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

Seriously.

Junia looked up from her script and raised her eyebrows. Was the mere act of performing too much for Skylar? Because the fifth year would be happy to step in and take her place.

...

That wasn't nice. Sky was her friend, after all. Even if she was her competition, too. Also, Junia understood the whole feeling the pressure thing. Fifth year stress was REAL. She wasn't about to fetch water, though. Sorry.

Luckily others had the problem under control and the brunette continued being a waste of space and staring at a script she didn't really need, considering her part was so small.

Ugh.

Wait wait wait…. Was Skylar acting or no? The Ravenclaw couldn’t really tell and by the looks of it either could anyone else. Juni looked around and then at Professor Myers. Maybe someone, an adult should get up there.

Soon professor Myers was up there, and taking over. Okay, she felt much better now that people were reacting. But if this was acting, Skylar deserved a golden globe, thought Juni was sure by now this wasn’t acting.

Luckily Jessa was already conjuring a cup and getting water.

Then Myrle and Zoryn happened and all Juni could do was roll her eyes. Jealous drama queens, yes? Yep this was a dramatic drama club. How much trouble would she be in if she threw a full body binding curse at Zoryn? At this point she wouldn’t care, since the girl was just super annoying to her.

ummmmm....

Flynn was so confused on whether Skylar was okay and playing the party very well, or if she was actually having a hard time breathing....

Should he say his line now? Surely THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

He opened his mouth to say his line until Professor Myers came to the stage, and his mouth instantly shut close. Did this mean practice was over? He had practiced his lines ALL WEEKEND, and he may not even be able to get to shine today?! Ugh.

He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Skylar. He hoped she was okay, really, but he was still agitated.

What happened to "the show must go on" saying? Hm? HMMM?

*SOB, SOB* Myrtle was MAD! As if being cast in a measly background role wasn't insulting enough... Now she had to watch these insensitive people making a mockery of death. Well, she WAS NOT going to stand for it! She was crying even louder now, and...

WAIT! Why was nobody paying attention to her?! Didn't they know she had something VERY IMPORTANT to say?!?!?! "STOP i-ignoring me a-and listen!"

Then that annoying little Gryffindor (Zoryn) spoke and made Myrtle even angrier. SO MEAN! "NO! You're r-ruining the play! Y-you and your STUPID e-earthquake!"

Now the blue-eyed professor (Gaston) was talking to her. She wasn't buying his story about not asking her to spare her feelings AT ALL, but at least her wasn't IGNORING her or SNAPPING at her. "T-they're making fun of m-me! Of m-my DEATH!" *SNIFF, SNIFF* *WIBBLE, WIBBLE*

Wait... she wasn't supposed to collapse just yet? Yes she was really exhausted, but somehow she'd misread the cues and thought she was meant to be heavily breathing at the start of the scene, which apparently she was. But not yet....

...

And Myrtle was going about disrespecting death? What?! So dramatic ... also, could she like langlock Zoryn, because calling attention for fake earthquakes, really? And she called out Myrtle on ruining the whole play.

"I'm ... I'm good... really," she muttered to Myers and an appreciative nod at Jessa for conjuring water. "I just mixed things up. I'm okay ... no water though... I'm meant to be exhausted and drained, wait, i AM, right?!"

"Thank you, Jessa," he said as he handed the water over to Skylar. "Nonsense. Drink it. Just because you should be ACTING - and see, the key word is ACTING - fatigued does not mean you should actually feel that way. Do you need to sit out this practice?" he wouldn't mind. One of the backups could grab a script and try their best...so that the practice could go on. And in an actual show, he would need one of them to stop up if Skylar got sick anyway.

"I'm trusting you to be completely honest with how you currently fe----"

MYRTLE.

PAUL HAD HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH HER. He whipped around, his blue eyes on FIRE as he gestured at her. "Myrtle, that is ENOUGH. If you cannot be quiet while we practice and figure things out....you. are. OUT. I am NOT kidding!" He gave Gaston an irritated look. There was no use in trying to "connect" or "make deals" with Myrtle. He regretted his NICE decision, honestly, all those months ago.

AND ZORYN SPINNET. Paul was feeling more patient with her because honestly, he was having a hard time not laughing at her earthquake rendition. His mouth twitched. "Zoryn...I love the Earthquake. Unfortunately, it isn't the script. You can certainly give this scene an interpretive GROUND dance, if you like, and if I deem it WORTHY, you can totally do it the night of the play. So show me what you've got...." he said gently before moving back. "Skylar, if you're feeling okay....we're months into practicing, you should know your cues by now, m'dear. Come on!" he clapped a few times and went back to his spot in front of the stage, no longer sitting as he watched the action on stage. "Jessa, if you will say your line again!"

Derf hiding went unnoticed by Paul, as did much of the other stuff. HE HAD A PLAY TO GET RUNNING, OKAY?

*SOB, SOB* *WIBBLE, WIBBLE* Myrtle looked at the blue-eyed professor (Gaston), pearly ghost tears running down her transparent cheeks. "T-they're doing it WRONG!" she sobbed. "Dying i-isn't all l-long and dramatic like that. I-it's more -"

OH, NO! HE DID NOT JUST TALK TO HER LIKE THAT!!! That's it. She was DONE! Last time she held her tongue, but now she WOULD NOT stay silent!

She burst into loud tears and flew right up to Professor Paul to give him a piece of her mind. "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY?!?! I know, l-let's all YELL at p-poor miserable m-moaning Myrtle because she's DEAD! Well, i-in case YOU h-hadn't noticed, GHOSTS HAVE F-FEELINGS TOO!"

*SOB, SOB* *WAIL* "Oh, and b-by the way, I QUIT!!!"

And with that, she gave a mournful wail and sped away.

Zoryn was about to throw another ill-timed retort at the sobbing mess that was Moaning Satan Myrtle, but Professor Marchand had sorta stopped her from doing so. Whatever. Zoryn didn’t have time for ghosts, she was in the middle of ACTING. Whiiiiiiiiich ended very shortly as Professor Myers decided to interrupt her beautiful natural disaster scene.

“I’d like to think of the script as open to interpretation, sir,” she explained. BUT the idea of an interpretive ground dance did sound appealing and much more beautiful than whatever the heck she was doing before. So with that in mind, the Gryffindor adjusted her running to do a dance instead. AND every scene had the ground in it (technically) right?!?! Soooooo maybe her role was actually the most important of all and lines didn’t really matter?

HA. TAKE THAT @ EVERYONE.

And then Myrtle quit. “I CAN DO HER PARTS TOO, PROFESSOR!” Zoryn called dibs.

Watching the rehearsal, Rosalyn couldn't help but feel proud of all the students who were participating in the play. The sets looked AMAZING. Everyone was working so hard and things were going very smoothly.

... That was until Skylar seemed to take a turn for the worse and Myrtle happened. Before she could do anything, Professor Myers had taken care of things, and it was a great relief to know that the girl was okay. It would have been absolutely terrible to have anyone feeling ill. Gaston didn't seem to be having any luck with calming Myrtle though, as the ghost wanted to quit due to everyone being ghostist... if that was even a word. "Of course we know you have feelings Myrtle. If-" Before she could finish, the ghost had sped off.

If Zoryn wanted to take over for Myrtle she was all for it, though of course the decision laid with Paul so she remained silent on the matter.

Gaston's eyes flicked toward the stage. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but Miss Diggory appeared to be feeling better now, which he was very relieved to see. He'd been worried about her! It looked like Paul was handling that well, so he turned his attention to the distraught ghost.

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. He didn't believe it was anyone's intention to make fun of Myrtle or death, but somehow he didn't think pointing that out to her was going to go over well. He simply nodded in reply. "It's alright, Myrtle," he said. "Just tell me what'w wrong, and I'll try to fix it..." He listened carefully as she started to tell him how she thought dying should be portrayed. Now they were getting somewhere (or maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part)!

Before he could make any real progress with Myrtle, Paul was shouting at her. "Paul..." he began, hoping to calm him down before things escalated further. He knew that tone was only going to upset Myrtle even worse, and (what a shock!) he was right! Before he could try to do any damage control, Myrtle flew away - but not before completely letting Paul have it.

For several moments, Gaston stood frozen to the spot, his eyes darting from Paul to the place Myrtle had once been, unable to fathom what just happened. He could've expected that reaction from any professor at Hogwarts, but not Paul! Paul was one of the kindest people he knew... or so he always thought. Now he wasn't sure how to feel. He was concerned (for Myrtle and Paul) and shocked and hurt, but mostly he was confused! No matter how he tried to justify it, he still thought that was out of line, and he had every intention of telling Paul so... but he didn't. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because he thought Myrtle already got he point across. Maybe it was because he didn't trust Paul not to lash out at him, or maybe it was simply because he had enough compassion not to call him out in front of everyone.

Instead of speaking, Gaston returned Paul's irritated look with one of quiet disappointment and sidled back over to his orchestra. He needed more time to process his conflicting emotions, but that was a luxury he didn't have right now. He'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't even registered Rosalyn trying to talk to Myrtle or Miss Spinnet offering to take over her part or the other students (Junia, Flynn, And Juni) standing around. It was finally seeing Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne balled up that brought him back to reality. He cautiously approached him. "Is everything okay, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne?" he asked, looking at him with concern. "Why are you hiding?"

So his initial reaction had been correct. Skylar had been acting. Honestly, she should look at that as a future career, because she was very good at it, obviously.

Then Professor Myers blew up again. Only this time, it was at Moaning Myrtle who, if you asked him, had been asking for it. And at the professor's request she was gone. He almost wanted to clap, but Professor Myers seemed to be on edge. So that probably wouldn't have been a very good idea. Instead Ronan returned to his seat (when had he stood up?) and started watching the stage again. What, he did need to know the blocking for this scene in case his services as understudy were needed.

So then........was she.....not gonna be saying the line again.....?

Jessa remained silent, watching the scene before her explode into theatrics far beyond anything called for in the drama club. Blue eyes moved from the obviously distraught ghost to the Professors trying to appease her and even Zoryn trying to take her place. Wiggling in on a possible opportunity at the cost of someone else. Kid could've been a Slytherin.

But as far as Jessa could see, this was a whole ton of setbacks that the Ravenclaw didn't need in her life.

Ignoring the others for now, she turned to Professor Myers again. "I don't mean to be rude, Professor, but is there anyway we can move this along? I know Myrtle's upset and all but....the show has to go on..." And she didn't wanna botch her potion.

Wait -- she shouldn't actually feel that way? But she was a fifth year; taking way too many classes and extracurriculars that one person should have to take and dealing with way too many emotions and feels right now. And yet she wanted this. She was stoked to have been cast as one of the leading ladies and she could do this. Her sister had gone to WADA; not for acting, but still, she just had to put everything aside and drink the water. This was still in rehearsal; missing of cues and lines were best left here than during the actual show, weren't they?

Even if it might have been good for an understudy to step in to see how it felt, just in case something horrific happened that she couldn't actually play her role. But she wasn't going to think about that. Myers had a shouting match with Myrtle and Myrtle shouted back and then Myrtle quit?! Which had almost overshadowed the fact that Myers had said for Jessa to say her line again.

Sip of water and returning to the center of the stage with a fervent nod and silent glance around at Juni, Jessa, and Flynn. She could do this, but apparently Jessa missed Myers saying for her to say her line again? Stage whisper to the Ravenclaw, "He said for you to say your line again."

Paul, what little patience he had left, was quickly running out of IT. Myrtle quitting was a blessing. Don't let the door hit ya'----wait, she was a ghost, so...YEAH, DON'T LET THAT GHOST DOOR HIT YA' ON YOUR WAY OUT, MYRTLE. "Thaaaaaaaank Merlin," Paul watched her float out and ignored Gaston entirely. If he had EVER been involved in a production before, he'd understand that the director usually got SNIPPETY the closer to GAME DAY they got. And Paul was at his wits' end!

At least Zoryn was happy. That was a small victory.

JESSA CAMBRIDGE. "Miss Cambridge, I said to go ahead with your line. Let's GO--" was she not LISTENING? PAUL WAS ABOUT TO THROW HIS DAMN CLIPBOARD.

But he didn't. He thought of a large, hearty drink waiting for him at the Three Broomsticks later, and he felt a LOT better. Something bubbly, perhaps. "Go go go GO--" he flapped his arms.

Yes Skylar, she had heard the Professor say she needed to say the line again, but with all the dramatic yelling and the way the set's attention seemed so unevenly divided, Jessa wasn't sure they'd have even heard it. How would anything get done in all this confusion? How was anyone expected to concentrate let alone deliver lines?

Jessa stared blankly at the Hufflepuff Head of House for several silent moments after he'd yelled at her, wondering why he felt it a good idea to take out his frustrations on her when it was literally practically everyone else that had so far been hindering the rehearsal she just kept praying would hurry along.

"I guess it is time we decide who gets to bathe in the Fountain." She said flatly, looking now to her co-actors who were up on stage with her.

She didn't appreciate the tone and she didn't appreciate his inability to function in a stressful situation. His tension made her tense and it was just all around a bad combination.

But there, the line had been said.

Whoaaaaa….

Geez Myrtle was being so so extra right now. She did understand but no one was making fun of her or anyone’s death. The ghost was just being dramatic. Honestly she was too dramatic for drama club. Maybe next term they could do Hogwarts the musical and just act as themselves and do all improv

Well at least Skylar was okay. Or she guessed she was anyway. Juni was glad that she was okay but she really really wanted to get back to working on the play.

It must’ve caught her off guard, only on a few occasions had she heard Professor Myers raise his voice. But this time it made her jump and make a small squeak. Annnd more drama with Myrtle, which made her quit. Great. Don’t let the door hit ya.

Not that the door could hit her, but still bye Felicia. NOW could they get back to the play?

Yes.

Finally. They were getting back to the play, Now they were just waiting on Jessa. Ummm Jessa Myers said to go. Though she didn’t hear Myers tell her himself. No wonder all the yelling, crying and chaos that had just happened who could think… or hear properly?

Jessa said her line for the first line of the scene then Juni looked over at Finn and nodded in agreement. Easy peasy.

Props! The sixth year Ravenclaw had a box of them. Well, some specific and carefully crafted pieces to replace the destroyed ones, anyways.

Dressed all in black, Sam moved quietly around the auditorium, careful to avoid the bright lights of the stage, as would be normal of a stage hand. She was looking for the props' intended owners. Except looking would actually be a rather poor description of her behaviour; her eyes were blank, staring straight ahead, unreactive to what was going on around her...especially not the drama on stage. Strange for someone usually so alert. And if one were to look carefully, they'd notice her movement wasn't as lithe or light-footed as usual.

Sam first found Juniper, passing the younger Ravenclaw an oddly shaped staff made out of a finely polished wood, currently wrapped in protective paper. The paper itself wasn't fancy, just the thin recycled sort - like blank newspaper without the print, or the stuff fish and chips sometimes came wrapped in. She didn't utter a word to explain what it was, or which scene it was to be used for, just continuing onwards with her task...her blank expression remaining intact.

Next she found Junia. The object she pulled out of her box this time was much smaller and round, fitting easily in the palm of the hand even with the tissue paper wrapped round it to keep it safe. Contained within the layers was a crystal brooch - although again, the Ravenclaw didn't give anything away as to what the Slytherin should expect. Her gaze refused to make eye contact, instead staring unblinkingly at some unknown point in the distance as she silently moved on.

She had one last thing to pass out for now...but where was Emmeline? She wandered around back stage to no avail, before making her way back out discretely along the side of the set so as not to disturb the rehearsal. Maybe she should give the wrapped necklace to Myers to look after instead? She stood at the side of the stage, waiting for him to step back from the action and see her.

Flynn was very much in La La Land thanks to the potion he took earlier this morning to get him through this audition without wanting to hex anyone into oblivion.... aka Myrtle... aka RONAN.... and don't even get him started on Derf. So, he had managed to stay on the sidelines as the whole episode took place on stage, but he did feel the effects washing away, which resulted in his rolling his eyes at Professor Myers when he started ALL THE BLOODY YELLING.

"Oh, we're starting over now? Wonderful." Sarcasm bleeding from his tone.

He waited until the other lines were said, and he gave his nod to Juni.

Looking over to Asha, he cried out, "MY LADY!" He rushed over to Jessa to lift her up whenever the other two got around to joining him.

As if the drama on stage wasn't enough, now Sam was approaching her and the very last thing Junia wanted to do was have another awkward run-in with the girl. She'd broken her best friend's heart into pieces and having to witness the Gryffindor put herself back together was breaking Junia's heart. Of course it left her feeling some kind of way about the older girl. How could she not?

"I don't think I'm meant to have any props, Sa-" Hello? Junia frowned as the sixth year moved on without so much as a head nod in acknowledgement. That was quite rude. Wrong, too. What could she possibly need with this...well, what even was it? The fifth year carefully unwrapped the tissue paper on the top, revealing the crystal brooch. It looked vintage-something she imagined her late grandmother might've worn. It had to be for a costume, didn't it? Though not hers. She would be stuck wearing something to blend in with the others, no doubt. Shaking her head, she reached down and delicately plucked the brooch out of her palm, leaving the tissue paper behind. It was quite pret-

Blue-green eyes were blown wide, looking but no longer really seeing what was around her as her body slumped to the ground, arms and legs falling unnaturally around her as if she were a broken doll. Her limbs jerked as if electrified for only a brief moment and then went eerily still, her mouth open and stretched in a silent scream for help as the crystal brooch slid from her hand onto the floor.

As much as he loved dRAMA and ACTING and PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE ELSE and all of everything, Abey had to admit... learning lines was a real struggle. It was just... first there was all of the reading and then there was all the REMEMBERING and his brain didn't seem to be wired to do any of that very well, which really wasn't fair actually. He worked hard though, really hard, actually he put more effort into learning his lines and committing them to memory than he did for his actual schoolwork.

Probably because school was terrible and homework was terrible and every academic thing ever was terrible and it very quickly demoralised young Abraham Botros. At least with ACTING - like with MUSIC and with ART - if he tried hard at it he actually ended up doing well at the end and feeling good about himself.

So, basically, Abey didn't have any problems at all with doing what he was told during the play practices. He always spent his time there working on his lines, because he had about a million of them. The best part? Even though it was stress, it was a kind of stress that didn't make him feel like the world was going to end or anything, which was a really really rEALLY nice change actually.

While the others worked on rehearsing a scene that he wasn't part of, Abey had taken it upon himself to take up a seat right at the back of the room, away from distractions, and even away from Derf (though actually he had considered sitting by him just because he wanted to at every opportunity, but had quickly changed his mind when he caught sight of what was definitely homework in his friend's hands). And that was where he was through all of the drama on stage, through the yells of 'EARTHQUAKE' and Myrtle hysterics and all of the things, concentrating so intensely that he remained fairly removed from all of it, looking over only when the yelling got so loud that he couldn't help but glance over at the proceedings.

For maximum focus, Abey sat with his feet pulled up onto his seat so that his knees were eye level, and palms pressed flat over his ears, so as to muffle all the rehearsal noises but not to block out sound completely, because he needed to be able to hear when Professor Myers needed the narrators onstage. He stared straight ahead, brow furrowed in concentration as he dramatically mouthed his lines at speed, aiming to get a full run-through without a single mistake or hesitation. He'd managed it a few times in the entire time since first getting the script, but now he was determined to do so at least seven times in a row.

The-three-witches-and-the-knight-then-set-off-down-the-hill-together, arm-in-arm, and-all-four-led-long-and-happy-lives. (pauseGRINchuckle) And, ironically-enough, none-of-them-ever-knew-or-suspected-that-the-Fountain's-waters-carried-no-enchantment-at-all.

As he reached the final line of the final scene of the final act, Abey finally took a breath; it was strange how even just mouthing the words and sort-of-acting was sort of tiring, though he supposed he needed to stop holding his breath while he did so.

Given he'd reached the end of his personal run-through, Abey took the opportunity to take a very short break. He took his hands away from his ears, stretched out his arms and back, and watched the others in the room for a time, taking in everyone and trying to work out if he had time for another private run-through. He had just ascertained that, actually, he maybe did, and was about to cover his ears again to start over when-...

...

....... Junia.

Panic gripped Abey's heart at the sight of his cousin as she slumped to the ground and... well... did that. His breath caught in his throat as he leapt to his feet, and then suddenly he was bolting towards her.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Abey heard the screamimg - high-pitched and terrified and fraught with emotion - before he realised it was coming from him. What was wrong? What was WRONG? Was she DEAD? WAS SHE DEAD?! "JU-UNIA-AAA!" Sobbing was happening.

OKAY. Good times. The rehearsal was CONTINUING and there was nothing ELSE dramatic happening besides the ACTUAL. BLOODY. DRAMATICS. Paul was glad. He then saw Sam. SAM TYLER. What in the world was she doing here? And what did she HAVE? Paul eyed her a bit. "Sam...are you okay?" he asked, standing, once again, to approach her. "What do you need? What's that?" he asked about her...thing she was carrying, whatever it was. "What have you got there?" he asked as he took it from her hand, partially blowing the tissue away to get a better look. A necklace? He picked it up and hung it front of her face. "Um. What is...th--"

........Why was Abraham Botros screaming? Why was-- W-

What....

The older man was suddenly dead weight. Falling, as if he had passed out, to the ground, but his eyes were wide open as he twitched. His limbs looked like jelly, strewn about in an unnatural way. He was screaming, but no sound escaped his mouth. There was nothing else in his mind. The play...this rehearsal...he was...merely a vessel.

..........

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


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

Okay, what just happened?!

One minute he was watching the play practice get back underway (and Flynn hamming it up really bad), next he was watching Sam Tyler hand out props, then Junia just.....collasped. As if she just wasn't there anymore. Then Professor Myers was asking SAM (???) if she was okay (hey, what about the girl who just collasped?) then the professor was taking something from Sam..........then he collapsed too. It was a lot to happen in a minutes time frame.

Ronan got up and approached Sam, looking closely at the sixth year, but careful not to touch or even brush against her. It was then he saw what Professor Myers had seen. "It looks like she's been cursed....." But why? And why attack Junia and Professor Myers? He was already pretty sure he knew the who already. But he was (for once) keeping his mouth shut. The resulting back and forth wasn't something they needed right now.

She might have hurt Astrea, but she was remorseful for it. Hated it, honestly. The way Astrea looked away, or changed her route when she saw Sam was near...it still hurt. She'd been giving them all time and space, in the hopes sometime things might be repaired. The Ravenclaw wasn't rude, nor would she try to make trouble during the middle of a rehearsal she knew so many people had put hours of time and energy into.

Not usually, anyway.

So...no there hadn't been any reaction to the fact that Junia didn't think she was meant to have any props, nor when Myers asked if she was okay. Not even Ronan getting in her personal space provoked her. It was stony stares all round, her usually bright, curious eyes still cold. The only movement she made was to let Myers take the circular necklace from her hand.

In the next few moments, two bodies fell, a scream rang out through the auditorium...and yet Sam didn't flinch. Not the smallest flicker of a muscle.

Not until she started chanting, anyways. The same two sentences, over and over. "Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality. End the struggle." There was a monotonous rhythm to it, almost wooden. If she was acting, she probably couldn't give a less expressive performance. It was everything Paul had been telling his students NOT to do.

Static. Vacant. Emotionless.

"Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality. End the struggle. Expose the inequality..."

Yes, now they were getting somewhere. Making some ground this time around. She looked around, what was her line again? Oh Yeah…. ”Asha!” Oh no. She was dying, Asha that is not Skylar. Following Flynn’s lead Juni went over and assisted in helping Asha to her feet.

Suddenly, Sam was bring the props around. Right on time she would need a few things for her next part in the play. Wait was this her prop? ”Er, Sam I don’t..” A staff wasn’t one of her props. It didn’t feel like the prop she need, she took it out of the paper for a better look.


She could hear screaming, though she couldn’t tell who it was coming from. Her body went limp, and slumped to the stage floor. There was a thump as the staff fell to the floor next to her. Her brown eyes wide and unblinkingly, her limbs tangled strangely. Her mouth opened wide as if she was in mid scream, but nothing could be heard. Heading twitching, then stopped. She was a heap of a girl laying there on the stage.

.....

.........

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

Jessa had seen Sam approach the Professor who remained closeby and had even seen the girl pass something to Juniper who stood just next to her ready to recite her next line. She'd found it rather curious, given the girl wasn't meant to be up on stage...or in the play for that matter and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little annoyed at yet another interruption that would no doubt send Myers yelling but then.....

Um.....

It was Abey's scream that first told her something was wrong and in quick succession both the Professor and her younger housemate were down for the count.

Uuuhhh....ummmmm......Jessa got on her knees by Juniper, checking to be sure she was at the very least still breathing. Ronan's approach turned her attention back to the other Claw who'd been handing out 'gifts' just now. Merlin, he wasn't kidding. The way she chanted....the way she stood there emotionless...going on about the same equality Jessa had seen twice already....and now here....with her own housemate and a few others unconscious. There was nothing to stop the cold shiver that ran down her spine. She WAS cursed.

UUUUHHHHHHHHHH! "S-Sam.....? Sam, snap out of it." She drew her wand, casting a simple agumenti in the hopes of making her regain some consciousness. The next would be a stinging hex, so she hoped it worked.

And could they...get some help over here......?