames appear. Growing a little more confident he kept his eyes on the door. He wasn't going to get eaten. NOT TODAY!

Maggie was feeling very much ignored today (apart from Healer Murdoch, she was nice, she liked her).

But everyone ELSE was being rude as....rude as something. She couldn't find a suitable thing to compare it to.

They were being REALLY REALLY RUDE though.

Hmpf.

Still looking for something to set on fire, Maggie was going through her robes' pockets when....Zeke came back in being all dramatic. Hey. That was HER job. Being dramatic that is. But somehow this was too real to even complain about it. In the end Maggie just stared at him for a moment. Right. They were coming.

They were going to break through their defenses.

And then they would be trapped in here.

WHY HAD SHE NOT GONE WITH THE OTHER GROUP???

Why had Healer Murdoch convinced her to stay with someone like Professor Flamsteed????

THEY WERE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!

Eventually she found a (unused!) tissue in her back pocket. That would do. Maggie cast the bluebell flames charm on it before levitating it towards the door. Not that she truly believed that would stop the acromantulas. What if they just made the entrance hall collapse on top of them when they were all inside? That seemed like a more effective was of getting rid of them.

Janelle made it back into the Great Hall with all her limbs intact........so far. How long would the daydream charm hold off the spiders? That was the question. She looked around the room at the organized chaos and hoped that the grand plan would work. Was she terrrified? She wasn't quite at defcon 1 yet, but she was getting there.

Now that her charming job was done, Janelle wondered what else she could do to help. She set out looking for a professor to answer that question. If she was busy, she wouldn't have time to panic, right? Maybe this was not the best time for questions. It seemed that phase 2 had begun.

SPOILER!!: Flamsteed

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

SENSORY OVERLOAD!

As if the man didn't already struggle with keeping his mind focused on one thing at a time, what transpired over the next several minutes was more than enough to send the Astronomy professor's brain spinning into hyperdrive. There was Cecelia being a Slytherin, complete with house encompassing self preservation that he found rather absurd given the circumstances. Then there were further exchanges of words between his colleagues and talk about brooms (quidditch at a time like this?! The broom closet was just down the hall there somewhere...he supposed...) and chocolate wands and...

SDJFKLSDJSJDFLSDJFSJLSJDLSJSL!

SAY WHAT, MR. ZEKE?!

Head snapping towards the door, the man thrust his finger in its general direction as little by little people came running inside from the horde making all sorts of noise out in the entrance hall.

"NOW!" he barked. "Direct some of your bluebell flames with your wand at the door."

Cue the distractions! That may not actually be distractions. But they were all just going to pretend that they were for their own peace of mind and for a sense of contribution.

Live long and prosper, rescue team. A thought he had as he watched that group finally depart from the Great Hall.

It seemed that he had done his duty in informing the... troops... and Flamsteed got all COMANDING and things... and... what exactly were they doing with bluebell flames? Would that work? Couldn't they just innuendo the spiders?... like, burn them for realz?

Instead he locked eyes on someone else...

SPOILER!!: Madam Missy Maggie!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lislchen

Maggie was feeling very much ignored today (apart from Healer Murdoch, she was nice, she liked her).

But everyone ELSE was being rude as....rude as something. She couldn't find a suitable thing to compare it to.

They were being REALLY REALLY RUDE though.

Hmpf.

Still looking for something to set on fire, Maggie was going through her robes' pockets when....Zeke came back in being all dramatic. Hey. That was HER job. Being dramatic that is. But somehow this was too real to even complain about it. In the end Maggie just stared at him for a moment. Right. They were coming.

They were going to break through their defenses.

And then they would be trapped in here.

WHY HAD SHE NOT GONE WITH THE OTHER GROUP???

Why had Healer Murdoch convinced her to stay with someone like Professor Flamsteed????

THEY WERE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!

Eventually she found a (unused!) tissue in her back pocket. That would do. Maggie cast the bluebell flames charm on it before levitating it towards the door. Not that she truly believed that would stop the acromantulas. What if they just made the entrance hall collapse on top of them when they were all inside? That seemed like a more effective was of getting rid of them.

She was staring at him... WHY? He didn't much mind, and he found his feet moving in her direction. He watched her curiously as she cast a bluebell flame and levitated it toward the door from which he had come.

...

"And what exactly is the plan?" he asked, casually poking her in the arm. It was his turn to do that staring thing, his eyes locked on her as he halted by her side.

Say what now?!

Blink. Blink.

Hady heard the voice long before she saw who it came from. She didn't even need to see him for his voice was all she needed. The first thing she did was sigh in relief. She just couldn't help it. Sure the spiders were coming their way or something or another but the lion attached to the voice was alright.

After her moment of relief disappeared Hady couldn't help but hear the loud commanding voice of Professor Airey telling them all to cast their charms at the door. Well alright then. Gripping her wand more firmly in her hand she made her way up front closer to where the Professor was. There was noway she was missing her target (the door for now) and she'd be able to see for herself that Zeke was in deed in one piece.

As she moved through the students around her, her gaze swept about the room for just a second easily laying on her third year bestie. As much as she wanted to go over and hug him Hady stopped herself mid-step her eyes falling upon someone else beside him. Maggie. Now she had a choice to make. A side-ways glance let her see Echo who she knew was scared and wouldn't leave her side. And that's when she pointed her wand firmly at the door and following the instruction of Professor Airey strongly cast the bluebell flame charm at the door along with her fellow mates.

While all the charming was going on in the Entrance Hall, Nessa was doing her best to make sure those who stayed inside were not too frightened in addition to helping to collect some of the transfigured snakeskin that some of the volunteers would be draping over them to appear as a basilisk to the acromantulas. Biting her lip, she watched as the search and rescue team, which included her BFF, headed out of the Great Hall. That could only mean that the acromantulas were upon them, which was confirmed by the sounds she heard outside the doors. She hoped that they'd be alright, but that also meant it was time for action.

Costuming was always her thing and she'd be happy to help with that, even if she wasn't sure how exactly to fight them off. Nessa thought there had been enough volunteers for that, but even if there were not, once she was done helping with the costuming, she could join in the end. Hurrying towards the entrance with some of the snakeskin in her arms, she looked towards those there who were rushing back in.

"If you are going back out to fight off the acromantulas and still need snakeskin, drape some of this over you. We need to make a long line to appear like a basilisk. Try to get into the mind of a basilisk, become a basilisk, make those spiders believe you are one." Hopefully her class exercises prepared them for this acting moment. "This should help you get close enough to aim any spells necessary to get them out of here, remember that there is strength in numbers." And most of all, she hoped that they were careful, but she was so very proud of all that volunteered to defend their school.

Once the Charm was set Hops new it would be time for the next stage of the attack. He hoped the rescue team would get in and out safely, which meant their actions were very important and so was the timing of those actions.

Hearing the Professors instructions he gripped his wand. " I'm headed out first." That was no job for a student in case the charm didn't work. They could be in the middle. "be ready to hit as many as possible with spells." They could do that he was sure.

Once into the drape he headed to the Entrance Hall.

Fancy charms simply were not his thing, so Saul had hung back as the first stage of the plan was put into action. He had thought about joining the search and rescue team while he waited, but he knew attack was more his style. So when the lady spoke up about getting out into the Entrance Hall under the cover of snakeskin, Saul stepped forward just behind Hops.

"Right behind you," he announced in his gruff voice, and got under the drape to head out into the Entrance Hall. He might have even been smiling at the prospect of blasting a few spiders into oblivion.

Emerald liked Professor Flamsteed's plan. It seemed easy enough put into action with the help of the students of varying ages staying the hall. Petting her bag of jokes and pranks she smiled. "Of course! I'll keep them in reserve for the celebration." Hopefully they'd be able to celebrate at the end of the night that the spiders were gone and the castle reclaimed!

Grabbing her wand the shopkeeper started to put fire to some lines that she conjured up. They needed to build a fire well she do her part. Emerald was focused on feeding the fire when the professor barked out a new order just behind her back. Had anyone told him that he was LOUD?

Waiting for her ears to stop ringing Emerald walked closer to the door and started to cast bluebell flames at it in rapid succession. Anything to distract the spiders.

At first Maggie didn't notice that Zeke had moved closer. That is until he POKED HER ARM????!?!?!? Like. Seriously????????? Was he for real??????

The look she gave him when she turned her head clearly reflected her feelings for him. Really, Zeke? Really? She'd lost her focus and had therefore dropped the bluebell flames tissue. "Not die." That was the plan. At least that was her plan. Yup. It should be his plan too.

Not that she cared really but you know.

Tightening her grip on her wand again, she looked back over to see what the other students were doing. And found herself meeting Hady's gaze for a brief moment. Yeah. What was Zeke doing over here with her? Maggie glanced back to the Gryffindor next to her. Then back to the door. This wasn't going to work. And she was genuinely starting to get worried that she'd made the wrong decision by staying here.

"I think we need a better plan." She said quietly, eyes back on Zeke next to her. This was serious.

Somehow, knowing that Nessarose had a part in the snakeskin decoy made her feel better. She had an eye for props, costumes, that sort of thing. If she felt it looked good enough to put her life on the line, Tiara did as well.

Under the snakeskin she went! She jockeyed for position, placing herself a few people's widths behind Nessarose. She had a vague idea that spreading out the professors was wise. Was everyone in? "Okay, forward march!"

With all the chaos going on, Ethan missed the smirk that his cousin gave, but did see the head nod that was previously given. It held conflicting messages, as usual, but Ethan knew that he's capable of deciding for himself, whether or not he should actively contribute to the rescue efforts or not. The blond Mordaunt caught sight of his cousin, Cutty, who followed Professor Dakest's group amid the protest of their Head of House, and this stirred an underlying courage within himself. If Cutty can step up to the plate, he can do it too. But to what extent?

Ethan was again caught up in fear when he realized that it's going to be his first time to join a massive effort in defending his school. It was no longer a game...and to put more pressure to the situation, he found another cause to fight the Acromantulas: Gregoire.

After giving Josie's hand a firm squeeze, he made his way toward his cousin, not to seek his approval to fight, but to push him to look after another brother: Cutty. "Don't worry about us, Mordred. We got this." Ethan got his wand out and looked over to where Professor Glendower was and listened to her instructions. "Get under one of the snakeskin covers, and sneak out of here. Cutty's out with the Search and Rescue Team, so you have to watch his back. For me." he added without looking at his older cousin.

Without a word, he joined Professor Glendower's group, and got himself a snakeskin costume from her. He donned it over himself, and followed the others at the Entrance Hall calmly. Just like in casting his Patronus, he held on to his memories of Gregoire to keep his concentration, ready to blast those arachnids back to where they belong.

--

...and since when did he sound so grown up? Mordred crossed his arms in disbelief and gave his younger cousin an incredulous stare. "This is not a game, Ethan." the older Mordaunt was not able to do anything but follow the young man with his eyes as he joined the others who will attack the spiders in the Entrance Hall.

Mordred could not help but feel very worried despite the trust he's got in Ethan and his abilities. What if he took a wrong turn? Will he be able to reverse things? Definitely not, but Mordred knows that Ethan has to get all the experience he can get while in school. And speaking of experience, the other Mordaunt boy was out there already, doing Merlin knows what.

Mordred need not ask Addison or Tancred if they're going. The young adult knows that he's got to do his job as a Ministry official, and as a cousin. His relationship with Cutty is impartial, but one thing's clear: He's family. Without bravado, Mordred detached himself from Tancred and Addison and joined the Snakeskin group to get a costume. In just seconds, he was under the cover, went out into the Entrance Hall with Ethan, blasted a couple of acromantulas out of his way, and out he went into the open to catch up with the rest of the Search and Rescue Team.

So now that Zander was back at Hogwarts again after a week long hiatus without any internet or cellular service of any kind-- Actually wait, no that's wrong. Zander Adair was at Hogwarts the whole time. Hm. Anyways. Tons of things going on at the moment. Like the fact that THE SPIDERS ARE COMING IN!!!!

And also, Zander wasn't one for violence or anything. But seeing as this whole thing was totally all his fault as he mentioned in an internal monologue somewhere in a Herbology classroom thread, he had to help. So he was gonna join the snakeskin crew, yeah? Which, okay... Gross first of all. This was kind of weird. And hopefully they got the skin in a humane way, right?

Not that any of that was important right now seeing as they were about to be spider lunch right now. Actually, how fitting. Getting eaten by spiders in the GREAT HALL, where people normally go to EAT anyways. Ah. This was very well planned. Incase they decided to go easy on him and take Zander to their leader, he'd have to mention how clever they were in this whole planning process. Not that Zander would let them get that far.

He had a school to save. So uh, running to the back of the snakeskin line and draping it over himself. This was happening.

FOR NARNIAAAAAAAA! Wait. Wrong fandom. Anyways. Forward march. Yeah, he was gonna do that now, thanks.

The look on Maggie's face spoke volumes... volumes that he would casually ignore. She couldn't hate him THAT much. Nope. Grinning, he cocked his head to the side, he was serious contemplation personified.

"Not die," he echoed her words. That was a decent plan. "Seems to be working for now," he decided with a shrug, never mind that he'd managed to put her off of her bluebell flame casting. Sorry not sorry.

But this was serious. All sorts of serious. There were giant killer venomous spiders on their doorstep. The type that liked the taste of human flesh. The only way the situation could be worse is if there were lethifolds loose in the castle. He still hadn't cast a corporeal patronus, so he would surely die.

It was while he was lost in thoughts that he noticed a figure a short way away from them. Hady. He raised an open palm to wave, but it hung stationary in the air until it dropped back to his side. Maggie's words turning his attention back to her.

Uhhh...


She thought they needed a better plan?

"I'll say, there has to be a better way of taking them out." Cause bluebell flames wouldn't stop him, let alone killer spiders. Not to mention he wasn't sure how long the charms would hold out on the entrance hall.

Hearing Professor Glendower go on about WEARING basilisk skin didn't do much to appease him either. That was... dumb. The charm already involved a basilisk. Not to mention spiders had like a million eyes and they would be able to see just fine that they were little humans with skin on them.

"We'd be better off transfiguring dragons to burn them to a crisp... or shrinking them... or enlarging one of us to squish them... or something." Yeah, yeah, those were EPIC ideas. Why hadn't anybody else thought of that? Hhhhmmm? Did HE have to save EVERYONE?

"If you want I can shrink you and hide you, you won't die, promise."

His gaze flickered back to Hady where she was casting a bluebell flame of her own. He could hide her too.

'For now', yes.

Maggie didn't quite trust the overall plan. Was there a secret passageway out of the Great Hall that she didn't know about? What if everyone outside died? Then they'd definitely be trapped in here with the weakest students (and professors ahem) so they would die too. Could she maybe climb through one of the windows? Maybe more fire......

Blue eyes back on Zeke she shook her head, giving him an odd look. "We're not trying to take them out." Not right now anyway. "We're trying to distract them. Or something." Something that probably wasn't very effective. Hopefully the Ministry people and the competent professors would return soon. Preferably WITH Noel. And the Headmistress.

Okay, the overall plan wasn't exactly to Maggie's liking but ZEKE's suggestions were even worse.

"They're trying to make sure they don't kill....the ones missing." For a brief second she was GENUINELY worried there. Saying it out loud was a lot worse than thinking it. Anyway though. This wasn't the point the right now. SURVIVAL was the point. Yes. "Maybe we could-"

...........

What?

Maggie blinked. Then blushed. What? "What if you die?" Good save. Ish. Maybe. Not really. She gave him a confused look before pointing her wand at the door again. Not that she was genuinely considering his offer (it was insane) but like......the sentiment was very much appreciated.

They SHOULD take out the spiders, it was the sensible thing to do. "Distracting them is dumb, if we're distracting them they might kill us, and that won't do us any good if we die even if the others survive." Search and rescue were going to the forest, no? Well the spiders HERE weren't going to kill them THERE.

There was so much wrong with this scenario. Like the fact that it was HAPPENING to begin with. Why did people have to die so often at Hogwarts? Maybe he would have been better of at Durmstrang. Maybe.

But thinking wasn't going to save their skins this time round... action would. Zeke raised his wand and directed a bluebell flame toward the door too... anything was better than nothing he supposed. Especially when there were others out there that needed them too... kinda.

Everything was different. Not only was he facing death but Maggie was different to her usual self. She was more open, even caring. Of course this wasn't to say he thought that she wasn't, but she was always so thick-skinned and aloof, like nothing and nobody else mattered. He finished his work as she spoke again.

...

... what?

Maybe they could WHAT?

Zeke arched his eyebrows, waiting for Maggie to continue, instead what he got was a silly question. "I will, one day, but not today." He couldn't say this with any real certainty, but he wasn't about to admit defeat before the battle was fought. He might only be in his third year, but he wasn't going down to a bunch of glorified insects without a fight. "But if I did, at least you'd be off the hook for that favour you owe me." His attempt at humour wasn't his best, so he was quick to turn his attention back to the door and the bluebell flames.

He had a point. Of course he did.

UGH! Why was he right?

Maggie frowned and sent another bluebell flames charm towards the door. Just because there was nothing else for her TO do right now and not doing anything made her feel anxious. "I know." She replied quietly. More frowning was happening. Also she was back to glancing around to see if there was SOMETHING they could use to defend themselves.

Or you know, hide from the spiders at least.

Well that was a dumb answer. Forgetting all about being confused about Zeke's offer to protect her, Maggie wrinkled her nose at him. "NOW, I mean." But it was nice he was so confident about not dying today.

He was bringing that up NOW?? The favor she owed him. Seriously??? "I won't choose your life over mine." In case that's what he was going to suggest. Just saying. That wasn't happening. "What if we surrounded ourselves with fire?" That sounded like a good plan in case the spiders actually came INTO the Great Hall.