Noelle was perched on the second floor corridor. It was in the middle of the day, and she had a free period. One that she was spending looking for a few books that she had gotten from the library and also....
waiting for the Headmistress.

She was trying to be inconspicuous about perching herself at this corridor. She wasnt too far from the headmistress' entranceway. She really just wanted to over hear something... anything that could help them figure out this portal issue. She liked the ministry, she did.... but her faith in them only went so high.

Was he okay? Uuuuuuuuuuugh.

Rooney Bronwyn closed his eyes and continued to pinch his nose and await the nose tide stopping. Hopefully soon. He would give anything for it to be soon. He offered a little nod of his head and shuffled to lean against the wall for the remainder of his wait. Because he definitely had no plans to stay around this kid for longer than he needed to. Who taught them Hufflepuffs that it was cool to stick your legs out in the hallway and send Prefects cascading towards the floor with their FACE?!

A few more minutes passed and Rooney was sure that the flow in his nose had come to a stop and clotted up or whatever it did -- he was not a medical expert and could only assume. Especially with a foggy head from all of this. Thinking was not something he could execute properly. So he took his hand and the pinch away, and luckily there was no spurt out of his nostrils.

"Don't stick your legs out in a corridor!"

She was totally heading to class. Yep. Somewhere in the castle. Sometime. Not at the PRECISE moment, but whatever. She totally had a reason to be in the corridor when she heard shouting... and saw blood. How interesting. Pausing to take in the whole scene she... wondered if she should help. I mean there was clearly a Prefect nearby and they seemed to be able to do EVERYTHING. Hmph. So for now she just looked from Noelle to Rooney and stood there. Rooted to the spot.

She was not going to involve herself if NOELLE THE PREFECT was going to act.

Just call her Queen Saltine.

Oh. Declan had a temporary lack of tact. Well, he didn't have a lot of it but he completely lost it just a moment ago. He cleared his throat and bowed his head slightly as an apology. "I don't know enough to tell you," he told her and just shrugged. He raised his arms in mock defeat. "Like I said, try your luck at the library!"

He was down the steps in a jiffy and into the corridor. "Uh, well, yeah sort of," Declan said with a tilt of his head. "Taekwondo is more about the kicking." As if to demonstrate, Declan took a few steps forward to leave distance between himself and Etta before he kicked high in the air before bringing his leg down. "My mother," Declan added with a small laugh. "I have no interest in Quidditch so she had me try all sorts of things instead. Taekwondo was just one of them."

Didn't know ENOUGH? What, even? Etta stared at him incredulously.. and then frowned. "You're a sixth year, right? You must be sixteen.. seventeen? How do you NOT know enough about.. about.. girl stuff?" She suddenly realised that maybe, just MAYBE, she was venturing into a super-personal space and he might not appreciate it. She didn't want him to hate her, after all. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Sorry."

"Wow. That's pretty.. great." Etta said, looking quite impressed. Maybe she could learn Taekwondo one day. Hmm. "Can you tell me more? It seems a bit interesting." ... No interest in Quidditch. She didn't know how to take that.. or to react, even. So she just casually changed the subject, heading towards the staircase.

"What other things did you try?"

"I feel like we're having two seperate conversations," Declan interrupted quickly. He looked down at Etta with a perplexed expression. What girl stuff was she even talking about? If it was on the subjects of girls she really had him beat. Declan didn't specialize in that area. "And I'm eighteen. My birthday is in September." It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it, although that was partially it, but also he didn't have much to say period.

"I...guess?" Declan said unsure. There wasn't more he could tell her about taekwando. It was better to show, really. "I tried archery, and horseback riding." Something about getting a horse to jump over a fence was meant to be exciting but not for him. "Fencing, yoga, swimming." Then there were arts involved. His mother really did try to figure out what they could excel at before giving up and realizing they just had no particular interest in anything that wasn't academics.

Gaston dashed along the corridor, periodically looking up for signs of the beast form the portal creeping along the ceiling, but the monster was nowhere to be found. He hadn't seen any trace of it on the upper floors either, so it had to be around somewhere!

He stopped for a brief moment to catch his breath. His heart was hammering against his chest, and his hand trembled uncontrollably as panic set in... not for himself - he wasn't particularly concerned with what might happen to him - but for his students and for his Rose. What if she found the creature before he did? Or it found her? What if it...? He leaned against the wall, his eyes tightly closed against the tears that threatened as bad memories replayed in the back of his mind... a dragon's roar, shattering glass, a wall of fire, blank green eyes staring back at him...

Get a hold of yourself, Gaston! he told himself sternly, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He'd never find the monster if he let himself fall apart! He sighed, gripping his wand a little tighter as he continued down the hall, his eyes darting back and forth for any sign of the creature. He wasn't going to let history repeat itself! he couldn't bear to lose anybody else...

The monster had made its way down to the lower levels of the castle, being led this way and that by the scent of prey. It was actually quite overwhelmed, unsure of where to go and whom to dig its teeth into. So, for now, it was just silently previewing the buffet of humans this place was offering.

Still creeping throughout the castle via ceiling, the creature silently made its way into the second floor corridor. A man soon caught its attention. For a moment the thing considered taking advantage of the situation and the unsuspecting man, but it decided against it. The human was too old -- it remembered eating the man with the cleaning surprise and how tough the meat on his bones were. Plus this one looked like he was going to cry. Weakness. The creature wanted something that would but up a little fight, get that blood flowing so the muscles would be juicier.

It continued on its way, undetected, to a different part of the castle...

Adrenaline pumping, Regina was quite literally running from the gargoyle with purpose. She needed to get to the sixth floor immediately. If the monster was out, then it was only a matter of time before it wanted to go back to its home ... and the beast, whatever it looked like, probably was going to try to drag someone back with it. The woman didn't need to add on to that list of reasons why the Board could fire her, even though most were appreciative of her efforts to keep everyone safe.

She sharply turned the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. (Not because of the monster; that had already snuck away.) Gaston was leaning against the way and he looked like he was ... crying, or about to cry. A million thoughts ran through her head. What was he doing just leaning there? Why was he acting like this? Had something happened? Did someone die?

Just so he knew that she was there, the woman collectedly stated, "Gaston." When his eyes started darting left and right, she steadily approached him. She wasn't going to mention that she had been there long enough to see him in a state of panic. "Any sight of the monster yet?"

Deciding that since the Headmistress had made that announcement, she was most likely still there, and if she could at lease get into her office she would be safer right? It was closer than going all the the down past the kitchens to her common room.

Yep she as going for it. Ready or not Headmistress Hawthorne Katerina was coming. Save her. Thought Kat was confident in herself when it came to this she was sticking by an adult.

Keeping her wand held out, and her eyes darting around as she walked up to the next floor. Please let the Headmistress being there. The fourth year was about to turn the corner of the corridor down toward her office when. People! Adult people, she couldn't quite tell which adults it was. But it clearly was not the monster.

As she approached she found the headmistress and Professor Marchand both there. "Headmistress and Professor Marchand." Now she was safe with other people. She didn't like the thoughts of being alone in the corridor right now. But wait Professor Marchand was crying? DID SOMETHING HAPPEN? Her relieved smile faded. She held on tighter than before to her wand.

Gaston continued down the hall, wand drawn. As sad and frightened as he was, he was that much more determined to find the monster before it found anyone else. He thought he saw something creeping along out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked up there was nothing there. Was that the monster? He hoped it was. At least that would mean the creature wasn't making a meal out of someone elsewhere...

An unexpected voice caused him to wheel around, and he saw the headmistress approaching. "Headmistress Hawthorne." He kept his voice even as he greeted her, nodding politely. He wondered how long she'd been standing there. She hadn't seen his moment of weakness, had she? She probably thought he was a a huge coward if she had! It wasn't that he was afraid of the beast itself; he was afraid of what it might do to those he cared about... but he wasn't going to bring it up unless she did.

"I thought I saw it just now," he replied to the headmistress's question about the monster, jerking his head in the direction he thought he saw the creature. His eyes were sad but held a determined look as he gripped his wand tighter. "I won't let it get far!" He once lost someone he loved to a monster, but it was not happening again!

Gaston started to turn away when another voice stopped him. He couldn't help but notice Miss Delgado's smile fading at the sight of him. Nice job, Gaston! he silently berated himself. Falling apart in front of a student... some professor you are! An eyebrow raised at the girl. "I hope you're on the way to your common room, Miss Delgado," he said, his tone gentle yet firm. For now he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt; after all she could've come from one of the upper floors. His eyes shifted from the student to the place he thought he last saw the monster, unsure what to do. Go after the monster or stay with Miss Delgado? It didn't take long to make up his mind. "Here, I can escort you back," he offered, giving the girl a small smile.

Regina gave Gaston a curt nod of her head. There really wasn't much time for formalities. They had a school to keep under control and make sure no one got eaten like their former caretaker. Her eyes did widen a bit when he mentioned that he thought he just saw the beast. He THOUGHT he just saw it? Then why on earth was he --

The headmistress was about to open her mouth to tell him to run after it while she ran up to the sixth floor for she knew that the beast would, eventually, be returning to where it had come from if no one caught it beforehand. However, a voice made her stop from saying something. It was a voice that made her head turn.

"What are you doing wandering about the corridors, Miss Delgado?" she asked, her tone a bit firmer than her colleagues. Did the girl not hear her announcement from before? This was not the Hufflepuff common room.

But before she could say any more, the Charms professor offered to escort the girl to her common room where it wouldn't be easy for the monster to get into. Like that thing would be able to figure out the barrel pattern or, for the other houses, utter the correct password. The common rooms were honestly one of the safest places for them to be right now. "Thank you, Gaston. Please make sure you escort any other students you see along the way. I'll go looking for the monster."

Without another word, the woman hurriedly ran off in the direction the man had jerked his head toward just moments ago.

Relived more than anything right now, she still knew to keep a look out for the monster and it could possibly come back. She was safer with the two adults, right? Or maybe at this point it didn't matter. She looked at both of them, biting her lip.

"I was on the first floor I thought your office would be closer than my common room." It was the honest truth. It was her thinking anyway. The closer to a safe place the better,

Kat didn't really think anything of the crying professor, she had done her fair share of crying lately herself. So who was she to judge. She nodded. "Sure yeah, that would be great." She was worried about her friends. She should go to her common room and check up on her housemates. Make sure they were all okay. She gave Professor Marchand a small smile.

Within seconds the headmisstress was gone. The fourth year just looked at the spot where she was standing.

"I guess we should head to my common room. I'll help you keep an eye out for the monster and other students." Grasping her wand tighter.

Gaston listened to Miss Delgado's explanation. That actually made sense, but still the Hufflepuff common room would be a safer place for her than the headmistress's office, especially considering that Headmistress Hawthorne was no longer in her office. Speaking of whom... the headmistress was now thanking him for escorting the girl back to her common room and asking him to do the same for any other students he found. He nodded at her instructions, his bright blue eyes lingering on her for a second as she rushed after the monster. As much as she intimidated him, he still cared about her and didn't want that thing to hurt her! Be safe, Regina, he thought.

Once the headmistress was gone, he quickly turned his attention back to Miss Delgado, returning her smile with a small sad one of his own. A plan was forming in the back of his mind as he led the girl down the hall in the opposite direction that Headmistress Hawthorne had gone. If they encountered the monster - which was unlikely since it had gone the other way - he was going to order the girl to run while he held it off. One thing he didn't understand, though... if that was the monster he just saw, why didn't it try to attack him?

But there wasn't time to think about it now. Miss Delgado's voice jerked him out of his thoughts, and he nodded at what she said, his smile widening slightly. "Good thinking, Miss Delgado," he said. "Thank you for helping." And he continued down the corridor, knowing the girl would follow. He was still frightened for the others, but at least now he knew one person who wouldn't fall prey to the monster. The only way it was getting its claws on Miss Delgado was if he died fighting it off!