The context of the message asking her to meet in this room hadn't been entirely clear, but it seemed to Sinead that somebody was supposed to be interviewing her regarding her experience in the Portal. She didn't know why they would have chosen her to ask- maybe they were just talking to everyone- but she couldn't pretend that she wasn't interested to have this conversation. Whoever was conducting the interview, maybe they were trying to work out what was going on in there- something she would very much like to know as well. She'd even heard rumours that somebody from the Department of Mysteries was at Hogwarts- imagine if she got to meet them!

With this flurry of thoughts running through her mind- blocking out the rather less pleasant memories of what had actually happened in that strange other castle- she reached the room and hesitated outside the closed door. Well- they'd told her to be here, hadn't they? Pushing her qualms aside- strange, it wasn't like her to be nervous- she tapped out a smart knock on the door before edging it open and poking her head inside inquiringly.
"I'm Sinead Dance- is this the right place?" she asked, glancing around the space. She could pretty much answer her own question, upon seeing the prefects who'd also entered the portal, but it was probably still polite to ask, so she waited at the door until she was told to enter.

Addison turned her attention from the Prefects as their professor went ahead to introduce herself and give all the information she knew. Rather then stop the women for any clarification on anything she simply took down notes. Certain information caused her to pause and think over what she had just heard. The subject of their caretaker didn't go missed. From what was being said she had to agree with the idea that the man was no longer with them.

"The student just...disappeared you say?" Addi asked. This was something she was trying to understand still. Did the students enter the portal or were they sucked up into it? The fact that the portal changed locations was frightening as well and seriously needed to be addressed. If it was able to move at will or whatever was happening then more people could go missing without anyone knowing.

"Thank you. Any information these students can provide us will be greatly helpful." She was just about to ask for a patronus to be sent out to the Headmistress when there was a knock at the door and a young girl entered. Hearing the girls name Addison glanced down at the parchment to see it was one of the children that had been inside the portal. "Yes hello, I'm Addison Anders, Head of the department of Mysteries. Please, come take a seat." She offered a warm smile and waited until Sinead was seated and comfortable.

"Could you tell me about your interaction with the Portal please?" It was best to get right into it as she had with the others.

Carl had received message asking for his presence in the Spare Office on the sixth floor. He had heard Ministry employees were at the school investigating the weird creepy portal business. To some extent, he had been expecting them to interview the portal explorers about their experiences. After all, they were the only people who really knew what it was like behind the portal. He was interested to find out more about the dark version of Hogwarts they had visited and was willing to provide the Ministry with information they needed. Maybe they could find Flynn the caretaker as well...

Ever since his return from creepy Hogwarts, the Hufflepuff had been careful on this floor of the school. Watching out for anything unusual in the corridor, he reached the end of the corridor where the office was located. He knocked on the door, then pushed it open and stepped through the doorway. Seeing the Ministry officials made him slightly nervous, but he smiled at the sight of his friends and professor. "Hello, I'm Carl Leonard. Um, I was asked to come here?" He said.

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES.
HEAD.
OF THE DEPARTMENT.
OF MYSTERIES???

Sinead had to take a moment to close her gaping mouth and remind herself of her manners, nodding to Addison as she took the proffered seat.
"Pleased to meet you," she said- which seemed entirely inadequate, but what else could she say? Anyway- this was important Ministry business. And when she thought about being inside the Portal, a little chill ran down her spine which washed away the feeling of awe pretty effectively.

"From the start...? I was just walking along the corridor and I noticed it, it felt like it came out of nowhere. I don't remember deciding to walk in- I just went closer to have a better look, and I guess I never stopped walking. I think... I don't know, I think it was pulling me in." Her eyes flickered between the adults in the room, trying to assess their reactions. She hadn't heard of any portals before, but she was pretty sure magic could affect people's state of mind like that. And she couldn't think what else would have compelled her to march straight in without investigation like she had.

"Inside... um, it looked a lot like Hogwarts, but it was kind of empty. There were these tentacles around... and loads of big clumps of dust, on the ground and hanging in the air. I heard voices so I tried to follow them, but it was... Murky? I couldn't see clearly. So instead I followed some footsteps in the dust and came across these bones, which you've probably heard about already- the caretaker..." She didn't think she needed to finish that sentence. The whole school had been discussing the caretaker's fate in hushed voices, since the first portal incident.

"So after that, I thought it wasn't safe, and I still couldn't find anyone else around- so I started heading back, but then I heard something growling- and it was inbetween me and the others, I could hear them all shouting. I didn't want to do any magic or make noise so it wouldn't find me- so I started running back as quietly as I could and I could hear it in other parts of the castle, but I think it was following the others and so it missed me, because I made it back safely. But I could hear it behind me. And I don't know how I managed to miss everybody else, because I thought we both went the same way... it didn't feel like space worked the same way in there."

Suddenly, she was rather aware that she had talked a lot, and probably just said a lot of things the Unspeakables had heard before, from the other students. How were they going to work out what was going on, just from her account? She hadn't even seen the monster... she knew that other people had, though. Carlton was in her house and year; everybody had been talking about him in the common room. In her lessons, for that matter, when he'd been missing. But the whole situation felt a lot more real now that these incredible witches and wizards were here to investigate it- she was reminded again of the sick sense of real fear she'd had. Any of them really could have died in there. The Department of Mysteries had better work out what was going on, fast. But it wouldn't be too much trouble for people like them, surely?

If this wasn't a serious matter the look on the young girls face would have made her laugh. Many kids reacted that very same way when she announced where it was she worked. The girl recovered quickly as she took her seat and Addison smiled at her. The best thing she could do now was just allow Sinead to talk when she was ready.

"Yes, please." Starting from the beginning was always best. Notes were once again taken and most of what was said had been heard but that didn't make it any less important. When Sinead reached the part about the caretaker, Addi gave a nod of her head indicting that they had indeed heard about this and she didn't have to continue to speak of it. No sense in upsetting anyone more then needed.

"So even though you went back through that area the very same way you went in it didn't appear that way, is what you're saying?" Odd. How had the students not come across her when they had all gone the same way? Addison made note of these things on her parchment. "Is there anything else you can remember Miss Dance?"

Just as they had finished talking another student entered the room. This one a boy. "Hello, Mr Leonard. Please come have a seat. I'm Addison Anders Head of the Department of Mysteries. We're here to investigate the portal and getting any information we can from those that had come into contact with it. Could you tell us what you remember about your time inside the portal?" Everything and anything he could offer just as she had asked the others.

It was awesome when Addison said that she believed in alternate realities. Clearly she was much more informed than the students at Hogwarts, and she'd come to the same conclusion - so it must be true! She nodded at the information and tried to contain her excitement - excitement that was dampened somewhat when Professor Vance admitted that most people assumed the caretaker had died. They didn't know for sure, and she was holding out hope that he was still alive.

Then Sinead and Carl joined them. "Hey guys," she greeted the two of them with a smile. "You might not have heard, but Rooney, Carlton, and a Henry came back to us ten minutes ago." Just thought you to ought to know.

Then she leaned back and listened as Addison question them.

Brent tried to remember the details he had tried so hard to forget. In a way, he still thought it was ridiculous that he hadn't even been here a year, and he'd already managed to be sucked into a portal. Against his will, at that! He had received notice that someone from the Ministry of Magic was here to talk to him. Well, to everyone who'd been inside the portal.

He continued the walk down the sixth floor...the forbidden floor...and made his way toward the spare office. He hadn't even known there was such a thing as a spare office around Hogwarts. He'd stopped somebody in the corridors and asked for directions. If he'd followed them correctly, he should be here right...about...

...now.

Stepping inside, Brent waited for a pause in the conversation and awkwardly said, "Brenton Westwood. Brent." What was he supposed to say now? ... "I got a notice asking me to come here."

Leon had been a bit unsure about going to see the Department of Mysteries people, especially since he still had nightmares when he thought about the Portal, but the longer he thought about it, the more he realized that he needed to help in any way possible..

So he pushed his fear away and headed towards the spare office, notice in hand he hadn't been on this floor in awhile now, and he could hear his own footsteps as he walked down the stone hallway, each sound ringing in his ears.

He knocked on the door and popped his head in..

"I'm Leon Kennedy, I got a notice to come and talk about the Portal? " He said as he looked around, nodding at the other kids in the room.

Etta had considered just ignoring the notice that she'd gotten earlier about the Ministry interviewing students that had gotten sucked into the portal. Frankly, she just didn't want to relive that experience. But if it was going to help those people figure out what was happening.. she sighed softly to herself as she made her way to the spare office.

... AAAAAND. The sixth floor again. She quickly walked down the corridor, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. Besides, she had a lot of homework to do as well.

Right. This looked like the place. She paled slightly as she knocked on the door before entering, her eyes widening a little. Wow. A lot of people here. "I'm Henrietta Kramer." She introduced herself quietly, not sure if she was supposed to say anything else? UMM. The girl simply stood close to the wall and waited.. smiling at her classmates.

Addison had hardly had time to address the previous students that had entered the room before the door opened again. This time rather then say anything she simply smiled at each of them giving a moments pause to see if anyone else would be joining them. "Hello, everyone. Please come take a seat anywhere you like. Once again for those few that just joined and don't know me my name is Addison Anders and I'm the Head of the department of Mysteries. What we're doing here today is getting any information we can about the Portal, which means we're speaking with anyone that has had contact with it or been inside of it. Anything you can tell us would be greatly helpful to us in finding out what it is and how to get rid of it effectively." The blonde stopped speaking then to give the fresh faces time to sit down and process what she had said.

With the quill still in her hand and ready for more note taking she looked at the students. "Alright lets start here," she nodded towards the closest person that had just arrived. If they could each tell her anything they remembered or knew about the portal in turn that would be prefect. Right now she would just sit, listen and take notes.

More students seemed to be piling into the office as the minutes ticked past. Adam was slowly shuffled into the corner a bit more and he found himself thinking that it was a good thing he wasn’t closterphobic.

Addison, as expected, was doing a remarkable job gather information on what the children had experience in the portal. Only…too many witnesses in the same room could lead to unreliable reports. So far, Adam didn’t feel as if they students were building off each other’s narratives, but it was still a possibility. The moment that started happening, he would have to question the validity of the narratives that were being given. Perhaps if he could cull a few to interview separately while Addison spoke to the rest, they might gather some different information. Besides, Adam was quite curious about this growling noise and what might have been causing it. Walls did not make slime, so obviously, the slime had to come from the creature.

When there was a pause between student narratives and before another student could arrive, Adam ventured a question hoping to split the group at this time. “Can anyone describe the growling?” he asked in his heavy German accent. “Better yet, dist anyone gut a goot look at it?”

Zigzagging rapidly through the corridors, the silvery roadrunner patronus belonging to one Airey Flamsteed leaped through the closed door of the spare office, ran circles and figure eights around all those present, and finally leaped up upon a table facing Department Head. The voice of Airey Flamsteed was steady as it spoke, but with a real sense of urgency.

"While not entirely conclusive, my initial observation and analysis of the portal has led me to a few theories. The portal itself is an impressive amount of energy, both in its composition and what it is giving off, and is clearly being generated from within Hogwarts itself despite being an entrance to an alternate reality. This energy is not unlike that seen with the Spirit Room located within the castle, but not entirely the same. I also have suspicions that the only way to destroy the portal is to defeat the monster within, but only an analysis of the samples we have collected will confirm or deny this symbiotic relationship to be true."

Fluffing its feathers and hopping up and down on the table excitedly thrice, the patronus dissipated into thin air - message delivered.

Addison once more looked around the room as the students began to speak what they knew. The notes on her parchment as well with names was beginning to pile up and she couldn't keep herself from wondering once again why the DoM hadn't been contacted sooner. Pushing the thought aside her attention was once against fixed on what was being said when Adam spoke up. "That's a very good question. Besides the three young men that just returned and are in the hospital wing can any of you describe the growl. Did anyone see or get a glimpse of whatever it is that made the sound?" she repeated for Adam so the students were sure to understand the question. Very good follow up question!

Suddenly a shimmery patronus burst through the office door and made it's way around the entire room. It's antics were somewhat funny really but something told her there was a sense of urgency to this message causing her to pause her writing. The roadrunner patronus stopped on a desk in front of herself speaking the very clear and informative voice of Airey Flamsteed. A great deal of what the man said made sense and at the moment she would agree with it. When the patronus disappeared she pulled out her own wand casting her patronus, after giving it direction she watched the silvery kangaroo make it's way out of the room.

This questioning of the students would be coming to a close very shortly.

Sinead was distracted for a moment from her retelling of the portal experience (it sounded like an attraction at a them park, when she thought of it like that, which made her distinctly uncomfortable to think about) by the arrival of several other students. She glanced up at them as they entered, slightly taken aback by just how many of them there were. Okay, she knew a lot of people had gone into the portal, but... seriously, how had she missed all of them?

Now wasn't the time to dwell on that, though- or, well, maybe it was, but only if she had something else useful to tell Addison about it. Turning back to the Unspeakable, Sinead clasped her hands in her lap and frowned at them intently for a moment before looking up and speaking again.
"I... Well, I didn't notice it looking different- but I don't remember seeing the bones again. I wasn't looking very hard, though, I was just in a hurry to get out of there." She paused to consider whether she had anything else useful to say- which didn't take long to think of when she heard the other Unspeakable's question. Her eyebrows lifted slightly at the question, but it made sense, she supposed, if they were trying to figure out what exactly the creature was.

Before she could answer, though, a silvery figure erupted through the- presumably solid- door of the office and positioned itself centrestage in the room, speaking in a voice she didn't recognise but which was authoritative enough to make everybody in the room stop and listen. She couldn't entirely follow what the message was saying, but... well, there was clearly a lot of complex magical analysis going on about the portal. This was serious business. And also sounded pretty cool, if it hadn't been for several people nearly dying.

With that in mind, she thought she'd better answer the questions of the Ministry employees as thoroughly as she could, so she nodded to Addison and began to recount what she could remember.
"I was following right behind it, so I could hear it pretty clearly. It didn't sound like any other animal- I guess it kind of made two different noises: one really low growl which sounded like gurgling almost? And then a high one which started with a hiss and then sounded a bit like a bird screeching. It echoed a lot as well, it was hard to tell where it was coming from." Just the thought of the creature's snarl made her shiver- if she'd thought nails on a chalkboard could put her on edge, this was a whole new level. "I didn't see it, but I could hear it moving around... I don't know, but I'd guess it had two legs. And claws." That was what had really stuck in her memory- the steady clatter of claws on stone as the creature had stalked its way through the castle, following the other students.

Brent realized he had been quiet for some time now, and he probably looked like a useless bump on a log. Clearing his throat, he tried to remember the horrible details. "At first, I just heard this weird snarling in the distance. I thought it was just me hearing it at first, because maybe I was just imagining things. I just had no idea where I was," he recalled. That last line had been an obvious one, but it was in his memory just like it had happened yesterday.

"Oh, and what made it worse was all bloodied bones lying around. It was like we'd walked into a graveyard," he continued, and maybe they had. *GULP* He really hadn't wanted to remember this, but if it would help... Eventually, we could see its shadow. It was HUGE, but you know how shadows can be sometimes. The snarling just got louder and louder, and we basically had to outrun it, or..." ---join the pile of bloodied bones. He couldn't stand to say that last part out loud.

Some dude from the Ministry had shared his thoughts, but they were waaaaay over Brent's head. Either way, he'd described what he'd heard and seen.