Bulletin Board

[Zoe]

Atop the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall along the corridor that will direct you to the moving staircases, you stumble across a long, horizontal cork bulletin board that is encased in glass. Here you will find an array of notices and signs, stick up by tacks and push-pins, that are meant for the entire student body to read. Anything from requests, advertisements, lost and found notices, and gentle reminders can be viewed for all eyes to see.

If you have something you would like to add to this colourful, paper-filled board, you are more than welcome to do so. Simply slide over the glass surrounding the board (it is never locked) and stick on the board whatever it is you wish for everyone to know. Having this board for your use is a privilege, not a right, so use it responsibly. Any crude drawings or messages will result in the bulletin board crumpling them up and throwing your balled notice at your face, giving you a deep paper cut, before you even have a chance to slide the glass back to its original place.

On the ceiling above, an ominous red hawk glistens. Even though the blood has been there for a while and should be dry, it still looks as if the walls are bleeding and keeping this mysterious hawk alive. Why hasn't anyone managed to clean this mess up? Will it ever go away? And, most importantly, what does it even mean?

[hermionesclone]

It wasn't the time to say it but the 'Do Not Cross' tape was very much appreciated, especially since the crowd around the board was growing as time ticked on. They probably couldn't stop people from crowding around there, not when the Entrance Hall was the gateway to so many other areas of the castle and grounds, but as long as no one came near the dripping sign or got hurt, that's all that mattered.

Luckily, Tristan didn't take long to arrive on the scene. "Tristan," he said, giving the man a nod and watching him get to work. Maybe it was because of what it could mean but he was very much hoping that the blood up there wasn't a human's blood. It raised the possibility of someone being hurt or in some kind of danger and that didn't sit well at all.

While Tristan got to work, his ears picked up on the conversation about it being some kind of Halloween joke. Eyes went from Mr Kowalski to Mr Carter, Emmeline and Miss Primeaux before landing on the dripping sign again. "I very much doubt it's a prank. No one would use blood, really. Ketchup, maybe, but blood?" he said, looking back at the group again, "But if it is, it's a very sick joke." Pause. "Funny timing, though, isn't it?" Halloween and all.

But then Emmeline asked a question that made the man pause. "That," he said slowly, "is a very good question. Brooms comes to mind first. Or levitating whatever they used to get the blood." Frown. "Which raises another question." At this, he looked around at the group at large and asked, "Did anyone see anything funny while they were here? Anyone acting weird? Any spots of blood anywhere else?"

Hirsch wasn't sure whether Tristan's confirmation made him feel better or not. It was a relief to hear that this wasn't from a human being, or worse a student, but a rodent?! "Who would do something like that to a rodent?!" They weren't anyone's favourite creatures, sure, but.... really? And Tenacius raised a good point about the quantity of rodents used for something like this. As for the question about the Headmistress.... "And I've sent her a patronus as well," he chimed in after Emmeline.

The sound of one of the students talking to him made him turn his head in her direction. "That's really nice of you, Miss Primeaux, but there's not a lot to do until the Headmistress gets here." Pause. "You don't have any blood on you, do you?" Tergeo was going to be a very useful spell right about now.

[Zoe]

Did somebody call for the headmistress?

Briskly walking down the moving staircases from the second floor after receiving Roderik's Patronus and being met by Patrick Dooley at the gargoyle, the woman finally made her appearance. Of course, she wasn't surprised that a crowd had formed. There were always crowds when something was going amok. Gently placing hands upon shoulders and nudging them to the side, Regina slowly but surely made her way forward. "Headmistress coming through. ... Excuse me. ... Please move aside."

Eyes glanced over at Roderik and Tristan as she approached the barricade tape, though she didn't greet them. Her gaze quickly fell upon the puddle of blood that had formed on the floor and then up at the animal that had been painted on the ceiling above. A hawk? Lines appeared across the woman's forehead, a sign that she was trying to figure out what it could possibly mean. This had to be a message for something.

But nothing was coming to her mind. Absolutely nothing.

She remained silent for a few moments before pulling herself out of deep thought. Her eyes shifted over to the faces present in the corridor. After taking a breath to collect herself, she said, "I know some of you probably want to offer your assistance, but right now I need everyone to go to their respective dormitories as a safety precaution. Prefects, please make sure that everyone in your House is present and accounted for. Stay vigilant." She didn't want to say why, though it was probably obvious that whoever did this was still out there. Somewhere.

With that said, she then turned her body toward the adults that were present. "Thank you for getting here quickly, Roderik and Tristan." Regina then glanced up at the bloody hawk again and quietly added, "Is that ... please tell me it's not human."

[Watson]

A Halloween joke? Vi turned to glance at Flynn who had appeared suddenly. This guy somehow made her.... She glanced at him, trying to determine how exactly she felt about the Slytherin. Trouble was brewing near him. She tried not to frown. Somehow she had the funniest feeling.. A sneaking suspicion perhaps...? No this surely wouldn't have been him... She'd keep a wary eye on him.

That thought was brushed away when Professor Wayland arrived and said that the blood was rodent blood. RODENT blood? Rats... Mice.... Gross. She crinkled her nose. When Ace spoke about the fact that it did seem like a lot blood, she paused. That did seem like a lot of blood. And who would do such a thing?

Before any more questions could be asked, the Headmistress had appeared. Oh thank Merlin. Maybe she'd know what was up..... but instead she was sending them all back to their dormitories where they would be safer. Though she felt uncomfortable about whoever did such a thing lurking about the castle. What would be next? Who would be next? And... What did this all mean? Would their be curfews now put in place to protect them from whatever thing lurked.... But could a creature do such a thing or was it a person...?

She nodded at the Headmistress' words of returning back to the common room, glancing at Emmeline. "We should head back to the Gryffindor Common Room," she smiled to the younger girl, then glanced at Ronan, and then glanced at Tenacius for a moment longer before she bit her lip. This was going to be a long night for sure.

[Sneakeh Cat]

Flynn tilted his head to the side as he looked up at the image on the wall, wondering why anyone would do that. He did not necessarily have a problem with blood, but what was the reason behind the hawk? He was more curious than anything. Glancing over at the boy who joined him (Ronan), he nodded at what he said in response to the open question.

Hmmmmmm.

He did notice that you moved behind him, Emmeline; however, he didn't mention it. If she thought he would protect her if something happened, well.... someone was going to be surprised with the outcome. Whether it was Emmeline or Flynn. "Just because it's real blood doesn't mean -" He stopped talking, moving his attention away from Hirsch, because he knew if he continued, he could possibly be labeled as a suspect. At the rate he was going this year, it would not surprise him if people started pointing their fingers at him.

It wasn't him; he did nothing.

He moved to the side when he felt a hand on his shoulder, which belonged to the Headmistress, who was quick to tell them to go back to their dorm. Of course, no surprise there.

His eyes darted to Olivia when he heard her voice. Should he go...? He kind of wanted to see what was going to happen.

[siriusblackliveson]

Patrick skidded to a halt as the head mistress met the growing crowd. Man he sure missed a bunch of the people coming up to the board while he was trying to find the headmistress. He wondered who would have done a thing like this, it seemed so out of place to use real blood for such a prank.

He glanced over at Flynn who he had met at the whomping willow and knew that he was often one to watch things like this go down. His brow knit together and he wondered if he knew someone who would do such a thing. He heard the headmistress say that they should go back to their respective common rooms, but he didn't want to miss anything. He was nosy and always wanting to know about everything and leaving wouldn't help him know everything.

[Suziella]

Tristan was so intently working out a few more spells it was a few moments before he responded to Emmeline and Roderik about whether or not the Headmistress had been summoned. He looked up at the pair, "Okay, Thank you Emmeline." He said with a small smile. "Hopefully she will be here soon." He said more towards Roderik than anyone.

He went back to that main vein of blood making it's way down the wall, hoping to discover more information about the type of rodent. "That it is Tenacious, that it is." It was too much really. He still wasn't able to get a specific species of rodent. It was too old to determine at this point.

Also overhearing the conversation between the students about this possibly being a prank, he looked over at the group talking, "As Professor Hirsch has said, this is no prank." His face was very grim, mostly because so many creatures had lost their lives so whoever did this could use their blood. It was sinister and evil. "I'm not sure who in this school would do this to any creature, Roderik, but I hope we can figure it out. It may be impossible though." He said answering the other man's question.

"That is a very good question Emmeline." One he would really like to know the answer to. There were many possibilities that Roderik was now explaining to them. His ears perked up, and he turned around to see if anyone would answer Professor Hirsch's question. If anyone had seen anything it would be extremely helpful, but he was sure that no one had seen anything. This blood was old and starting to congeal.

Finally, Regina had arrived, and he stepped away from the wall. There was just no way to know for sure what type of rodent this had come from. He watched as she sent the students away, and waited for them to leave before speaking. "Not a problem, Regina." He nodded once, before answering her question, "It isn't human. It is some species of Rodent, and a lot of them." His face was entirely too serious at this point. He was extremely upset that any creature would be harmed for something like this. At least it wasn't human, but it was still rather upsetting.

[Anna Banana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

"EWW! GROSS! GET IT OFF ME!" she screeched, reaching towards the first person near her (Maddie) and wiping her hand off on their robes. "Is that BLOOD!? EWW EWW EWWWWWW!"

EWWWWWWW.

"Yuck!" Maddie exclaimed, giving Scarlett a look. Now the first year was really covered in blood--first the blood that had dripped on her, and now the blood that Scarlett had just wiped all over her. Ughhh...she was going to be sick. Maddie felt her stomach turn a little flip, and then just like that...

...she vomited.

"Ughhh. I'm sorry," she said, apologizing to everybody. She had never seen so much blood in all her eleven years, and just to know it came from some unidentified rodent. "I feel really sick..." When everybody was instructed to go back to their common rooms, Maddie was more than happy to do just that. She just wanted to take a long, hot shower.

[littledhampir]

Thank goodness a professor was here. And it was Hirsch, too. He would know what to do. Olly smiled at Isa, thankful that she had gone to fetch him. He glanced at the stairs where Patrick had disappeared, hoping he'd return soon also. Preferably with the headmistress in tow. For the time being Hirsch had everything under control and Olly waited to see what he would say.

Crowd control, got it. Tenacious was already conjuring a 'do not cross' ribbon. Olly gave him a nod. Good idea. It kept the growing crowd back. Olly glanced over those who had been there originally. Those who had been dripped on. "Did anybody get that stuff on them and need it washed off?" Yes he knew at this point that it was blood but that sounded much creepier to say aloud. Even if it was just rodent blood.

Oh good, the headmistress was here. By this point things were looking pretty serious. There were three professors and a fairly large crowd. And then...a girl vomiting. Olly had to move out of the way to avoid getting it on his shoes. He quickly took out his wand and vanished the mess. Then he placed a hand on the girls shoulder. "It's alright. Come on, let's get you back to your common room." It was, after all, on the way back to the Slytherin common room. "Come on Slytherins, you heard the headmistress. To the common room, please." Olly himself lingered just a bit to make sure the rest of the Slytherins actually listened.

[Steelsheen]

'Did anyone see anything...'. The leonine lad could only shrug and look about the gathered crowd curiously, wondering if any of the students had any information. He came upon them way too late he thought, heck he wouldnt even be here had not been the hoopla about blood.

But now the Headmistress has arrived and Ace could only only be so smitten listen at her latest instruction. Awww nuts he was hoping to stick around for more of the action, even if all the only action they get to witness is a bit of Hogwarts-styled Sherlocking.

The Slytherins were being called together and although he KNOWS that his Lions still wants to stay, he had to do his duty "Ok Gryffindors, Headmistress' orders. Back to the Common Room we go--"

Oh good grief Maddie! Tenacius rushed to her side and quickly vanished the sick, definitely not needing any sympathetic puking what with the size of this crowd "Maddie, we'll drop you off at the Hospital Wing on our way up..." he reassured the young Puff as he nudged her gently to come with them.

[Lissy Longbottom]

Ok, and NOW there was puke.

Scarlett just blinked at the young girl as she promptly puked next to her - was it because of Scarlett? Or the hawk in general? She didn't get a chance to ask her, though, and instead blushed and mumbled a small apology at her. She hadn't meant to make her SICK. She hadn't meant to wipe blood on her at ALL really - it had been an impulsive reaction to the grossness.

Taking out her wand and performing a quick Scourgify on her hand, she stepped back - making sure she was out of the line of fire. She peered up at the ceiling again, dark eyebrows wrinkled as she tried to figure out what the heck it was exactly, and WHY it was there. Weird. SOOO weird.

Suddenly, all she wanted to do was head back to her dorm. She wanted to see her brother, because if creepy things were happening - again - she wanted to make sure he was safe and all that.

Without another word, she nodded at the Headmistress when she ordered them back to their common rooms, and she took off towards the kitchens.

[lazykitty]

Nope, he hadn't heard or seen anything weird. But the fact that it was real blood sent a chill down his spine, rodent or not. People usually didn't go to such lengths unless they were up to no good. Serious no good. Like, Batman is needed no good.

But, before he could continue down that thread of scary thoughts, the Headmistress showed up. And ordered them to their houses. Oh, he had wanted to stay. Feed his interest in investigations. He returned Olivia's glance, then glanced at the Slytherin beside him, before turning his eyes back to the Professor's and Headmistress. Aw, did they really hav-

Ew. Yep, time to go, seeing as someone had just vomited. Others were sure to be following any minute, and that was something he didn't want to see. So, he turned to follow Tenacius upstairs with one last glance at the Slytherin boy, now trying to figure out why he kept getting the weird looks. Ronan sure didn't get any bad vibes off him.

Anyway, time to focus on getting back up the stairs without tripping. Not that was something he usually did. And why did they have to escort the barfer? He made sure to position himself on the other side of the group from the girl, not to be mean, but so he himself wouldn't get sick.

[hermygirl]

Sam had just come in from the grounds, so she didn't know what had caused the commotion by the Bulletin Board. She did, however, hear the Headmistress talking about Prefects accompanying Houses back to their common rooms. At a quick glance, she didn't see Kitty or Kirk, so she stepped closer to the crowd hugging her Herbology book to her chest.

"I can take the Ravenclaws, Professors...Headmistress," she volunteered with a nod, and sent small smile to her Head of House.

It was only at Wayland's mentioning of rodent blood that she really paid attention to why the crowd had gathered. Her nose wrinkled as she looked up to the ceiling. Please say Ollie was still safe in her dorm...

[Jean Granger]

Sydney was walking up the marble staircase when she noticed the crowd gathered around the Bulletin Board. She wondered what had drawn so many people to the place... maybe it was a notice about an upcoming Hogsmeade weekend!

Wait, was that Headmistress Hawthorne?

Although she had been homeschooled for many years, the Hufflepuff knew "go back to your dormitories" was never a good sign. This was definitely not about a Hogsmeade weekend. Clearly something bad had happened here. She wanted to know what that was, but she was too short to see over the top of other people's head and jumping up and down to get a glimpse of it did not seem like a good idea.

What she did find out was that none of the Hufflepuff Prefects were here to boss the younger badgers around. "I can um, take the Hufflepuffs back to the Common Room as well." Sydney said, imitating the Sixth Year Ravenclaw (Sam) next to her. "Come on, guys! Let's go back to the dorms."

Hopefully she could ask some of the younger kids what had happened, because curiosity was KILLING her at the moment.

[Zoe]

Regina gave approving nods at the prefects and older students who said that they would escort their Housemates back to their common rooms. Getting everyone away from the scene was what needed to happen right now. It was time for the adults to take over the situation.

... and then there was vomit. The headmistress gave the first year a sympathetic look and look out her wand to vanish the girl's not-fully-digested supper before a chain reaction was started. Before she could wave her wand, however, they Gryffindor prefect was already cleaning up. "Thank you, Mr. Salander. Take ten points for quickly cleaning that mess up. And please do take Miss Kemp to the hospital wing for a Pepper-up Potion before she returns to her common room."

She watched as some did not waste time in leaving the scene. Those that lingered received a look that said off you go. Not leaving was not an option.

Her gaze returned to Tristan when he confirmed that the good was not human. A sigh of relief escaped her, though it was short-lived when the source of the blood was mentioned. Worry spread across her face as her eyes focused on the blood painted on the ceiling.

"We need to secure the castle and search for any signs that might lead us to whoever did this," she told Tristan and Roderik. The bloodless bodies of the rodents had to be somewhere, or maybe someone with blood-stained hands was hiding. "Prefects will be put in charge of roll call and keeping everyone in their common rooms until breakfast tomorrow. No one is to leave. I want everyone on staff to be patrolling the corridors and rooms tonight for anything. I'll get Sylvia to take care of this right away in the morning."

With that said, she placed her wand to her neck and made a school-wide announcement about everyone needing to return to their common rooms immediately listen to their prefects, and stay put -- or face the consequences. She then casted numerous Patronuses, sending a silver alligator to each of the staff members to secure the castle and search it from top to bottom.

[Sylvia Grimblehawk]

Sylvia got up bright an early, she had a very difficult task ahead of her: Removing rodent blood stains from stone walls. You would think it would be pretty easy, but getting blood stains out of anything was difficult, even with the special cleaning potion that she created herself. Blood was a difficult clean!

Sylvia quickly made her way to the Bulletin Board with her bucket of cleaning supplies and what looked like a doll sized ladder. How would that help her?
You'll see!

As soon as she got to the board she looked up at the ceiling and sighed. This was going to be extreme cleaning! She quickly set her bucket of supplies down, leaning the little ladder against the wall. With a flick of her wand, the ladder grew to not only human sized, but as long as she would need it to reach the Hawk shaped blood on the ceiling. She quickly levitated her bucket of cleaning supplies to a hook at the top of the ladder, letting it hang in the perfect place for her to reach it.

Sighing she began to climb. "These kids, Merlin bless them, are gonna be the death of me." Though the headmistress had told her it wasn't the kids that had done it, she still wholeheartedly believed it was them. But she wasn't going to sass the Headmistress. She was not the judge.

As soon as she got to the top of the ladder, she mixed her cleaning potions in the bucket and and soaked a scouring pad in the mixture. She pulled on her big hot pink rubber gloves, and got to work. She was scrubbing like the dickens! She was scrubbing so hard, her poofy hair was starting to deflate from all the movement! "This better work." She said to herself, hoping maybe someone would come and help her work on this. It was not a small job.

[Anna Banana]

Maddie honestly felt like she could vomit a second time, but it was only because she was covered in rat blood and there was vomit on her shoes. Everybody seemed pretty sympathetic about it, too. At least nobody got mad and yelled at her. She was just about to tell the Gryffindor prefect that she was fine with skipping the Hospital Wing and heading straight to take a shower, when the Headmistress agreed that she should see the Healer. A Pepper-up Potion, she had said.

"Okay, thanks Ace," she said, calling him the name she heard lots of others call him. "Thanks, everybody else, too." The professors and the Headmistress didn't seem to want them to stick around, and Maddie was perfectly okay with that. Not wanting to see another drop of rat blood, she turned on her heels and walked a few feet away, waiting for Ace to catch up.

[Jean Granger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sylvia Grimblehawk

Sylvia got up bright an early, she had a very difficult task ahead of her: Removing rodent blood stains from stone walls. You would think it would be pretty easy, but getting blood stains out of anything was difficult, even with the special cleaning potion that she created herself. Blood was a difficult clean!

Sylvia quickly made her way to the Bulletin Board with her bucket of cleaning supplies and what looked like a doll sized ladder. How would that help her?
You'll see!

As soon as she got to the board she looked up at the ceiling and sighed. This was going to be extreme cleaning! She quickly set her bucket of supplies down, leaning the little ladder against the wall. With a flick of her wand, the ladder grew to not only human sized, but as long as she would need it to reach the Hawk shaped blood on the ceiling. She quickly levitated her bucket of cleaning supplies to a hook at the top of the ladder, letting it hang in the perfect place for her to reach it.

Sighing she began to climb. "These kids, Merlin bless them, are gonna be the death of me." Though the headmistress had told her it wasn't the kids that had done it, she still wholeheartedly believed it was them. But she wasn't going to sass the Headmistress. She was not the judge.

As soon as she got to the top of the ladder, she mixed her cleaning potions in the bucket and and soaked a scouring pad in the mixture. She pulled on her big hot pink rubber gloves, and got to work. She was scrubbing like the dickens! She was scrubbing so hard, her poofy hair was starting to deflate from all the movement! "This better work." She said to herself, hoping maybe someone would come and help her work on this. It was not a small job.

She barely slept the previous night. When she heard about the rodent blood and the silhouette of a bloody hawk on the ceiling, Sydney wondered, for the first time, if she had made the right choice by coming to Hogwarts. She knew about all the crazy things that had happened in previous years, but she had thought the benefits of the school outweighed the dangers. Now, she wasn't so certain anymore.

Getting up early in the morning, the Seventh Year half-heartedly made her way to the ground floor. She definitely did not want to see any BLOOD, but she did need to get breakfast to start off her day. On her way past the Entrance Hall, she glanced up at the marble staircase, hoping the scary painting was gone... and saw the Caretaker, Ms Grimblehawk, scrubbing the walls clean. She could not help but feel a bit sorry for her - it must be hard work removing blood stains. With an involuntary shudder, she approached the woman.

"Good morning, Ms Grimblehawk." Sydney said with a small smile. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

[The Narrator]

The bucket of cleaning potions usually does the trick and the determined caretaker never leaves until the job is done.

However, no matter how hard she scrubs or how strong of a cleaning potion she uses, the blood on the ceiling is still hauntingly glistening from above. The red hawk seems unfazed. Something else will have to be done here.

Meanwhile, the blood stains are as clear as they were the night before...

[Sylvia Grimblehawk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jean Granger

She barely slept the previous night. When she heard about the rodent blood and the silhouette of a bloody hawk on the ceiling, Sydney wondered, for the first time, if she had made the right choice by coming to Hogwarts. She knew about all the crazy things that had happened in previous years, but she had thought the benefits of the school outweighed the dangers. Now, she wasn't so certain anymore.

Getting up early in the morning, the Seventh Year half-heartedly made her way to the ground floor. She definitely did not want to see any BLOOD, but she did need to get breakfast to start off her day. On her way past the Entrance Hall, she glanced up at the marble staircase, hoping the scary painting was gone... and saw the Caretaker, Ms Grimblehawk, scrubbing the walls clean. She could not help but feel a bit sorry for her - it must be hard work removing blood stains. With an involuntary shudder, she approached the woman.

"Good morning, Ms Grimblehawk." Sydney said with a small smile. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Sylvia had been scrubbing away, and nothing seemed to be helping this blood stain. She added more cleaning potions to the mixture, hoping it would help, when she heard a voice talking to her. She turned her head to look over and see who it was. Low and behold it was sweet Sydney!

"OH, hey there darling! Good morning! Aren't you up bright and early?" Students were never up this early in the morning. But she didn't mind the company! "Well, you see the blood drops along the wall down there? They could use some scrubbing." She quickly climbed down her ladder, and with a flick of her wand a second bucket appeared. She pulled out more of the potions from the various pockets on the apron that she always wore. "Now, pour a couple of these into some water, I trust you know how to get water, and give it a good mix, and you can start scrubbing!" She handed the young girl another scouring pad.

"Thank you so much! It's so sweet of you to help! I"ll make sure you get some extra points for helping me." Sylvia said with a wink. Though in the pit of her stomach she had a feeling this blood was going nowhere. The Hawk on the ceiling hadn't budged and she had been scrubbing for a good half hour now at least. But she wouldn't give up. It was her job to make sure the castle was as shiny as a diamond and she was determined to make sure that darn blood came off of that wall!

[Argyle]

News had made it to the kitchens of a mess on the Ground Floor. From the previous evening. No one told elvesies until time had passed…musta figured they could handle it. Yep…must be it. But Argyle wanted to check it out…see what happened when masters and mistresses cleaned. See if she could help. So armed with a trusty scrub brush, she appeared with a pop, taking note of a young girl and Mistress House-elf on a ladder trying to clean.

“Mistresses!!” she let out as she scrambled closer to the duo. “Argyle help clean…” See…she dips her brush in the pail of cleaning potions on the floor to get it all wet and sudsy. Her eyes going wide as she looked up to the main stain on the ceiling. Too tall for an elf to reach from the ground.

[Sneakeh Cat]

Flynn had slept in - what was new? - and was very late shuffling his way to breakfast. This was a normal morning for him, so it did not phase him at all that he would be arriving into the Great Hall around the same time that people would be leaving to go to class. Just like always, he would say hello to his friends then make his way to the kitchens for a gluten free bagel before his first class. It was like this practically every morning.

Sleep is, and will forever be, greater than breakfast.

As he entered the entrance hall, he remembered the blood on the wall, and his curiosity peaked. He redirected himself to that area and stopped a few feet away from some Hufflepuff he didn't know (Sydney) and Ms Grimblehawk. He tilted his head, examining the eagle once more, and stated, "It looks the same as it did last night." He noticed her cleaning bucket and furrowed his brows. It was obvious Ms. Grimblehawk had been cleaning it because the wall was wet from the cleaning solution. Weird....

He then noticed the House Elf. Argyle, right? He could never remember their names, but he also never really felt the need to since they always referred to themselves in third person. He would be reminded of the name soon enough.

[Steelsheen]

The leonine lad made his way down towards the Entrance Hall again, given that his plans got waylaid with the emergency from the day before. He thought of passing by the bulletin board and half expected the crimson eyesore to be nothing more than a faint stain--

-- but there it still was, as bright and as bloody as the day before.

"Hey everyone..." he greeted the cleaners and the other two students gathered around it as he continued to survey their work. A House Elf and the Hogwarts Caretaker knows a thing or two about making messes disappear, but it seems like nothing was happening to the vandalized ceiling "Blood doesnt even look discolored is it?" usually exposure to air after a time would darken blood stains "It looks like its just been painted on, just like yesterday...."

Painted. What if...? "Ms Grimblehawk, have we actually figured out if the blood was painted on? I mean..... what if the blood is actually bleeding from the ceiling? I mean it looks so new and no matter how much you scrub its still there."

[Watson]

Vi hadn't been able to sleep really the night before. She had spent many of those hours at night, lying in her bed and just staring at the ceiling, before she had moved to the common room to sit by the fireplace. Fortunately she had brought a book with her which had helped her calm her nerves a little.

As she was heading down the staircase, she spotted Ace, Flynn, and a Hufflepuff girl (Sydney) near the caretaker and house elf. Argyle, wasn't it? "Hello!" she said with a smile not even bothering to look at the bulletin board because she figured it would be gone. Then she saw the hawk that was still as blood red as it had been before. Her smile dropped and she just stared at it. HOW? How was it still there? Had the blood stained the wall? She had walked closer to the group when she had heard Ace suggest that the ceiling was bleeding? Her blue eyes glanced up at the ceiling and she bit her lip. The very thought.... It unnerved her. She clutched her arms closer to her, hugging them around her, and stood close to Tenacius.

She looked up at the ceiling and then spoke, "From the ceiling? Is the castle... bleeding? Surely blood can't seep between stone..." Was Hogwarts... dying? Some sort of curse?

[NifflerFan]

The case of the Blood Bird was the first real mystery to happen at Hogwarts during Emmeline's time there so far. She wished that it wasn't such a sad or scary one, buuut she kind of wanted to solve it EVEN MORE ever since Professor Wayland said that it was creature blood on the ceiling. That was practically asking her to get involved, mhm.

Emmeline had had some interesting dreams the night before, and she knew that loads of her Housemates were worried about this whole blood bird thing. Which naturally made her more worried 'cause the older kids had been here when there was a monster attack and stuff. So the twelve-year-old was going to proceed with caution for her investigation -- but she was totally still going to investigate. And why not? Harry Potter and his group of superhero Gryffindor friends had solved a huuuuge mystery at Hogwarts in their veeeery first year. That was definitely solid proof that kids could be useful too, mhm. Plus, even though this Blood Bird mystery was all sad and scary and stuff, there was NO way that it could compare to the Chamber of Secrets being reopened or something.

She was kind of disappointed to see that there was already a crowd of students hanging out around the bulletin board, though allll of them 'cept for one Hufflepuff girl had been here the night before. Emmeline waved and said, "Hiiiii!" to everyone before craaaaning her neck up to get a proper view of the blood bird. Which didn't seem to be reacting to Ms. Caretaker's potions at ALL.

Oh and there was Mr. Argyle the house elf too!! Emmeline BEAMED at the elf and asked gently, "Umm excuse me, Mr. Argyle, but can I help you?" 'Cause she figured he was trying to help Ms. Caretaker clean the blood off and stuff, but he was a liiiiittle too small to get up the ladder by himself. She wasn't opposed to helping clean up the mess, either, 'cause it was interesting that Ms. Caretaker's potions weren't working. Plus, she could get a closer look at the blood that way, mhm. Not that she really knew what she was looking for, but it didn't hurt to try!

[Toddles]

Toddles had heards about the commotion by the board when the news had swept through the kitchens. Blood on the wall? Today, he had been sitting in the kitchen, watching as his fellow elvsies ran around preparing dishes. He stayed quiet until the right moment and then slipped out to go explore the blood on the wall. Curious, he was. Though that curiosity usually got him into trouble. He grabbed two sponges and a bucket of soapy water and then... *POP* Appeared in front of the bulletin board.

"Toddles can helps Argyle," said he. Toddles was being a good house elfie. He totally wasn't here out of his own desires. "Mistresssss!" he nodded to the caretaker and then glanced at the other studentsies. He gave them a brief smile before gazing up at the blood on the ceiling. His round eyes grew to be as big as saucers and his mouth dropped. "Toddles doesn't think that Argyle and Toddles can reachs that...." Unless they stood on each other's shoulders or asked for the studentsies help to stand on their shoulders and makes a ladder?