Eyes flashing over to Abby he nodded. "That is right. So keep your eye on the double doors and remain vigilant." Leo wasn't going to ask anyone of his students who didn't want to fight but that was what it would come to in the end. They couldn't let the spiders run them out of the school. They had to fight to reclaim what was theirs.



Adjusting his grip on his wand he nodded to Sophia. "Yes, I agree we need to put up that protective barrier sooner rather than later around the students." Rolling up the sleeves on his robes too Leo said confidently, standing straighter. "I'm ready to reclaim our school. We need to fight back. We can't keep giving these spiders more ground." Raising his wand over his head Leo casted "Protego Maxima!" over the heads of the nearest student's. Everyone needed to cast the spell together to make it even more potent.



In order to fight back they all needed to be brave but what Angel was suggesting was however was going to be just a small ring on the water. Looking over at the lioness Leo said with a weak smile "It's a good idea Angel and in another circumstance it would probably have worked but not against this big horde of spiders. The majority of the students and staffers in this hall need to work together as a team for us to have any chance of success at all against the spiders." Still smiling weakly Leo added. "I'm glad you are thinking about what to do though." It was way better that Angel was being practical and thinking about what to do then to give into fear.



Leo was about to speak to Tiara again when he felt someone grab onto his arm, he was about give that someone a stare when he saw who it was. Relief washing through him Leo quickly engulfed Cassie in a hug. "Thank Merlin you are all right too. I was so worried you were still stuck up on the seventh floor trapped in by spiders." Pulling back slightly his eyes grew wide in surprise at news of the headmistress being taken. "Then it's worse than I thought." Pulling a hand through his hair nervously as the news hit home Leo said. "We have to fight these spiders back Cassie and rescue the missing students and staff. I hope we can stop what the spiders are planning." Hopefully Cassie's gift would be of use. "Do you have any basilisk necklaces left?" It couldn't hurt to give some out to boast morale.



As Janelle came over Leo flashed the second year a warm smile. "I'm glad you are safe Janelle. You didn't run into any spiders on your way here?" He hoped not, but if she was injured he'd see about healing her or at least fixing something temporary until Cece joined them in the hall.



Switching his gaze to the corner where Thornton was huddled Leo said "That's good. I'd be happier if you could come out of the corner and stand with your house mates though Thornton. A corner is a good place to hide, but if the spiders breakthrough the doors I don't want to lose sight of you in the commotion. So please come out of there." Hopefully Thornton would do what Leo wanted. If not he'd drag him out of the corner if he had to.



Taking a gentle hold of Henric's arm, Leo examined it closer. As he let go he said "Your arm appears to be sprained yes. I can put it in a brace and bandage it up right now if you want? I can't take away the pain though, you'll have to go to Healer Tillstorm to get it properly healed." He was not going to dabble in healing magic. "I'm glad you haven't been spider bitten though." A small comfort, it'd be nice if they could all say that when all this eventually was over.



As Maddox voice rung through the hall very loudly from the staff dais Leo couldn't help but cover his ears in sudden pain. The man was too loud. It was good though that someone was taking action and thinking about a way to fight back now that their headmistress weren't able to and Abraham wasn't present to step in either. Hopefully Abraham hadn't been taken too?



And there was Sophie, Leo spotted her with relief at the back of the Ravenclaw group. Apparently she had been a good prefect and helped Sabel and Javy with the front line against the spiders. "I'm glad you're here and safe Sophie." Pausing to let his eyes wander he added. "We seem to still be missing some eagles like Evie, Penelope and Clara. Please help us look around the hall for them and bring them over here." The last thing he wanted was his eagles to be spread out all over the hall. It'd make keeping them safe and protected increasingly more difficult.



Not far from Sophie he spotted Benzi that was making eye contact with him over the heads of the younger students. The senior boy was eager to help out with the defence of the hall. Nodding his approval Leo said. "All right Benzi, go help Professor Dakest, just be cautious and most of all vigilant I don't want to see you hurt."

Penelope had just escaped from the acromantulas in the entrance hall not that long ago, but seeing as Yoongi had gotten Professor Dakest and the whole school seemed to be assembling in the great hall, the logical thing to do was to follow the crowds of people coming to the great hall. Hopefully they wouldn't all be eaten by acromantulas. Looking around the great hall, she spotted Mr. Kitridge and the rest of the Ravenclaws. She headed over to where her head of house was. "Mr. Kitridge! There were acromantulas in the entrance hall and they had Adi and another Hufflepufff and one was trying to get me!" The acromantulas obviously hadn't gotten her though, so she was okay. At least she wasn't injured.

She was scared of the acromantulas, but she was trying not to let it show. At another time she might have cried about being attacked by acromantulas, but not now while the whole school was in danger. What she needed to do know was think. "Incendio works really well against the acromantulas." Contacting the ministry or someone outside of Hogwarts sounded like a good idea, even though they probably wouldn't be of any immediate help. The basilisk fang necklace that Adi had been wearing hadn't deterred the acromantula who had tried to eat him, so maybe the necklaces wouldn't work.

If they didn't have to stick with their housemates the whole time they were here she wanted to find that Gryffindor boy Yoongi to make sure that he was okay. No, she would have to stay here where Mr. Kitridge could make sure she was safe. Penelope looked over to where the Gryffindors were gathered to see if she could spot Yoongi. Oh, there he was! He seemed to be near the Hufflepuffs. She would have to speak to him later. Right now she needed to stick with her housemates and head of house.

This was messed up all the way around. Acromantulas were attacking the school, snatching up students and even the headmistress. Damien felt certain that the giant arachnids must have been the things that had attacked himself and Evie and snatched away poor Cinna and Lux. It was insane, horrifying and Damien's only shred of happiness was that Rorie was still back in St. Mungos and was blissfully safe from all this.

She'd been right about this place, it was a death trap, now for himself he was terrified sure, but when it got down to it, his worry was less for himself and more for the people around him, especially the younger kids-

Fishy, had anyone seen Fishy? The sweet little Cinnamon Roll, he didn't see her here, but he hoped desperately she was being kept safe. He thought of Timmy Kyleand Thorntonand all the other younger kids and felt his panic double. He wanted to do something, help somehow but how could he when his leg was still mangled from his attack? He'd end up 'causing more harm than good.

He hobbled over to group surrounding Professors Airey and Maddox (it wasn't easy, even with his stylish walking cane). Damien didn't speak though, having no idea what to say or what to offer, but standing near the two men felt... Right? Kind of? Like he ought to be somehow part of the talks.

His mind flickered over thoughts of Nemo, Evie and Cutty, were they here? He saw Eden... Eden McGee and she was holding hands with GABE of all people.

Perhaps the world was ending and this was the beginning.

Abby nodded at what her head of house said and said "Yeah i will be extra vigilant sir as i do not want to get bitten by a spider again"

All her Ravenclaws seemed to alright if they were accounted for, but she didn't know if any had been taken. She went to move across the hall, trying her best to stay calm and in command, when she heard snarky comments from Flamsteed. Not the moment, Airey! Although, he was right. How COULD they get a basilisk? They didn't just appear out of thin air. And they couldn't let one loose in an inhabited castle anyways.

However, his next suggestion was actually practical. Her wand felt sweaty in her palm, but she knew what she had to do. Forcing herself to stop moving, she took three deep, steadying breaths and focused on the happiest memory she could summon: her wedding day. "Expecto Patronum!" her voice thundered.

Three silvery owls vanished through the stone walls of the Great Hall, all headed to Hogsmeade to catch whoever they could find.

Now for some strategy. Maddox had said they had a plan a few moments ago, but if that was true, it was news to her. In the confusion, Tiara happened to hear one of her house offering up a suggestion. "I don't think setting fires with this many people crammed in here is our best option. Let's file that under the 'last resort' category." But what would work? More manpower... power... power!

She rushed towards Maddox and yelled at him. "Combined spells, Maddox! Teams of Stunners!" That would hold them at bay, but it wouldn't drive them out like a basilisk would.

Aww! Poor Chris! Jay looked concerned and moved to look around. "It's okay! We'll protect you! Mum said we're REALLY good at defense." OH YEAH. James was going to jujitsu those spiders butts! HA! Oh, they were HUGE? Maybe not then. Yeaaaah, he was taking a seat. Jay just blinked, not understanding the gravity of the situation. He looked at Torie and then peered under the table at Toby when he heard someone mention him. Jay put his fingers to his lips to stop Torie from squealing and slipped under the table with Toby. "Hi Toby." he spoke quietly. "You okay?"

"Because." Honestly, Maggie was a cute kid of a thing, but she was kind of slow. Or she didn't really understand what was going on, which amounted to the same thing. Dot was trying to take it all in, to pay attention to the sudden and LOUD appearance of the professors, and Maggie was kinda being a distraction too.

"Two things. One, I have to live with myself if Noel Wallace dies and the world no longer has the pleasure of his face. And two, if the all the professors are out there and the spiders want to be in here... I'd rather be with them." That was just a no brainer. Go where the action was, because it was those left behind who didn't end up making it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davvy_Wavvy

Dot got a dead pan look from the professor for a few seconds. Really? She wasn't sure if the child was making jokes or not but there would be no riding on her back into the forest to help. Annie got herself captured, she ought to be able to hold on and defend herself until they could execute a proper rescue mission. "I just need you to stay here, safe and help to keep the younger students calm Miss Wojack. Don't try to help unless explicitly asked to do so. "In other words stay outta the way.
.
.
.
"We know what they're doing to them. They're eating them...or trying to at this moment!"[/B]

For example, Bellaire. Bellaire wasn't gonna die. She was gonna live and take names doing it, and Dot wanted to stick with the people who wanted to survive most ferociously. It seemed, though, that those people didn't want to stick with her. Death was basically eminent, okay?

At least Bellaire wasn't talking down to her about 'staying safe' and 'out of the way'. This was better. A task. She was KEEPING THE YOUNGER CHILDREN CALM. Like Maggie. And Hady. And Thornton, if she could find them. It was absolutely within her power to help... since she had just been explicitly asked to do so. By Bellaire. Everyone heard it.

"Yes, Professor. You can count on me."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lislchen

....speaking of, "Who's missing?" Maggie asked Dot next to her once Bellaire was back up there on the staff dais.

Ahem. Maggie was a younger student. Hello, there, Maggie child. Dot patted the younger girl on the head and nodded in all the right parts. "Noel Wallace and the Headmistress. They're probably already eaten. You heard Queen Bellaire up there... I think they're going to use first years as bait." So maybe she'd start comforting people with some OTHER younger student.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmbiguouslyMe

Trying to block out all the commotion was not working and staying huddled in the corner was just making Thornton all the more anxious. The whole being cornered aspect of it. He'd have nowhere to run if the beasts ended up in here with them.

So with wobbly knees and jelly legs, Thornton forced himself to his feet, wand still gripped tightly in his hand, and... scanned the room.

Professors. He wanted to stand near professors. That was the safest place, right? Near an adult? Chewing on his lip, he didn't really care which professors, though maybe he should, and shuffled off in the direction of the nearest ones.

Oh, there. That was someone Dot was quite keen to comfort. She crept up on Thornton and gave his arm the most gentle of taps. In this environment, it was entirely possible that she could scare him right out of his own skin if she wasn't careful, and that was the last thing Dot wanted to do. "Thornton?"

Her buddy, and he looked awfully terrified. "D'you want a hug? Or d'you want to punch something? I can find a volunteer. Or maybe you just want to stick with me and we'll take care of each other."

Now, this was organized chaos in here, wasn't it? Eden wasn't feeling very relaxed. She wasn't reassured by Dakest or Quiggles' presence, like she should have been, and seeing the face of Sophie Brown is probably what got to her the most.

She looked really upset. And Eden wanted to hug her, but she was so....freaked out. Ugh. She followed Sophie's gaze towards Zander and understood. Poor thing probably wanted to be with Zander...or Toby. Eden wished Cole was here. And she was actually glad Phe wasn't here...he was a bit spacey, and at least not here...he was safe.

Her heart was racing, beating against her chest in a weird, rapid way that she wasn't used to.

She squeezed Gabe's hand back.

Someone had shouted BASILISK at the question, and Eden had to agree...basilisks....were the one known enemy of Agromentulas...at least, she thought so. But she didn't know what to say....she was kind of hoping someone would conjure a basilisk...that would be kinda' COOL. A GIANT FREAKIN' SNAKE LIKE HOW AWESOME.,

But her normal zest was...squashed by her fear and anxiety. What was going on? Everyone was shouting and it was....distracting and she kind of wanted to curl up and cover her ears. This wasn't helping her heart rate. And as hard as Gabe was squeezing her, Eden was squeezing him right back because...ugh.

But still, she was very silent.

Zhenya listened to every word Professor Bellaire was saying. It was... well, it was a pep talk. They were building up to something. Yes, Seventh year Zhenya had learned a lot. Of course she had her exams, and this was no test, but if she hadn't been taught enough about defence, spell casting, or creatures, she wouldn't stand a chance. And she knew that the Professors of Hogwarts had prepared them enough.

Of course she was worried, but she wasn't unprepared.

And Slytherins don't die. Zhenya offered a small smile to Professor Bellaire and nodded.


There were spells being cast by the Professors, but in her flurry of processing what was going on, Zhenya couldn't remember if they were to be casting spells too. Patronuses? Well, Zhenya had learnt how to cast a Patronus, but that was at the start of the year, stress free. There was no way she would be able to cast one at this moment. Protective shields? Well, she assumed that wouldn't be an issue.

Blast it all to Voldemort, why hadn't she kept her supply of necklaces they made in the SNAC meeting with her?

Janelle appreciated her Head of House's comforting smile. It definitely made her feel better among the chaos. "No, I made it down here safely. I'm fine." Although, if Janelle had passed any spiders on her way down from the seventh floor, she would never have seen them. She was running so fast, fueled by fear and adrenaline, that all she could focus on was getting to the Great Hall. What she wanted to do now was make sure that her friends and classmates were OK.

"Mr. Kitridge? What can I do to help?" Janelle felt so useless just stannding around. Besides, standing still gave her too much time to think about the acromantulas and be afraid. Being busy took the mind off of........things.

This. Was. So. Scary.

Jenna wasn't even afraid of spiders normally, but she definitely was right now, because this was definitely not okay.

She hadn't said a word since she'd gotten here and had been making sure that she was behind and around some other people to keep herself hidden and protected. 'Cause they were good shields. She didn't even care who it was, just as long as there were people there. Her eyes were wide and alert as she watched the professors and students talk and give suggestions/orders/whatever, and her arms were wrapped around herself with her wand gripped in one hand.

She was kind of hoping she wouldn't have to use her wand though, at least not offensively - the professors getting rid of the acromantulas themselves and rescuing those people would be perfectly okay with her. She'd stay wherever was best for survival.

Given the severity of the situation, Maddox was going to pretend that these students were all being serious with their suggestions but were simply misguided in their concepts of what acromantulas were and what it took to scare them away. Luckily there were those with the bright and shining answer of 'a basilisk' because that was essentially what they would need.

And thank you Bellaire for the oh so reassuring statement about their missing ones being near spider food if nothing else. The children would love that. "No worries, this'll work. We exhaused all 'maybes' and 'what ifs' remember?" A bloody long day that had been too.

He focused his attention to those gathered in the Great Hall once more, sighing internally at the ache ringing through his own ears. "Basilisk, precisely. We are going to give those acromantulas a reason to bolt so far into the forest even they'll get lost. How are we going to do that some of you," Ravenclaws, "might ask? Simple." This was where the silencing of the walls earlier had come in. No need to have their enemy hearing the game plan. "We're going to make them believe we've really got one roaming the castle again. From what I've heard, some of you are well aware of the Daydream Charm, the one that can makes others think things are real when they aren't. It'll take proper placement and good casting but that's what we'll do. Professor Bellaire will handle the snake skin transfiguration should we need to be anymore convincing than we already are."

There was a moments pause as things began being shouted across the room, even some things at him. "Yes, brilliant idea. Stunning is an option, a very useful one and so would outright blasting these buggers if they refuse to fall back. What we ask might be a little hard for some of you but this is where we need everyone to be brave. That being said, we'd like volunteers to assist with spreading the charm as far as possible, going on the offensive with these spiders and some for a little search and rescue."

This was where people started being overly selfless and throwing themselves at the opportunity to help solve the infestation problem in the school...in case some missed the memo or wanted to die.

Quiggles was speaking again. And what he said...well. Unfortunately, no real basilisk would be present. She supposed that was all for the best since the giant snakes kind of....killed people, and they were trying not to kill people, just...drive the agromentulas back into the forest. Eden also greatly appreciated how they weren't trying to necessarily KILL the spiders.

She may have wanted them to DIE a few hours ago when they SLAUGHTERED THE MANDRAKES...but now, she was thinking more clearly.

And she nodded at Professor Quigley's words, and stepped forward.

I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE---

"I volunteer--to help the spread the charm." She said loud enough for Quiggles to hear. She also...had finally let go of Gabriel Banner's hand.

She might as well be volunteering as tribute, though. Into the SLAUGHTER? She hoped not.

Professor Quigley had Kate's full attention. How could he not? Number one, he was talking some serious business, and number two, he was the loudest person in the Great Hall. Yeah. Full attention. Plus, he was the one with the PLAN, and that's what Kate had found nobody else had--a good plan. It was a smart plan, too, and Kate thought it could work.

She didn't mind volunteering either, but she wanted to come with somebody. She didn't want to go alone, because ACROMANTULA. "I can go, too," she said. "Can I go with somebody? An older student, maybe?"

If she had to go alone, she was out. Sorry, Quigley. Not only that, but Kate didn't even know if she'd be allowed to go. She was only a second year, so she'd understand completely if they wanted somebody older. As a matter of fact, she'd probably feel really good about that decision, because she was...scared.

The thought of seeing the healer hadn't occurred to him until Kitridge mention it to him. He didn't think his arm was a big of a deal, he could handle the pain like a man. Frowning down the length of his arm, Henric nodded stiffly at Mr.Kitridge's suggestion and quietly let his arm be taken care of by the librarian. Sighing deeply, he really hoped Toby was alright like what Adi said. Then he remembered about Adi's injury, he was hurt too during the battle."Mr.Kitridge...I'll be fine...this isn't my first time I've sprained my arm,Sir...and Adi's head need to be check as well...I think the spider drop him on his head earlier,"Henric told him.

Henric heard Professor Quigley's voice boomed through the great hall, at first he looked upon with curious detachment but his ears perked up when they were offered the chance to be involved in the battle! With this, Henric would find a way to get to llia someway or another! He shot his good arm in the air."I volunteer as tribute too,"he announced. Henric was not going to sit in here and let the spiders eat his friends and their headmistress!

Wait.........what?

Maggie had stopped paying attention to what Dot was saying after she'd mentioned Noel Wallace dying. Why would he be dying? Why him in particular? Yes, he hadn't been the best at performing that unsticking spell in Charms the other day but that didn't mean he was going to DIE. He knew how to take care of himself. That was just plain rude to use him as an example.

Her attention had briefly been on the professors again. That is until....DOT had the AUDACITY to PET her HEAD?!!??!!?!?!??!!? Without thinking about it - and she did sort of have the excuse of being a little on edge, yes? - Maggie turned around and...slapped the other girl. Not before she heard the answer to her question however. It took her a moment to comprehend what Dot had said though.

There was Noel again. Along with the Headmistress. Who'd been kidnapped.

.....

"Noel is MISSING??" She repeated. Like...what?

Also sorry not sorry about that slap.



Still in shock, Maggie turned away from Dot and back to look at Professor Quigley again.

Basilisk.....

Daydream Charm........

She had to focus.

Her life was in danger here. HER life was in danger here. She could DIE.

MAGGIE, BRAIN, USE IT!!

Okay. She was...back again. They needed volunteers. There were two things to be done. One was the spell. The other was rescue the kidnapped people. Now...which sounded like it was the safest option for her? The spell people were going to be working as a group. Along with - probably - Quigley and others. But then again, they were also the ones drawing attention to themselves. So the acromantulas would be trying to....but no....they would be thinking that it was a Basilisk.

The whole plan had flaws.

"What's the search and rescue part?" Maggie eventually asked. She needed to know to know which to volunteer for.

Yoongi sat down on the edge of the table behind him as he listened to Professor Quigley. They wouldn’t mind right? There was no food on it anyways. The Daydream Charm was something that Yoongi had heard about yet he had not use it before. Didn’t the weasley shop sell those in bottles? He continued to listen , wand still twirling between his fingers. So they were going to make the spiders believe there was a basilisk in the school? The idea was ….how did he even come up with that?!

The Gryffindor looked at his classmates for a second when the Professor asked for volunteers. Then he thought. He was pretty good at charms and as an old charms student he could help. But that meant leaving Marsha when he had promised he would protect her. Yet he would also protect her in the big scale and he was sure their Head of House would take care of the little ones. He closed his eyes for a second and took in a deep calming breath. The Professor was right, they needed to be brave right now. Crying and hiding would not help. The Sorting Hat put him in Gryffindor for a reason.

He stood up from the table, raising his arm. The arm was shaking, and he was scared. But he was also determined to help. He did not know what the Search and Rescue was about but he had the eerie feeling what it was…As long as they weren’t going to use any tactical things like a bottleneck. Seriously, what Is a bloody bottleneck?! ”I volunteer for the search and rescue, Professor” Oh thank Merlin his voice had not cracked at this part.

FINALLY!

After healing Heather's (lazykitty) ribs and grabbing as many supplies as she could, Healer Murdoch made it to the Great Hall dragging Heather with her. "You need to go find your head of house or your prefects to let them know you're okay," she told the girl.

Cece then scanned the room looking for any and all Slytherin students. She first spotted her prefects (Lissy Longbottom and Deezerz) with several other Slytherin students. In just a few quick steps she made her way over to them. "Prefect Newell, Prefect Wayne, have all Slytherin students been accounted for?" She had really wanted to run down to the common room to make sure there were no stragglers there, but she hadn't been able to do that yet thanks to needing to get the Gryffindor girl to safety first. She looked around the students gathered there. "Is everyone okay? Was anyone bitten?" Bites, those were the most important things to take care of right now. She was NOT going to have any of her students dying from acromantula attacks again.

Death was NOT an option here! For anyone!

As she was looking around she spotted Professor Bellaire up at the front of the room with Professor Quigly. Maybe she had gone down to the dungeons to check for their students before coming here.

And where was the Headmistress? Off hiding in her office trying not to get her hair shoes hands dirty no doubt.

Angel thought about what the Professor said and then an idea went off in her head. "Mr Librarian Sir, I could walk into the forbidden forest, if I took an aging potion." Wasn't there some sort of protective barrier after what had happened last term. "And then when the spiders come near me I could use Fiendfyre?" Angel didn't mind sacrificing herself as long as the librarian and her sisters were safe. "What do you think sir?" Angel could try and out run the fire, though she had read up that the spell was very powerful and dangerous.

The sound of his name being spoken brought Toby's head up instantly, and had he been much taller he might have whacked it on the underside of the table. "I'm fine," came the automatic response, as Toby quickly rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve, his voice thick. "I'm... yeah."

Toby looked at the boy sitting in front of him, and he knew that he knew his name, but couldn't place it at all. They'd spoken before, were in the same house, but Toby's brain wasn't responding and it was a lot harder to place names than usual. "I'm okay, thanks, I mean. Just......" Uhhhhh....... "....... allergies." So it looked like he was upset and crying, but really he wasn't. Nope.

And then, finally, now that Toby was back on Planet Hogwarts, the voices in the Hall suddenly seemed to fill his ears. He took a moment to brace himself and took a steadying breath. "I should... go back out and..." Toby mumbled mostly to himself, and made to climb back out from under the table, gesturing with his head that the much younger Hufflepuff should come out too, if he wanted.



Once out from under the table, Toby felt much more exposed and vulnerable. His mind was still fuzzy and weird, but he wanted to check and make sure people were here, to ensure they were okay and to keep his mind focused on something. Toby had, at least, seen Soph, and when he looked around to try and spot Javy and Dakest, his eyes fell on the latter, standing at the doors with Benzi nearby. After an initial rush of relief, Toby quickly looked away again before the man could tell he'd been crying had a suspicious attack of allergies.

Barely able to see over the heads of everyone, Toby took a moment to climb up and stand on a bench to get a proper view of Quigley while the man spoke. He didn't even really think at all before speaking, as his mouth was apparently in autopilot too, but when he did speak Toby's voice was as shaky as he was.

"If... if you need people t-to stay... and, uh, def-defend..." Toby began. "I could... I could do that." He looked around at the others, trying to remember who had volunteered so far. "Unless you n-need more people out there. If y-you need more... I'll come t-too. I can help." He nodded. It was up to Quigley and Bellaire if they wanted him. "Just... just t-tell me what to do, and... I'll do it." Except kill, probably, let's face it.

Though he'd rather stay back and protect the Hall, Toby was 18, turning 19 in a few months, and there was a chance that Quigley and Bellaire would want as many older students as possible. Really, honestly, Toby just wanted to do something to help, but he was still, y'know, working through that inner conflict in a jumble of confusing and rushing thoughts that didn't make a whole lot of sense. All he knew was that the idea of scaring the spiders away sounded a lot better to him than hurting them.

Maybe... maybe he'd see what Dakest was doing, try to stay near him. Or something. Toby... didn't know. He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know why he was here. He wanted to go home. Mostly Toby could feel his emotions bubbling over again and wanted them to stop.

Oh. Sweet. Solstice.

Clutching Pebbles and Boulder tightly to his person, the Astronomy professor could feel his throat growing dry. He wasn't entirely sure if he found this situation fascinating and riveting...or trousers moistening terrifying. Both. A combination of both. Definitely.

Hearing Mr. Toby's timid words, the astronomer walked towards him and placed a confident hand on the seventh year's shoulder. Forced confidence, but it did not translate that way.

"I'll remain in the Great Hall, maintaining our defenses from within," he announced, giving the Hufflepuff's shoulder an encouraging squeeze. Along with, you know, protecting those too timid to fight or not having the magical maturity to be able to fend off the horde waiting for them on the other side of those doors.

Hops was cleaning up the shop when he heard a sound coming from outside. Making his way to the door he saw the silvery owl before he heard. Joining a few others listened to the message as his eyes grew wide.

Grabbing a few others they made their way to the front gate. He couldn't believe what he was seeing once inside the castle. This wasn't something he ever imagined would happen. Fighting a few off at the door he finally made it into the entrance and then great hall.

"We got your message and are here to help."

Hurrying as quickly as her heels would allow, Maisie had made her way with a bag of chocolate wands clutched tightly in her delicate hands. It had been quite difficult to make it through all the destruction and horrifying sights, but somehow she had made it through with almost all her manicured nails in perfect condition. Her fiery red curls were unkempt and there were smudges of dirt, among other things, upon her cheeks.

"And I brought some chocolat," she added breathlessly with a wave of the bag. Chocolate wands to be precise. She had been adding them to the display in the front window of her shop with the patronus had arrived. "Please, 'elp yourselves."

Okay, so a sprained arm for Henric. It could have been worse... like it being broken and a spider bite. His attention shifted to Toby again. Oh! Jay was with him. That was good. Hopefully, Toby could pull himself together. He didn't want anything else to go wrong with his Hufflepuffs. Back to Henric and the Librarian. "You're stubborn,'' he told told his friend. "I got a cut, Mr K., when some pieces of the wall from the Entrance Hall fell on me.'' Adi pointed to his right temple. "I think the bleeding's stopped.'' The only reason he was even giving any attention to this was for Henric's benefit. There was nothing wrong with getting the injuries checked.

Adi barely registered the fact that someone had walked past him, lightly bumping into him. He was more focused on thinking of Lux and Ilia. It was only when the voice asked about Noel only did he look around to see a Ravenclaw (Benzi). "Yes, they did. But don't worry, we'll get him back.'' Adi gave the boy a small smile before going back to resting his cheek against Marsha.

Looky! There was his other hapy Professor! And... Mr K was hugging her... Something suddenly clicked. He remembered the man leaving her a rose once at the Feast but he hadn't thought much of it until now... Were Mr K and Cassie DATING?

The Hufflepuff tilted his head now at Bellaire. Honestly, he loved the woman, but THAT was very uncalled for. Didn't she realised persons were panicked enough already and that some of the younger ones were scared. "She doesn't mean that, Marsha.'' Nope, not going to let the Gryffindor get scared again when she was clearly relaxing now. But he knew that Bellaire could be right.

Looking at Yoongi's shocked expression, he could tell that the other guy had been unaware of the other missing students. "It's scary how those spiders could get to us, isn't it?'' Ugh! What had set them off? Something HAD to have happened unless they had all suddenly gone crazy and decided to attack for no reason.

Oh? Get the spiders lost? Adi WANTED that to happen. It would be payback for taking those persons and giving the rest of them a scare. He shifted his weight again to adjust himself more comfortably. No, he wasn't tired of holding Marsha. Aha! The Daydream Charm? Yeaaah, Adi had heard of that. And they needed volunteers! "I VOLUNTEER FOR THE SEARCH AND RESCUE!'' ]He refused to go spreading the Charm when he had just battled all those spiders and was feeling like a waste he hadn't done better to save Ilia. He hadn't been around wen Lux had been taken but Ilia... some friend he was. The sixth year looked at AJ. He wasn't going to ask what she was going to do but he did have to tell her what he thought. "I know it's up to you but I'd prefer it if you help with the Charms and stay with Marsha.'' He knew she had a thing for spiders but these were giant, evil ones and he didn't want her getting hurt even though there was also a chance that the charms group could be attacked... but not as much as the search and rescue group.

Adi craned his neck to look around at the new voice. Wasn't that one of the shopkeepers from Hogsmeade? And that was Maisie from Honeydukes. He smiled a bit in her direction. The last time they met, she had nearly chased him out of the shop because he had cracked a joke. But hey! That would explain Tanner's patronus! She had summoned help! Good! They could use all that they could get.

She didn't care who saw them hugging. She hugged him back happy to see that he was safe. Her attention quickly turned to the children. "I didn't come across any until the third floor. These silly cats got spooked and ran away from me. I am so glad they didn't harm them." She would have been so upset if something happened to them. "Where is Madonna?" She worried about his Kneazle as well. Though she had become pretty in tune with the creature and sensed she was fine. "Oh I do!!" She opened the front of her purse and pulled them out. "My SNACinators might have some as well." She looked around for some of them.

"Yes we need to do whatever it takes." Her eyes scanned the area and she moved away from Leo towards the Hufflepuffs, "Toby are you alright?" She always tried to keep a eye on him.

Hearing Maddox start a meeting she stood and listened shaking her head in agreement with all he was saying. "These creatures are very intelligent, but they are still creatures so they would be aware with many of their senses. My SNAC club made some necklaces to try to help ward off, but it seems the scent on just the small fang replica isn't strong enough, but with the combination of the sight of a basilisk and the smell of one. I have extra vials of the scent in my purse that we could use." She started digging them out eager to help.


Hearing about the different groups she thought a moment. Her students were out there and so was the headmistress. She knew ever job was important, "I'll join the search and rescue team."