Bloody children and their bloody mess! What were these kids’ parents doing back home? Surely, Hogwarts isn’t a place to dump their lovely issues to make a mess, rather than at home? Do they all come from princely families that these parents can afford to pay Hogwarts to look and clean up after them? Flynn fumed as he angrily mopped the floor and dusted the portraits, kicking notebooks and loose parchments that were scattered on the floor.

And how do these awful children manage to get the windows so dirty? Flynn furiously traded his mop for his spray bottle and irritably sprayed on the said window and crossly rubbed the glass to make it sparkle.

The caretaker then moved to the next window mumbling angrily under his breath, leaving his mop and bucket of water behind.

All the mess, the ruckus and chaos around Hogwarts has shaken up another world
Before your eyes, a parallel universe has unfurled.

Poor Flynn, blinded by his anger and hate
Unwittingly stepped into this world of chaotic state.

Quick and in haste this portal appeared,
And with an unsuspecting mortal within, it has now disappeared.

Hallucination or reality, one cannot say
Should you tell a mentor, believe you, will they?

Tenacius zoomed around on his cruiser, testing how well his tweaks would take to tight corners. For Magical Science ok? Or whatever thats called....

... So he rounded the corner and promptly slammed into the bucket and mop, making an awful sound and an awful mess. Whoops.

Hastily he grabbed the bucket and mop and replaced it back to where he thought it was left behind. Buckets and mops.... oh man it means Flynn was around here right? And if he gets caught with his cruiser again....

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

Wait... where is Flynn? He'd usually be yelled at by now.

The Curly Top gingerly peeked around corners and empty doorways-- eh the Caretaker was nowhere to be seen. "Must be my lucky day..." he chuckled under his breath.

Well this day was crap!


Natalia not only was on a losing streak lately with the WADA audition owl, the Australian MLE OWL, her break up with Cal, her confusion with Roman, and she wasn't able to do a Patronous yet. What more could happen to her list of craptastic things. Her mind was not on what was going on around her as she walked towards the stairs. She was done with the day and was planning on making her way to the prefect bathroom. She hoped no one would be there, because she truly needed alone time.

Rounding the corner in the corridor she stopped. What the hell? Her eyes widened seeing the Gryffindor Prefect with a mop and bucket. "Did you get detention or something Ace?" She did have a smirk on her face though, a prefect with detention was an interesting thought. "Or did you steal it to have some fun?"

And just when he thought he was alone....

Tenacius wasnt really shocked. Ok maybe he was a little shocked but he didnt leap into the air. Ok maybe just a bit "Hey Nat.... Errr detention?" Alright now she made him nervous because he thought Flynn might be hiding somewhere down the ways where she just came from. When he realized she was smirking he grinned "Well sure I've been trying some spells to make the mop and bucket dance down the stairs...."ok maybe not really but hey Disney visuals make a mark on a young mind ok? Ok.

"But yeah seriously, I just saw the bucket and mop and thought aint these Flynn's but I dont see him anywhere." Pause "You think he quit? Like mop drop exit stage left?"

Her eyes moved from the mop to the stairs and back to the prefect in front of her. Where was Flynn? He would never just leave stuff laying around, would he? Casually walking closer to him with a smile, "I bet he would flip if he came back and saw you messing with it. Maybe you should levitate it somewhere high for him to find." It wasn't horribly mean, but it could be fun. Plus she wasn't the one doing the spell, so she wouldn't be in trouble.

"Dance?"


Was he joking? She just stared a bit, "Let me see." There was time and honestly seeing a mop and bucket dance could be pretty entertaining. Mop drop did get him a chuckle. Good one Ace, good one. "Seems unlikely, but maybe there was a kid bleeding or something so he left to help them to the healer or maybe he just went on a break." Though again would he just leave stuff out for the students to get ahold of?

Nimma bustled up to the 6th floor.. She had heard there was amess up there and since the stupid caretaker wasn't anywhere to be found she was stuck with extra duties... Nimma wasn't one to grumble at a chore to be done... No... Nimma was just plain old tired as sshe came around the corner and saw two students and a mess... Time to put a bit of pepe in her step , yes?

" Oh .. Hello Master... Mistress.. Nimma will clean up the mess", She said cheerfully as she stared up at them with large eyes..

"Yeah he would!" the Curly Top grinned and then looked around again, just a tad bit nervous that the Caretaker would suddenly show up now, with the mop currently in his hands with a guaranteed trip to the Potion Master's office via collar express. "Actually I just want to make myself scarce and scram, Flynn's got a running tab on me that he cant wait to unload on Professor Newton." sheepish grin.

Flynn going on a break? "Flynn eats with his bucket and mop I think. This probably has a name or something... like Molly." Molly the Mop. "And if theres any student bleeding he'd probably yell at him for daring to drop blood on his pristine floor--"


Oh hey hello house elf "Hi Nimma.... uh yeah just some soapy water spillage over there, came from the bucket...." aaaand conveniently leaves out who did it

"If you see Flynn, tell him he left his bucket and mop here. We had to set it aside because it could cause accidents." Boom now Prefects are heroes yeah yeah? YEAAAAAH.

Noelle needed to start patrolling. She was nervous to go around the portal right now. For various reasons. The most, being because the ministry seemed to be involved and she wasn't sure how involved she should be.

Not that that didn't stop her.

Olly and herself were planning things. Noelle had spent half her time in the library doing homework and research on the portal. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could find. She needed to sneak into the restricted section. She planned on doing that after her patrols one night. She wanted to take Olly with her, but figured it might be better if only one of them got in trouble. If they were to get caught.... which Noelle had no intentions of doing.

Heading down the sixth floor corridor, she strayed from the portal side of the portal, but wanted to make sure no students were lingering.

Simon was just heading back to the common room from the Library when he suddenly saw that Noelle was patrolling the area. Now how fun would it be to scare her.

He thought about it for a couple of seconds before he changed his mind and decided to have even more fun.

"ATTENTION!" Simon did his best army captain voice. "That is so sloppy, I have half a mind to make you do one hundred laps around the field, remember we aim for perfect here."

"It's up... two... three... four up... two... three... four, you have to keep those legs up." Simon was still in his captains voice and he wondered if anyone else would be able to here him. "Come on Noelle, I know you can do it."

Hearing a voice, Noelle turned around to see..... Simon.

She lifted both brows at the boy and put her hands on her waist like her mother did. "Simon, what are you doing?" She called out before walking over with a little amused expression playing on her lips. 'Come on. Where are you headed? Ill walk you." Because those were the rules right now.

"Also.. really? A march. If you were going to pick, you could have gone with more style and flavor." Pulls her wand out and transfigures his hat into a muggle military hat. Now that was flare.

Simon was laughing as Noelle started to ask question. "I'm on a monster hunt, apparently no one is alone to have fun in this place." Simon sighed. "But I'm going to find a monster and then I'm going to sit down and chat with them, you do know that is normally why they come searching for people, because they have no one to chat with."

"Hey your right, I could have." Simon thought about a few songs. "There's 500 miles and YMCA and Uptown girl." Simon now wanted to blast his way through those three songs.

Simon Simon Simon.
Noelle rolled her eyes in the best way possible at the boy. "and how are you going to fight a monster? She asked as she subconsciously steered him away from the portal and off to the staircases. "Youve got to be smart about it. There's ministry people here and more stuff happening than you realize." She said giving him a nod.

Uptown girl? She liked a boy who had spirit and songs. "Ehh. Since it's almost curfew, we don't we head to the common room?"

Simon was not going to go to the common room. "You don't need to fight a monster, you just sit and chat with it and see why it's doing naughty things." Simon was sure that was the best way to deal with it. "Like when I was little my mum would explain everything to me." Simon smiled. "You do know they are just misunderstood creatures right." Yeah so no common room for him.

This boy didn't realize the severity of the problem. Noelle rounded on him. She peered down at him. "Simon... what if monsters don't want to sit and talk? What if they want to hurt you? Have you heard the stories of some of the people that have come back from inside the portal?"

Noelle was with him on not wanting to go back to the common room. The amount of time everyone spent in there... people were getting restless. "Why do you think the monster is doing naughty things?" She asked him though. See what he thought.

Simon stood his ground. "Everyone likes to sit and talk, you should know that." Simon thought it would be a great idea, "Just give it a nice cup of tea and then talk to it, tea calms people and monsters down you know."

Simon then heard the next question and with a cheeky grin. "It's obvious, the poor creature has toothache and it needs someone to help it with the issue." Simon had a feeling once the monster was better it would stay out of the way.

OKay so.... this kid had some spunk and some ideas. But.... he was also very misguided. Probably from children shows. The world wasnt all sunshines and rainbows unforuntately. She did manage a laugh though. "Simon, growing up, did you try to talk to the monster that lived under the bed?" Because he seemed to be the type that totally did that.

"Okay... so how are you going to fix that monsters toothache? And does the monster even have teeth?" Practical questions.

Blaise Bellaire, honestly, hadn't been moving fast enough for Olivia's tastes. With all his ramblings of chasing down a story and documenting things... There was simply no time for his foolishness. Not. Right. Now. In her frustration, the Gryffindor had broken away from him near the portal, along with his quick quotes (and his claim to want to 'follow this story'), attempting to make an embarrassingly-quick dash for their common room. Look, she'd caught a glimpse of that thing... and despite the weight of belonging to the bravest house at Hogwarts, this blonde didn't feel at all brave in that moment. Nope, Olivia only felt the cold, icy tongue of fear traipsing up and down her spine. In fact, she'd been so terrified, she must've taken a wrong turn... Or perhaps the floor plan (as it had been known to do at this school)... (thanks Rowena) had suddenly changed.... because soon enough... Olivia Phillips found herself to be quite lost.

Surrounded by darkness, and most definitely L O S T.

No, no, nooo..... NO!

Trying to remind herself that this was manageable, and that the monster had most definitely moved downwards throughout the castle (and away from the upper floors) .... (lol, there was no actual way of knowing where it had gone) ... Liv slowed herself down and tried to even out her rampant, hallow breathing. It simply wouldn't do to have a panic attack at that very moment.... Besides, she was going to be okay. Getting lost was no new phenomenon at this school... The monster wasn't even in the vicinity, anyway. Surely, it'd moved downstairs by now?.... It'd been... Well, it seemed like hours at this point, but that could've very well been the panic speaking. Lumos Maxima wasn't even a comfort, but at least wandlight helped her to see the path ahead...

.... but after several moments of walking, Olivia had still not been able to find stairs...

Feeling the prickling sensation of tears behind her eyes, she tried desperately to fight back the floodgate. It was simply frustrating. How many times has she wandered these halls? Why was her knowledge of this place failing her now?

"Please...please." Her voice was small, even as she slid down to the floor to hug her knees. Perhaps she simply needed a moment to regroup and collect her thoughts.

After the Headmistresses announcement, Rooney had parted ways with Professor Hirsch on the promise to stay alert and round up any students that he could and get them up the towers. Actually, he'd made two quick dashes with a bunch of first and second years, because everyone else seemed to be dawdling or being idiots and honestly Rooney didn't have the time to be chasing students down that thought they could handle this problem. He was already struggling to not stumble into a cupboard and panic his way through this. He knew what was loose in the castle and the fear it had completely set up in the pit of his stomach, in every fibre of his being and how it affected every relationship he had with people.

Relationships were difficult without all of this and now he was torn fighting to be himself again and fighting to have his girl properly once again.

As he started his third, and final - because he couldn't do this again, scope of the upper floors Roo kept his wand out and his concentration high. With every step, he checked his surroundings and most often the ceiling. The ceiling and high walls were clearly what he remembered the monster enjoyed to descend from. Now, the voice may have been quiet, but Rooney could detect even a breath of Olivia's in the most crowded of rooms. "Liv?" He asked as he whipped around, the light from her wand revealing where she was shrunk against a wall. Giving the corridor a once over, the Ravenclaw crouched at her knees and combed his fingers through her hair. "What are you doing here, love? I thought you would have gotten to your common room." Thought.. Hoped... They were the same thing, right?

Now that it had its meal -- two delicious-looking boys -- at hand, the monster wasted no time to make its way out of the castle. It knew that it only had so long to return to its realm before a million spells were being tossed its way.

It had successfully made it to the sixth floor, and it paid no attention to the two humans at the end of it. Clearly on a mission to get out, with its two young victims gripped tightly with no intention of letting them go easily, the beast continued on its way at a rapid speed. There was only one place it was going now: the portal.

Olivia wasn't even sure how long she'd been sitting there... ten minutes? An hour? Maybe more? All the Gryffindor knew was that her legs felt completely numb beneath the weight of her body; as she was squatting down to hug her knees. Just one of the techniques she'd been taught to combat the sudden panic attacks: tucking your head between your legs; but when the brain-chilling fear had finally ebbed, she'd remained in place, too... exhausted, truth be told, to really renew her search for the stairs.

Look, terror and panic took A LOT out of a person.

... And... to be honest? The echoing sounds, bouncing loudly off these stone corridors... of people shouting, and running to and fro, only upped the ante with her anxiety. No, Olivia found no solace in the fact that it also technically meant she wasn't alone. The combined noise from the floor above and the ones below... Overwhelming. Also, she'd been doing quite a bit of crying, and... had given herself a terrible stress headache. Headaches caused by strong emotion were the literal worst... Honestly? All Liv wanted to do was lay down and nap. Even if that meant curling up on this dirty, corridor floor.

....... And that... was a familiar voice.

... Rooney?!

Like a flower seeking sunlight, Olivia craned her head around in a wild fashion, nearly toppling over from her crouched position. Her bright blue eyes desperately sought out the source of that voice. The most perfect voice she'd ever heard in her life.... Of course upon finding his face, intense relief flooded her tall, lanky frame. 1) Rooney was alive and perfectly...perfect, safe...etc... (she'd never actually found out after the shocking sight of that creature) and 2) she was no longer L O S T. Her more stubborn side continued to damn and curse Rowena Ravenclaw for thinking she was so flipping clever. Panic aside, ever-changing floor plans were NOT HELPFUL TO ANYONE!

"Rooney!" Merlin, Olivia could've clung to his neck and wept.... "I... I got lost." And if he made a joke, she'd stomp his toes, so help her. Emotions were too high for playful jesting...

.... but then she froze. Everyone must've gotten back to their common rooms (as he'd just mentioned) because the only sound she could make out...was... a terrifying growling.... one.... and... the shrieks of..... No, Olivia did NOT want to think about that. No... NO. Everyone.. would be fine. This was all going to be fine. Standing quickly enough (limp included from the lack of leg-use), she whipped around as the noise presented itself... closer by. Closer as in.... right... down... the.... corridor...

.................................?!

"........ Is that...." Olivia took a scared step back, her hand flying to cover her own mouth. The shock was utterly apparent, making her freckles stand out in stark contrast on her face. ".... It's snatched... kids. It's TAKEN someone!" Or someones? She couldn't make out faces, but it looked to be two small bodies. Ickle bodies. Gods, she was crying again... Who?! WHO?! Not Carlton... Or Abey... Or Hazel.... NONE OF HER BABIES, PLEASE! "........"

If they couldn't hear poor Simon Rockefeller crying out for Help before. The Hufflepuff was very Audible now. What was sad was his screams became less and less like so, and more wheezy gasps of air. Tears streaming down his face. His one hand once clasped onto Abey's side was now clawing and scrapping against the cold stone floor beneath him, trying to grab anything to hinder the Monster's advance and pull himself free.

Speaking of the Monster's grip on him...

The Monster's grasp. Confirmed instantly from before that it was not a Smoke Monster of any kind, was tight and unrelenting, but neither did Simon loose grip of his wand in his other hand. It was the one thing he knew he could not loose, though he would trade it for a second for a quick puff from his inhaler.

His glasses though still on his face felt them slipping down the brim of his nose. The clung to his face still but as his head turned frantically he could see blurred shapes around him. and he heard someone scream that it's taken someone, but then that was it. Simon was out of sight and was no doubt going through that Portal with Abey and they were it's food.

SOMEONE HELP!

Dozens and hundreds and thousands and millions of thoughts were going through Abey's mind at ultra mega super speed as he was dragged along, and there was no time to focus on a specific one. No time to reflect on how the whole situation suddenly seemed a lot more terrifying actually when HE was the one being stolen by a monster. Barely even a conscious thought about how being dragged across the floor hurt more than he might have ever expected it to. Mostly, the one overbearing thing that Abey seemed able to process was the not-even-over-exaggerated thought that he was actually facing his actual doom and that this was the actual end.

But he was still fighting and screaming as much as he could, not about to go down without trying his HARDEST to get both himself and his friend to safety. Terror meant adrenaline, which meant no crying yet, which meant channeling his energy into getting away. Into fighting. But Abey wasn't strong. He was at times hyperactive, but he was not actually incredibly athletic. He couldn't even cast a spell right now, because he couldn't get to his wand yet. He was not able to free himself or Simon. It was too strong and they were moving too fast and this was it, it was all over, this was it, this was it.

Gasping for breath after panicked breath, Abey gave one last desperate attempt at crying out for help, trying to be extra loud because somehow he just knew Simon's lungs wouldn't manage it and he had to get help for them BOTH.

"HELP US, PLEASE, HELP US! HEEEEEEEEELP!" His shrill, panicked cry rang out, but they were moving so fast that Abey couldn't know if his cries for help had been heard.

If this whole situation had not felt real before...it did now. Seeing his Liv in the way she was currently, spurred the Ravenclaw into protective action and he reached to hold her hand, kissing the top of her head quickly. "You're on the sixth floor. I just came from the stairs.." He pointed back in the direction he had just walked from. "Come on. I'll get you to your common room." And then return to his own and pray that the students he had got there already had stayed and not been idiots. He assumed that a handful were idiots and he'd just have to hit his head off a wall at some point to stop blaming himself for their lack of common sense. When the Headmistress instructed you to get to your damn common room, you got to your bloody common room.

BUT CLEARLY NOT.

With a sigh, the sixth year wrapped an arm around his Gryffindor lady friend and gave her a one armed hug, just as both of their attentions flew down the corridor. "It is............." And this wasn't a nightmare. It was here. It was in his castle. In his safe place. And he didn't feel safe still.

Actually, he felt sick once more.

Roo wasn't able to think more about needing to be sick because Olivia was crying and he was shushing at her in an attempt to be soothing, but.......it was not. He probably seemed to be begging her to shut up. He probably seemed to be so over all of the emotions. But he was just done with all of this. He wanted the year to be out. He wanted to be in Paris and then in camp and then taking his girl on a date again. Even the crying Gryffindor did not distract him from the shouts for help from down the corridor and even though he recognised the voices, he wasn't able to place them specifically. The churn in his stomach was too loud. The pound in his head was much too much.

"I should...go....go see..." And she should stay here. Safe.