One sunny day, small bursts of energy continuously surge on the hour in between patrol shifts. Everything seems to be normal (as normal as the situation could be) due to the surges being easily overlooked.

However, at the chime of five, the portal unexpectedly bursts with energy. Whoever is on patrol had better run and find a professor because this cannot be a good sign...

Begrudgingly, Rooney was still on patrol duty around the portal and had only agreed to do so when he had his new wand. Which was now. (Actually a month ago, but...whatever.) He was not standing close to the area, and honestly was a little bit further down the hallway than he should have been - but he expected that he could not be held responsible for his fear regarding the whole thing. Today, Roo had his cat Pomegranate with him and was more often than not subjected the feline to coming everywhere with him. Animals sensed things, right? Someone had once told him that and he hadn't believed it, but a lot of things that Rooney had believed in had been proved to be wrong recently and therefore he was open to ideas and suggestions on safe patrolling.

Pomegranate was definitely a pain in the behind on patrol, though. Running up and down the hallway and meowing loudly. Jeeeeeeeez. Patrols were sometimes the only moment the Prefect had alone and now he was subjected to loud cats being pains in the-- "Pomme?!" Oh lawd he hadn't had the cat by his side in almost five whole minutes and he was beginning to panic. Rooney's green eyes searched the hallway and found the feline staring up at the dreaded wall that had recently spit this Ravenclaw out.

Roo stood up where he had been sat and called to the cat. "Pomegranate Bronwyn, get here right now! Get away from th-" Oh. Yikes. That was... that wasn't good. For a moment he stood still, then he darted forward to grab the cat who instantly jumped back out of his arms and ran in the complete opposite direction to what was presumably cat safety. He couldn't...exactly leave and report this, could he? So...Rooney shouted. "HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLP"

And then he ran as quick as he could to find the first office he could get to and to get as far away from this area as he could. NO MORE PREFECT ROONEY BRONWYN FOR YOU, PORTAL.

The weirdness of the schoolyear has, strangely enough, become routine by this point, and Tenacius cruising along on his rounds has gotten used to that weird "hole at the hall" as he thought of it.

He wouldve zoomed past it too had he not nearly ran into Rooney as he was yelling. "Wai--wha?... What happened??" he called after the fleeing Ravenclaw Prefect as he did a double take at the gaping maw "Oh no...." he mumbled as he took hold of his wand.

What is happening? What should I do? Yelling for help would be a good one, and Rooney already did that. He would send a Patronus to the faculty room-- unfortunately he doesnt know how to do that yet. "Note to self, if you ever make it out alive this year, learn how to Patronus."

And given his most impressionable experience from this and his level of magical talent, he cast the next best thing "Protego Maxima!" he uttered, aiming at the portal, hoping whatever was over there wouldnt end up over here.

The moment the Ravenclaw prefect ran off to get help, the portal began to stretch outward. This time, however, it did not stop. Soon a piece of the portal was morphing into a figure. Something wanted out...

When the Gryffindor prefect casted the stronger version of the shield charm at the portal, the magic rebounded, blasting itself back in the boy's direction and knocking him against the opposite wall and onto the floor. The energy emitting from the portal was too powerful now.

First it was its long, skeleton fingered hand that went through the portal, slowly followed by its skinny leg and then the rest of its body. It was sniffing the air, taking in the scents of its new surroundings. A long tongue slithered out of its mouth and it maliciously licked its lips.

Now fully emerged, the monster's eyes laid upon the boy on the floor. It slowly began to creep up on him, its mouth starting to water. However, the creature did not attack. There were more tender beings that it could feast on first.

Flashing its razor sharp teeth at the boy, it clung itself to the wall and climbed up on the ceiling, making its way further into the castle, ready to pounce on whatever prey may come its way.

Mason had been curving the Sixth Floor as much as she could. Ever since that weird hole had appeared and the guys had been sucked into whatever the hell it was, she'd been even more cautious about it, since she actually valued her life.

If it hadn't been for the yelling and thundering footsteps coming from the hall in front of her, she would have swerved it as per usual. The scream froze her mid-step, brows knit in confusion, cause whoever was yelling sounded like they were about to be murdered. She wasn't about to run in there like some hero Gryffindor to protect them, that's what the prefects were for . . . right? Were they ever going to have an actual normal year at this damn school?

Huffing out a sigh, Mason quickened her pace, already annoyed. It was probably just some Firstie that had gotten spooked by that creepy looking hole, now she was wasting her precious time on this nonsense. Rolling her eyes, she turned the corner to the corridor, "Didn't they tell you guys not t- Oh my god- Tenacius!" What the hell? Why was he on the floor? Mason's eyes darted around, looking for the prefect that was supposed to be there. What the hell happened here? That's when she saw it, the thing's gangly body plastered to the ceiling, it's long tongue poking out from between it's dagger-like teeth.

She couldn't even scream, the sound choking from her throat, her eyes like saucers as she backed up against one of the walls, trying to distance herself from the thing as much as possible. Her shaking fingers started feeling for her wand, never taking her eyes from the creature, her movements sloppy and desperate. Her fingers closed around her wand, yanking it from her robe-pocket, she pointed it straight at the thing, the Yew wobbling with her nerves, "P-Petrificus Totalus!" she cast desperately. She could only hope that it hit the thing, and that she could get to Tenacius before it was too late.

Kane generally avoided this part of the castle - he basically didn't trust himself NOT to try and figure out what was in that portal. It was just so TEMPTING. He knew that was stupid, and trying to figure out what was going on in there was stupid - but today something felt DIFFERENT. So on his way to class, he decided to just take a PEEK at it, and see if it was even still there.

As he walked by, hoping to see that the portal had magically disappeared, he instead saw...

Um...

Was that....

Yeah, it was...

A MONSTER!!!!

It must have been the one that Brent had seen when he had gone in the portal. AND NOW IT WAS HERE! Brown eyes widening and practically popping out of his head, he knew that he should turn and RUN, but he couldn't. There were other students there, and he had to HELP! He whipped out his wand, wondering what on EARTH could possibly be effective against this...thing...and decided to just throw caution to the wind.

"STUPEFY!" he exclaimed, aiming at the monster as it slithered across the ceiling. Would that do anything? He had NO idea, but it was worth a shot.

He hurried towards the Gryffindor prefect as well, hoping that he wasn't like...you know...DEAD. EEP.

What was all the commotion going on? Pips had been cleaning like a good elf when he heard yelling in the corridor. Once he came out of the room his eyes widened and he looked up. His ears went down and he pulled them over his eyes and started to shake.

"What, what is that?"


He had never seen anything like it and didn't want to see if again.

HICCUP


HICCUP


HICCUP

After that startling happening at her office, Camilla rushed as quickly as possible down the corridors towards the Portal her heels clicking the whole way. What sounded like a very loud crash and then shouting reached her ears before she even arrived, her steps quickening more.

There were students near the Portal! The way it had grown and stretched out along the wall couldn't go unmissed. Nor could the boy on the ground!? What had happened? Pips was here also?

Cami tried to assess everything in just the blink of an eye and that's when she noticed the students casting spells at something. Brown eyes widen in shock and sudden fear as she took notice of the Monster on the wall. It's rows of razor sharp teeth and long claws! The women couldn't think straight for a split second. The fear was pushed down as she raised her wand and cast a strong shield spell around her and the children. "Protego totalum!" Her wand was then waved again as she cast a strong, "Petrificus Totalus!" at the Monster.

Keeping her wand raised she looked at Pips directing her words to him, "Pips please go directly to Healer Reed and tell him I have a hurt student at the Portal and he's needed right away. Hurry please." She was trying to remain calm for the sake of her students but she needed someone to get the Healer for her.

Her wand was used once more to cast a patronus the silvery Kangaroo form bursting forth from her wand tip. The message was giving to the Headmistress and all other staff about the situation taking place. She needed help and she needed others to make sure all other students were safe. Watching her patronus take off she turned to the students. "Miss Stevens, Mr Westwood, stay behind me. Make sure Mr Salander isn't moved until Healer Reed arrives." Her eyes moved onto the boy in question for a moment to ensure he was indeed breathing or to check for any visible injuries.

Leon had heard the racket from up on the seventh floor where he had been with Azura.. and went racing down to the portal, his heart thudding in his chest, hoping to everything that was good and merciful that Juno wasn't anywhere near this portal! He hoped his sister would stay put up there or even go find her boyfriend.. the last place he wanted her to be was near this thing..

He STILL had nightmares about this portal..

The muscular seventh year skidded to a stop as he saw the scene before him! No Juno!! Thank the Dragons!! But..

The.Monter.Was.Out!!!

Somehow though, in the light of this Hogwarts, it seemed less threatening..Not nearly as terror inducing as it was when he was in the alternate portal.. he moved by Professor Stewart' and held up his wand

"Incarcerous! " he shouted as he aimed the ropes for the monster! He could help out if the teachers would let him..Especially since Ace was hurt!

So it was finally happening, huh? Whatever was inside the portal had learned you could see far more of the world if you came out.

Blaise stood at the top of the corridor, his quill furiously scribbling away at all that happened around him while he stood, staring at the sight before him. What happened to Tenacious was his entire reasoning for finding the curfews dumb. Something WAS happening, and his Prefect was no closer to saving his life than he was. So what was the point of having them accompany them around again? Them both dying? Clearly.

The Fifth Year didn't draw his wand to cast spells like the others had, instead, he made his way behind the Professor, eyes transfixed on the monster that had finally made its debut.

This...would make....a BRILLIANT story when they all got out of here--because they would, y'know. That was how Hogwarts worked. Bad things happened then it got fixed and they got summer vacation. Was anyone here up for an interview when this was all done? "What do we do about it, Professor?" He wasn't willing to cast, but he'd be damned if he missed out on this action.

HICCUP

HICCUP

HICCUP


His ears were still pulled over his eyes and his little body was shaking with fright. Loud scared noises were coming from the quivering elf until he heard his name being called. He peaked out from behind his ear and nodded.

"Yes misses Pips will do that. HICCUP Pips will go now."


HICCUP

HICCUP

*POOF*

Having been just up on the Seventh Floor... doing some dance things in the corridor, as she'd been known to do for years now, it would've been difficult to miss the most familiar voice of them all screeching out for help. Seriously, Olivia Phillips would've recognized Rooney Bronwyn's voice anywhere. Anywhere... at anytime... of any day.

.... And quite stupidly, that drew her closer to the commotion; worried for her person (who wasn't currently her person, but was still the love of her life, thank you very much)... Rooney had opened up to her about what he'd endured in the Portal, and she'd thought....for one terrified moment... that he may have been getting pulled back in? Or perhaps something else was happening... Obviously, Olivia had no idea, but with him in mind, she pushed her own fears aside. It was worth looking into, at least.

Tentative in her approach of that specific corridor (Liv remembered her first encounter with it, after all), her head of curly blonde hair peeked around the corner; spotting Blaise Bellaire immediately. What in the world?!.... There was a lot going on... What?!

"Psst." She tried to get Blaise's attention from her spot, not interested in moving closer at this time. "PSST. Blaise." She ended up having to shout... There was so much noise... ?!..... What.... in the actual hell.... was THAT?!

O_____o.... Was that the monster?

The sound of his name caught his attention, drawing it back to the end of the corridor where he'd been standing moments ago. Livvy? Heeeeeyyyyyy Liv.

Blaise beckoned her over, pointing to the human shield of a Professor that stood by them. Everything was relatively safe. The creature had moved further into the castle so at the very least, the spot they stood at was safe--til they went after it, because they had to go after it. One didn't see a story and let it die by looking the other way afterall.

"You gotta see what my quill took down. You really missed something, Livvy."

Worried? Scared? Concerned? Nope. Just intrigued. He continued his beckoning motions, inviting her to have a look at his notepad.

--OOF!!

That was it really. He didnt expect his shield charm to have failed-- nay to have backlashed on him like that. He didnt even feel being knocked off his feet and hitting the wall, although goodness knows what the ensuing body aches will be after.

But he did sense something. A hair-raising otherworldlyness that one knows instinctively never to look in the eye. Naturally his first instinct was to cast a shield charm again-- but he realized he was empty handed. Where is my wand????

The horror was coming closer and with him still confused as to which way was up, he lay still, squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth. If this thing was gonna eat him, maybe he can give it indigestion....

And then..... nothing.

There was a whole lot of yelling soon after though, spells flying about and voices and hurried feet going to and fro. He popped one eye open and realized-- he was holding his breath for goodness knows how long-- but it got him breathing easy again. Yep the cavalry has come and he drops his head back onto the floor, just coming to the realization that he is alive. Second brush with death and his luck was still holding. Heck he'd do the happy dance if he could only figure out how to get his feet moving again. He still had feet right?

"aNyBoDy SEeN mY waNd?" he wheezed.

Normally, Kane was TOTALLY ON BOARD with the whole "listening to Professors and not dying" thing. BUT he had to disagree with her on this one - there was a monster and they needed to KILL it! Destroy it! Send it back to the portal! SOMETHING besides just standing and waiting for the Headmistress to come!

He noticed the Gryffindor prefect - whose name he couldn't remember because he sucked with names but he did remember this guy had GREAT hair - and saw that he was stirring. OH GOOD! "Professor, he's alive!" he exclaimed, tugging on Stewart's sleeve and pointing at him. Well there was one catastrophe avoided.

And now there were MORE students for the monster to devour. He should have known that was going to happen - they had to be making an AWFUL racket with all the yelling and screaming going on here...

"Come behind the shield!" Kane yelled at the newcomers. DON'T GIVE THE MONSTER A CHANCE TO EAT YOU!

Gaston, having received word from Mr. Bronwyn that something was happening at the portal, arrived on the scene as fast as he could. He hadn't been given much information to go on. He was half-expecting to find another student taken into the portal, but what he saw was much, much worse than he could've ever imagined! He stood frozen to the spot, his bright blue eyes wide and panic-stricken at the sight of a skeletal-looking creature slinking along the ceiling. What was that... that thing? Was this the monster from the portal?

His panic lasted all of about two seconds before he went into overprotective professor!dad mode. His eyes flicked away from the monster, taking in the scene around him... students huddled behind Cami, spells flying at the monster, Mr. Salander lying on the floor. Then his eyes fell to Miss Phillips; he nodded slightly at Mr. Bellaire and Mr. Westwood as they told her to get behind the shield. "Yes, Get behind Professor Stewart!" he ordered the girl. "QUICKLY!"

Meanwhile, he rushed to the Gryffindor prefect, placing himself between Mr. Salander and the monster lest it should come back for him. He barely registered the boy saying something about his wand as he hurriedly cast a shield carm around the tow of them. "We'll find your wand in a moment, Mr. Salander," he said. He didn't mean to be callous; he was just a bit distracted by the monster right now. "Did the monster do this to you?" If it had...

Gaston rounded on the beast, wand drawn. He'd failed to protect the tudents who had been taken by the portal before, but there was no way he was making that mistake again! Only one thought echoed in his mind: Stop the monster from getting farther into the castle. "Immobulus! Glacius! STUPEFY!" He was going to throw every spell he could think of at the creature! His eyes darted back to the beast, hoping at leas tone of his spells had hit its mark. The thought crossed his mind to go running after it to get a better shot, but... He couldn't leave Mr. Salander here wandless. Fighting the monster would just have to wait

Noelle was on her way to the common room. She always went by the 6th floor nowadays just to keep an eye out. Today was no different. She didn't expect to see anything. She didn't expect to hear anything. But she did.

First it was Rooney running and yelling help at the top of his lungs. Noelle wasted no time in picking up speed and drawing her wand from her holster. She raced to where there were several students. Her eyes looked around trying to figure out what was going on until she saw.... it.

Gasping, Noelle was glad there was a professor here but they needed more help. She saw the patronus fly from the professors wand so figured there would be some on the way. And was that Ace??? Nooo...

Running up beside Professor Stewart, she looked at the professor, holding her wand out. "What can I do??" She was glad there were so many students willing to fight this monster. Simon better stay away though... Noelle could see him trying to have tea with the thing.

"Incendio!" She yelled, making sure to point her wand directly at that monster. Fire usually hurt right??

Thank merlin Professor Marchand was trying to get Ace back behind the shield. The rest could keep the monster at bay hopefully.

The monster had moved off...crawling up into the rafters to terrorize some other unsuspecting person... in some other unsuspecting location... but... Olivia still didn't move from her spot; too stunned at actually having seen the creature nightmares were made of... The one Rooney's nightmare were of?

She refused to get emotional.

Excuse you, self.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

The sound of his name caught his attention, drawing it back to the end of the corridor where he'd been standing moments ago. Livvy? Heeeeeyyyyyy Liv.

Blaise beckoned her over, pointing to the human shield of a Professor that stood by them. Everything was relatively safe. The creature had moved further into the castle so at the very least, the spot they stood at was safe--til they went after it, because they had to go after it. One didn't see a story and let it die by looking the other way afterall.

"You gotta see what my quill took down. You really missed something, Livvy."

Worried? Scared? Concerned? Nope. Just intrigued. He continued his beckoning motions, inviting her to have a look at his notepad.

Oh... and she'd gotten Blaise's attention.

"What is going on?.... Did you hear Rooney screaming? Was he hurt??" Why did he look so pleased with himself? Also, he could just...stop beckoning her over. She was NOT moving closer to that portal. It'd damaged her favorite people in this place.... I could just... go someplace not very pleasant, thank you very, VERY much.

...and more people had arrived, but they were a bit late to the party, given that the monster had moved on. Olivia kept her previous position through this all, watching and waiting for something more to happen. She was scared...and also wanting to run back upstairs. Gus hadn't returned to school with her due to a sickness he'd gotten, but she still had Nessarose. Her new cat!baby could've been in danger... GASP!?

"Blaise...we need to go..."

Oh look, Tenacious was still alive and they had another Professor of a human shield. This was shaping up to be an eventful stroll through the castle afterall--and here he thought everyone would be locked away in the Common Rooms ahead of curfew. Good work Bellaire. His mum would probably die when she read this entry in his notepad. It was worth every stroke of his quill.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Oh... and she'd gotten Blaise's attention.

"What is going on?.... Did you hear Rooney screaming? Was he hurt??" Why did he look so pleased with himself? Also, he could just...stop beckoning her over. She was NOT moving closer to that portal. It'd damaged her favorite people in this place.... I could just... go someplace not very pleasant, thank you very, VERY much.

...and more people had arrived, but they were a bit late to the party, given that the monster had moved on. Olivia kept her previous position through this all, watching and waiting for something more to happen. She was scared...and also wanting to run back upstairs. Gus hadn't returned to school with her due to a sickness he'd gotten, but she still had Nessarose. Her new cat!baby could've been in danger... GASP!?

"Blaise...we need to go..."

And see, even Professor Marchand was telling Livvy to get behind the shield. He could understand her hesitation. With the monster having retreated further into the castle, they weren't in any immediate danger, no real need anymore. Of course, if another monster decided to escape the portal it'd be another story entirely but right now...nope. Pretty safe. Pretty boring. This would never make it into the Daily Prophet. Why weren't they chasing after it? Why waste time casting spells at the monster that was no longer there? Practice?

Seeing the fear in Liv's eyes, the boy walked over to her, taking her hand in full support. "It'll be fine, Livvy. We've got two Professors and an escaping monster. We're safer here than wandering off. This is the only place we know for certain that it's not." But for the love of Merlin, someone tell him they WEREN'T staying here. "Think of it like a mini adventure before the big break." Adventures were fun, yeah? "I think I heard Rooney but he was gone before I got here. Might have gone for back up." Or run off hiding, you know, like how Rooneys did.

Blaise looked to his school mates once more, wondering when there would be a cease fire and everyone would realize it'd already gotten away. "I say we leave Tenacious here--with a Professor for a guardian because honestly...." They knew where this was going, he didn't need to finish. "In the mean time, we gotta find it before someone who doesn't know it's in the castle stumbles on it." They'd probably hear the screams and his quill miiiiiight have been able to be descriptive enough with just that but nothing beat being there in person. Nothing.

[spoiler] [/spoiler]

Why did he feel like he was always chasing his cousin. They decided on a walk since he was currently super bummed out. Did Blaise not hear when he said he was going to get his camera?

When he finally caught up with the fifth year boy, he was in a group....of people and Professors firing spells at.......what exactly?

He stopped by his cousin's side. "Ermm..what's everybody firing spells at?" Was this some sort of impromptu lesson or something? Gosh he wasn't in the mood for more lessons, especially outside of school time.

He nudged Blaise. "I told you to wait for me...I went back for my camera."

All of the spells casted at the creature had gone to waste. Everyone's reactions were too slow for the wickedly fast beast. It was already gone, making its way further into the castle on a mission to feed itself.

Why are you all waiting here? There is a monster on the loose!

Rooney had alerted her on the situation and Kay managed to rush to the sixth floor as quickly as she could. She could hear shouts as she ran for the portal; various spells being cast. She arrived just in time to see a monster taking off for the Castle in general.

GOOD GRACIOUS!

What the heck was that thing?

“Cami, Gaston! We can’t let it get away.’’ And neither could they let the younger students go after it. “We need the other Professors too and someone needs to get the younger ones away to safety.’’ Had Rooney gotten the other staffers? Had someone else had?

Whatever the case, they had to get going now! Kay didn’t want to think what would happen if that thing met any of the kids...

Kane watched with wide eyes as the monster scurried off, seemingly unaffected by all the spells they had been sending at it. GAHHH. Just great! The monster was probably on the hunt - and probably on the hunt for his BROTHER! After all, the monster had encountered him in the portal - what if he had had a sniff of Brent Westwood and wouldn't rest until he got a taste of him too?!

HE HAD TO WARN HIM!

"THERE IT GOES!" Kane exclaimed, running out of the protection of the shield spell and down the hallway, having pretty much NO idea where he was going or what trail he was following, but knowing that staying HERE wouldn't do any good. Two seconds later, he was gone.

Leon watched as his spell didn't even get close to the creature and it was off! Racing through the castle at top speed and the Ravenclaw was right behind it.. well not right behind it..

Dang thing was fast though and the usually agile and fast seventh year found himself looking helplessly around.. He was usually so adroit at figuring out what was happening.. He was a Ravenclaw after all..

But this..

This was beyond his wildest imagination..

He watched as a younger boy raced past him and Leon was right on his heels.. "Wait up! We can't just go chasing off after that thing.. "

And without moments.. the tall grey eyed boy was gone as well. '