The start of the term was not going as Noelle planned. As .... strong as she wanted everyone to believe she was... she wasnt. Her big sister.. one of her best friends... and her boyfriend were not here. Noah would be here.... hopefully... but they were her rocks. They kept her grounded and strong.

But with her starting as a prefect... and not having people she was used to... Noelle felt a sense of lost she couldnt shake. She was going her rounds when her thoughts began to overcloud everything.

Noelle went into the nearest door to clear her thoughts so she could continue her patrols when she realized this was the forgotten bathroom. Well... that was the nickname for it.
She brushed off the dust on one of the boxes. WWW. She remembered a brief encounter she had with one of these boxes and stink bombs. ....
hmm... She bet that would stop the snoggers who seemed to want to snog in the weirdest places.


Hmm... maybe there were some extendable ears in here too....
Noelle's thoughts were finally distinguished as she started to search through one of the dust covered boxes.

This was never an area Pips really liked to clean, but it was his turn. So popping into the bathroom he landing in a box. "Pips wasn't suppose to do that."[/b] He looked around hoping no one saw the miss he had just did, but there was a student there. "What is misses doing in here? Pips was going to clean, but he can come back later." Being a bathroom Pips didn't want to disturb misses from doing her daily business.

It had been many years since Professor Stewart had been in Hogwarts. Which could only mean that she was going to explore a little bit here and there to get herself used to all the different and corridors, check what had changed over the years. So today's little bit of free time was spent walking along the corridors of the sixth floor. All the exploring had her feeling like a student once again and the memories of days spent wandering around this place came rushing back to her.

A slight smile was on the women's face as she stopped at a door she vaguely remembered from her days here. At the time the door had never opened and she wasn't sure what was inside. For old times sake she reached out a hand and touched the old door in an attempt to open it. She had been expecting it to remain stuck tight but much to her surprise the door gave way and swung open admitting her entrance.

Stepping inside the bathroom Cami instantly wrinkled her nose trying not to sneeze at all the dust. When was the la- All thoughts faded as her hazel eyes fell upon a student and House Elf. "Oh, hello there. Is everything alright in here?" she asked curiously her focus more on the girl the Pips seeing as how House Elves popped up all over to do cleaning.

Noelle's hand was deep in one of the boxes. Her fingers searching for that familiar feel of the extendable ear. She was sure she'd be able to find one. She had to be careful though. This was a box full of dung bombs. Nasty smelling. She did not want to be stuck in here when one went off. Her brother had accidentally sent one off before and it stunk the whole house up for days. From the looks of this box, these had been sitting here a while, and if it was anything like cheese, they just got stinker with time.

Just as Noelle felt that familiar flesh like extendable ear, a pop was heard and an elf was there. She yelped and pulled her hand from the box quickly, feeling like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Oh... um... you're cleaning?? ..... I was just... well...." Did house elves care what they were doing??

And if it wasn't bad enough... the new Transfiguration professor walks in next. Just Noelle's luck....
Her cheeks became flushed and she looked at the house elf and then the professor. She hadn't even gotten the chance to meet the professor one on one in hopes of being able to continue the animagus training, and if she even did that. "Everything's fine. Just doing patrols when I saw this room. Quite dusty. I think its been closed for a while probably.. maybe. " Not the House Elves problem. Hopefully. "Um... whats your name?" She asked the elf.

The girl had her hands in a box and this made Pips curious. "Pips could help misses find something. What are you trying to find?" He wanted to help and be a good elf. Looking up he saw the professor misses walk in. "I'm Pips and I'm here to help the misses."

What was she looking for again? He looked into the box and reached his hand down in.


POOOF


"Pips didn't mean to leave a smelly bomb." He looked at the misses with his ears down. He didn't mean to set off the dung bomb, but the room was filling up with the smell.

Her timing must have startled the girl. Noelle Summers if her memory was correct. She smiled softly nodding her head once. "Ah, yes that's right. You're the Gryffindor Prefect, yes?" Forgive her if she was wrong it was still very early in the term and she had lots of names and faces to remember! Cami was trying her best to do this as quickly as possible but it wasn't the easiest of tasks.

Closed for awhile was one way of pointing it. "This room looks like it must have been closed for a very long time. I don't recall it ever being open even when I attended here." Just one quick look around told anyone that was the case. Hearing the house elf state his name and offer to help the girl Professor Stewart smiled. "Do be careful in here, who knows what's in those boxes," she told them her nose wrinkling in displeasure as a horrid smell began to fill the room.

Oh Dear Merlin!

"It's alright..." COUGH. "....It's alright, i-" Eeewww! "it was an accident." Not to worry Pips accidents happened even terrible smelling ones such as this. Pulling her wand from her robes Cami gave it a near silent wave while holding her breath to rid the room of the smell or at the very least lessen it.

Pip.
What a cute name.

Noelle blushed at the house elf as it started to help her. It was one thing when they made the gourmet meals and she didn't actually see them and they were there to pick up their rooms and keep everything tidy. Noelle REALLY appreciated it. She wasn't used to it while at home because she was to do all the chores with her brother. But, it was different actually having a house elf in front of her trying to help. "No.. im f---"

The smell hit.

Noelle removed her hand from the box and stood up, disregarding her dusty robes for now to wave a hand in front of her and holding her nose with the other. "Oh Pip, its fine." She said a little nasally. The smell brought back flashbacks. She started giggling. "It smells worse than rotten eggs" It was funny though. Poor Pip.

She was glad when the professor knew what to do. "Okay. I may need you to teach me that spell." She said with a small giggle and looked at Pip. 'See? The smell isn't as bad now. No harm done." Noelle said before turning back to the professor. In all of the bustle, she forgot to answer the Professor. Wow, you have a good memory. But yes, Gryffindor Prefect. I have a feeling they didn't pick the right person though."

"Pips was bad, Pips was very bad." The house elf started hiccuping and hiccuping as he got more and more upset. Pulling and tugging at his ears and crinkled his nose at the smell.

Smelling like stink bombs was not on this Professor's list of things to do this afternoon. At least the charm she had just cast helped clear the smell enough that she no longer felt as if she would gag anymore. "My, oh my, I haven't been a target of one of those in many many years," Camilla told them laughing softly to herself. If her memory served her right the last time had been when she was about thirteen or so and some a group of boys were teasing all the girls. It had been horrible.

Poor Pips. The little elf was going to make himself sick if he kept getting anymore upset. "Pips calm down please. It's alright, no one is angry at you. This was only an accident, it's alright." Now calm down. Cami never had a house elf of her own but she recalled how very sensitive they were. Such sweet help they were.

"I sure can teach you. Stop by my office sometime or even the practice room and I'll show you." The charm really wasn't all that difficult to learn. Her memory wasn't always this good but lots of times names and faces stood out to her. "Not always but I do try to remember my students," she smiled warmly nodding her head. "Well I know a lot of thought goes into whom is made Prefects. If you were made one then your Professors and Headmistress believe you to be the best choice. However, I must ask, why do you feel this wasn't the best idea?" Call her curious or whatever you like. If she could help a student in someway she would.

Oh no. Pips!!

Noelle was caught off guard when the house elf started talking down to himself and pulling on his own ears. She blinked a few times, her eyebrows raised while the professor tried to calm down the house elf. Noelle calmly went over to the elf and touched his shoulder. "Hey. hey. Its okay. Everyone makes mistakes. Wanna know what I did one time? It was a huge mistake. I went to Knockturn Alley trying to find someone. Big mistake. My mom always told me to stay away from that place. But I had some friends with me. I figured that I could handle myself down there. I couldnt." She said looking at the house elf. "But you know what? I learned from that mistake. Im a way different person now because of it. You just made a tiny itty bitty mistake. One you didnt plan. The consequence was the smell. But thats over now." Okay, so Noelle had just zoned into her big sister part of her to help the house elf out... opps.

Now she was a little embarrassed for rambling but she stood up straight and looked at the professor. "Yes! I actually need to visit your office too. I'd like to talk to you about animagus training. I had started last term with the old professor."

Noelle looked back at Pip to make sure he was okay. But now she was answering the professors other question. "Im not really a leader. I tend to just go with my studies and hang out with my friends. Im not like some of the other Gryffindors. Like Olivia and Char. They are born leaders. " Olivia was a year younger so maybe thats why she didnt get it.

Camilla watched Noelle's interaction with Pips. The way the girl spoke in a soft manner and tried to make the small house elf see that accidents were alright was sweet. She had even went so far as to tell him about something that had happened to herself in order to help him. This was a true quality of a leader to her. "You may not think so but what you've just done here tells me that you are. A leader is there when someone needs them and they make sure things get done. Just because someone else might seem better for the task doesn't mean that you're not doing you're very best and are perfect too." Everyone was different and what they all brought into it was what made the team a success or failure.

Ah, another student wanting to become an animagus. At least this one was now a fifth year. "Well then come by when you have some free time and we can speak about that." Her office would be a much better place to talk then this old dirty, smelly bathroom.

HICCUP

hiccup

HICCUP


HICCUP


"Pips would have *HICCUP* cleaned it misses. Pips was the bad elf that made the mistake. *HICCUP*"

Pips looked at both of them as they continued to talk. He backed up a bit, "Pips go back to the kitchen where Pips is a better elf."

With a popping noise Pips left the room.

Pips.... don't cry!
Noelle frowned, she was practically on her knees beside the elf. She wanted to make the little bugger feel better but she didn't see that happening. She looked at the Professor as the elf gave a pop and was gone.

Standing back up, she sighed. "Yeah but he didn't feel better and he left upset. I didnt do anything." Noelle said. She dusted off her clothes as she stood a little away from the professor. "It's just hard sometimes. I don't have my.... backbone here anymore. My big sister rooted me on and gave me the encouragement I needed but she graduated last term. And my best friend had to go to another school this term." Noelle blurted out to the professor. She didn't know why she had said that or why she was telling a professor that but she did.

"Id love to come by your office sometime though. Give you a talk about the animagi program."

Oh, dear. Neither of their words had helped Pips settle and the poor elf had disappeared. Such sensitive souls those elves were.

"That might very well be true but you tried your best and that certainly counts for something," Camilla assured her. Trying was everything. It never hurt to try something, you never knew how something would work out until you gave it a try. Much like the subject she taught. "Ah, I see. Well everyone grows up Miss Summers and sometimes our friends have to leave us but that doesn't mean we should give up. It only means we try harder to make them proud." If some encouragement was what Noelle needed, what any of her students needed then they would always get it from her.

"Wonderful. Stop by whenever you get the chance to."

Well everyone grows up Miss Summers and sometimes our friends have to leave us but that doesn't mean we should give up. It only means we try harder to make them proud.

Noelle looked thoughtfully at the professor as she said these things. She bit her lip thinking about it, knowing that the professor was right. And she did want to make Azura and Hady proud. The thing was, she didnt have that support system that she had had with them. She'd do it though. She'd try harder. For them. For her. Encouragement was definitely what she needed.

"Thanks professor." Noelle said and gave her a thankful smile. "Ill stop by sometime this week." That way she knew.

Camilla knew it was hard when a friends left. It happened all the time. People had to leave or as they grew older friends grew apart, moved away, started their own families. It was never easy to go through but as a young teen it was tough, you wanted your friends there beside you as you found your way in life.

"You're welcome Ms. Summers." She was always around should Noelle need to drop by her office and talk. "That's just fine. I'll be looking forward to it." Cami smiled warmly glancing once more around the old dusty bathroom. With that said and done she turned to leave the room heading back into the corridor.

Okay.
So Noelle usually didn't sneak around.... And even though it was in the broad daylight, she was still sneaking around.

She was dressed in her school robes, but had left off her tie and had pulled her hair back into a ponytail. It was during class time, and missing class was not a thing that Noelle usually did but....

Desperate times called for desperate measures....

It was portal slaying time.

Noelle snuck into the forgotten bathroom she had stumbled upon earlier this year. Before all the weird things had happened. She paced the dusty floor as she waited for her person, Olly.

Did Olly particularly care about missing class? No, not really. When Noelle had proposed their little expedition, Olly had jumped immediately at the chance. It sounded way more fun than going to class or doing homework. He knew that if he was being properly responsible he would insist on investigating after class. But responsible would not be at the top of the list of words used to describe Olly. And he would do pretty much Noelle asked him to do. If she, the responsible prefect, thought missing class was necessary then who was he to argue? The situation must be quite dire.

Olly showed up at their designated meeting spot just a few minutes after they'd agreed to meet. He'd been walking to class with Remy and told him he needed to go to the bathroom. It wasn't a lie because he technically was in a bathroom. He didn't want to tell anyone else what they were doing, not even his boyfriend. This investigation was between him and Noelle.

"Good afternoon fellow investigator. What's the game plan?"

Noelle heard footsteps outside the bathroom and paused. She stayed still for a moment until she saw Olly's head peek in. Phew. She didn't need anyone else coming into the bathroom at this time.

"Olly! Thank Merlin its you!" her wand was out and she was ready. "So the plan. I figure we can check out the portal... and then go to the different places Ive heard students have been pulled from." There was a few. "We can see if there are any residues or.. fragments left over by the portal." Basically... she wanted to figure out if there was a pattern. If everything was connected.

"I really want to go into the portal... but I need to be smarter than that." because lets be honest. It was reckless to go running into the portal without seeing how to handle or beat it first.

Olly nodded slowly as he listened to Noelle's plan. She was obviously the one in charge here because she was the smarter one who could come up with good plans. Olly hadn't thought of the possibility that the portal could have left behind some sort of residue, but now that she mentioned it he thought that was a great idea. If something was snatching up students it would make sense that it would leave behind some sort of clue. Right? Hopefully.

"Do you have a list of the places they were taken from?" If not they should make one. A checklist of sorts. Olly did have his bag with him, which contained his sketchbook full of paper, snacks of course, and a camera in case they needed to document anything. He hoped he was prepared enough, but he hadn't known exactly what would be necessary for such an investigation.

"What if we sent something else in? Like a camera? If it was attached to a string then we could pull it back and see if it could tell us anything? Or just a rope could help rescue the students?"

This is why they made a good team. Olly seemed to calm Noelle's nerves, and he always had logic.

"I only know of a few places that people were taken. I was thinking that we could check out the portraits and see if they heard anything. Or we could just go to the places I know of." She stated, making sure her ponytail was pulled tight. She noted that he had parchment. "Can you write these down for me? Greenhouse, Pathways, Great Hall by the Hufflepuff table." She knew there were more but she wasn't sure. Also, that Henry had been taken and ... her friend. Plus Carlton, that precious optimistic pea!! Rooney had also been taken, a fellow prefect. She'd heard others had been taken but the whispers weren't loud enough to know who.

Noelle liked the idea of the camera. Noah had a camera... but it wasn't a videotape camera. Maybe the muggle studies classroom had one? "Noah had a wizards camera... but we need like.. a muggle videotape. Think we could find one in the muggle studies classroom?" Throwing ideas out there.

Olly wasn't observant enough to really know everyone who has gone missing. He did know Henry was missing because he was Remy's best friend. He also knew Rooney was missing but didn't think that was a big loss to be honest. Noelle definitely knew more about the situation than he did. Olly was just here to help. When Noelle started listing places he sat himself down on the ground with some paper and wrote down the various locations.

"None of these locations were really in front of portraits, he noted. "So it's unlikely they'd be of much help. Unless people were taken from other places we don't know about it is possible asking the portraits could help. It might help if we could talk to people who might have witnessed the snatching." Obviously people who had not been taken themselves and would therefore be available for them to speak to.

"Yeah I don't have one of those either" Meaning a camera that could videotape. "There might be one in the muggle room, yeah. We'd have to get it out of there though." Meaning they'd have to get permission, probably by lying about their purpose, or just steal it, both of which would pose their own problems and moral dilemmas.

Noelle paced the floor as Olly sat on it. She couldn't stay still at a time like this. He had to because he was writing. Obviously.

"I think we should go to the places we know of first. Then we can work out if there were any other places. Maybe we could find out patterns. " Like how they were taken, any residue, anything else relevant.

She nodded when Olly said their might be a video tape in the muggle room. Noelle bit her lip, knowing that if they told a professor what they were doing, then they wouldn't be allowed to do it. "You up for borrowing something that doesn't belong to us?" Or... even better.. "Hows your cloning charm?" Something they'd learned before. Maybe they could clone the video tape and then keep one there. That technically wouldn't be stealing.... right?

Overwhelmed a bit... Noelle knelt down quickly beside Olly. "We need to find them. Help them.... " She said in an almost whisper.

Olly just nodded as he listened to Noelle's plan. He thought that would be a pretty good idea. He had the list of places written down and ripped that page out of his sketchbook and stowed the book itself back in his bag. He stood, ready to head out whenever she was. "Where do you think we should start?"

Right, first they should solve the video camera problem. He didn't really want to steal something from a professor, mostly just because he wasn't sure if they would get away with it and didn't necessarily want detention. But if that was their only option then he would do it. Noelle's idea sounded better though. "You're right. If we're just taking the duplicate it wouldn't technically be stealing. It's for a good cause."

Noelle was scaring him a bit. Of course he was worried about missing people and the possibility that others might go missing. It occurred to him that Noelle might be especially wary of the reaction because of her own experience being taken. They didn't know exactly what would happen to the missing students on the other side of the portal. Olly wrapped his person in a hug.

"It's okay. We'll find them." Maybe not them since they were just two fifth years. But the professors were certainly worried about them too. Somebody would have to save them eventually, right?