“...EXPOSE THE INEQUALITY…END THE STRUGGLE... “...EXPOSE THE INEQUALITY…END THE STRUGGLE...”

Cassie continued to chant with the gathered students effected, unaware of the actions involving her professors and various muggles. She had absently moved closer to the action, her hand retrieving her wand from the pocket she had hidden it in and raising it almost mechanically with the rest. Step by step. “...EXPOSE THE INEQUALITY…END THE STRUGGLE...EXPOSE THE INEQUALITY…END THE STRUGGLE...” Her pale gaze starring straight ahead as the drama unfolding around her.

And then with a blink, the empty look was replaced with one of confusion, especially when she noticed her raised wand. The seventh year quickly dropping her arm and rushing to hide it. They had been warned not to make the muggles around aware of their magic so why had she brought it out? Come to think of it, when had she walked away from the bus? And when had the Headmistress, Hirsch and Marchand joined them in this little field trip?

What in Merlin’s Beard was going on?

Cassie…

Blinking again at her name, she shook her head and turned only to spot Olivia coming towards her, the Gryffindor prefect saying something about going back to the castle making her more confused. “What?” Cass questioned her, “What happened?” And why was she always there when the Ravenclaw was completely out of it? And with that Cassie groaned. “Had it happened again?” What happened back in Hogsmeade earlier in the year that is.

There was too much going on. Spells flying everywhere... Professors being tied up... Muggles getting caught up in it all... People running around here there and everywhere... All he'd wanted to do was enjoy an ice cream and explore some old castle ruins.

At least he had Zita with him. At least the shield charm seemed to be working. He wondered if he was going to get into trouble for casting it considering he was underage and they were in a muggle village. A little bit of trouble beat getting CURSED though.

Zita definitely had the right idea when she mentioned moving even further away. But then...

"Hey look, there's the Headmistress. And Professor Hirsch." He untangled his arm from hers and subconsciously moved to take her hand instead. "There's portkeys to take us back to Hogwarts, let's go."

He was ready to get out of here right now.

.....and just like that, the powder keg had exploded.

Olivia wasn't entirely sure who had cast first. It was a jumble of colors and sounds at this point with so much going on. However, the most important thing was that spells were now flying. Her first instinct was to protect Stasya and Dorian, which she did as quickly as possible. Stealthy removing her own wand, Liv quickly cast Protego! on their small three-person group, ushering them away from the erratic magic. Merlin, this was going to be a mess for the Ministry... She idly wondered if they'd be sending out her step-dad to handle the mass Oblivating that would surely follow. Statute? What Statute, apparently...

Head whipping around to seek safety, her bright gaze finally landed on Professor Hirsch. With relief flooding her body like a bucket of cold water, her legs were already carrying her closer to where he stood. Where he was currently shouting about portkeys. That was their exit. Taking a few more steps, she kept a firm grip on Stasya's hand, nothing that Dorian seemed to have come to his senses. There were tears in his eyes. She wanted to gather the smol Ravenclaw up into a fierce hug, but they weren't out of the woods yet. What they needed was one of those random objects now littering the ground around Professor Hirsch's feet. Reinforcing her shield, she made a run for it; ickles in tow.

....And their Muggle Studies professor was trying to kill the Headmistress... as well as her Head of House (Gaston). What in the world, Professor Stewart?! This did not correlate with the kind, fun-loving teacher Olivia had come to know in her later Hogwarts years. Yeah, she needed to get out of there before things got worse..... Obviously, it probably couldn't get that much worse, but... they were inhabitants of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had been proven time and time again that they simply couldn't have nice things.

......Was someone going to stop Professor Stewart?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Gaston wanted to play hero, did he? How did he like it if she kept throwing Stunning charms one after other at him? This is what she did even though she was vaguely aware of Hirsch giving instructions for the students to take Portkeys to go back to the Castle.

It only made her more frustrated that such an epic plan had backfired.

Too bad for the poor Frenchman. Kay was taking that frustration out on him. Her stunners only became more well placed and stronger. Surely one was bound to get through to him?

Finally reaching the array of portkeys, she quickly chose a muggle playbill. Apparently, the local singing troupe was hosting a performance in two week's time... If only it were schedule for the summer holidays. Liv might've checked them out...

Blast her Gryffindor loyalty. Before she could pick up the magicked poster in good conscious, Olivia pointed her wand back to where one of her favorite teachers was still attacking Gaston. Given how fanatic the woman was in her pursuit to hurt the man, she knew there was a chance it could connect. Professor Stewart didn't have eyes in the back of her head (no matter how much teachers like to let kids believe this). And on that note, Liv didn't hesitate. Sending out her strongest stunning spell with perfect aim, she promptly collected the playbill and awaited the tug behind her navel. To whisk herself, Stasya, and Dorian back to Hogwarts.

The shield charm that Olivia casted around herself, Stasya and him had gone unnoticed by the Ravenclaw. He was still confused on what had happened and the flying spells around them did not make him feel easier either.

What he did notice was his Head of House telling them to get back to school via portkeys and after rubbing the tears away from his eyes, the second year slowly got to his senses. He knew that they needed to get out of the area as soon as possible. When Olivia reinforced her shield charm, he noticed it now, he looked around for Rylee. Where was she? Was she okay?! "Wait, no, what about Rylee?" he had been with her before...this...happened.

The question was drowned by the noise of the spells being casted by Professor Stewart as they ran passed her. His mouth dropped slightly. What was going on?! Why was she attacking the Headmistress and the Gryffindor Head of House?! So many questions but he knew he could not ask them right now.

As they arrived at one of the portkeys, a playbill apparently, Dorian waited to see how it worked. He had never traveled with portkey before. He knew the theory though from his father but he waited just in case until Olivia had grabbed the playbill. He would touch it at the same time. But before they could leave, Dorian gasped out loud as all of the sudden, the older Gryffindor shot a spell towards Professor Stewart's back.

"You attacked a teacher!" he gasped. Oh wait, she was touching the playbill, that was his cue as well. Dorian touched the portkey as well and closed his eyes tightly, afraid of the uncomfortable feeling he was sure to happen.

Despite all that was going on, the Hufflepuff remained seemingly devoid of anything other than the words his lips and voice were controlled to chant on and on and on...

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

But as the Divination professor set flames to the bag (and someone tell him later just WHO had done that and set them free so he could make her a chocolate frog card at LEAST?!) his speech became softer, slower, and eventually came to a stop as the items and the bag itself were diminished to nothing but ash and molted remains. And then it was as though someone had jumped out behind him in a dark corridor shouting 'BOO' and startling him. A cold shiver shot up and down his spin and he jumped in place, eyed wide and blessedly BLINKING - which meant they were watering a bit because they had been controlled open for so long now.

All the shouting of commands finally reached his ears, and it was far too much information for the Hufflepuff to be able to process at once. FAR too much to be able to process. And then there was Diandra on his arm, Abey nearby, Jessa standing a bit off as well...a lot of his peers that he did not recall seeing until now, professors, the HEADMISTRESS( SINCE WHEN WHAT?) and SPELLS BEING SHOT ALL OVER THE PLACE?!

WHERE HAD ALL THESE PEOPLE COME FROM AND WHAT IN SWEET SCAMANDER'S NAME WAS GOING ON?

HIS WAND. HE NEEDED HIS...

"MY WAND?!" he exclaimed, his hand shooting for his trouser pocket and shoving itself deep within its enchanted confounds....only to come up empty. "Wh-where is my wand!?" His bright blues darted around frantically to the ground and sea of legs dashing this way and that for his precious fwooper core companion all the while still padding and search his pockets....when his blood turned to ice and his eyes went another shade of vacant as another realization struck him.

"Sc-Sc-Sc-Sc-Scamander?" he just barely managed to croak out just as there were instructions shouted about LEAVING. Because no. There was absolute no way he was doing that. NO WAY. Forget his wand, he could get another one of those, but there was no getting another warty newt like his. There was no replacing that connection with his familiar. "SCAMANDER?!"

And then the fourth year took his first of a series of unsteady strides, now that he was in control of his own limbs, right into the thick of the mess and quickly crumbled down to all fours. But this was on purpose so he could CRAWL around and search the ground up close and personal for his newt. What if she had already been stepped on? Had she run for cover somewhere in shadow? "SCAMANDER! COME TO PAPA!" he pleaded as he made his way through the sea of legs, away from safety and on a mission that NOTHING (okay, there was always something but you know how it is) could pull him away from.

"End the stuggle...expose the inequality. End the struggle, expose the inequality...." The Ravenclaw continued to chant, oblivious to any and everything going on around her. It was for the best, her being out through most of the crazies but that didn't seem like it'd last.

Slowly, she felt herself drifting back into her right mind. All around her the sounds began to grow louder and the darkness that surrounded her started to fade.

Unfortunately.

Jessa Cambridge had gone from minimal stimulation to...well....chaos and it left her quite suddenly overwhelmed. The Headmistress was here, there were more Professors than before....that one muggle was yelling about Merlin knew what... The streets, Circe had the streets become crowded and Professor Hirsch was yelling about heading back to the castle? Just like that? Out in the open with all these muggl--ooohhhhhh Meeeeerrrrllliiinnnnnn were they using magic in these crowded, overly muggle saturated streets???????

What the actual......how on earth.......why???

Blue eyes moved from one scene to the next, trying to figure out what all had happened but the more she thought it through was the worse a headache that started as a subtle throbbing became.

It was the words of her housemate (insinuating something had happened), mixed with a vague memory of Derf whispering about the Ilvermorny Professors earlier.....Professor Stewart still clearly out of it and a lot of confused looks that helped her somewhat piece things together. Something had gone horribly wrong. That was as far as she'd gone in her assessment. They had to head to the Hospital Wing and NO ONE seemed to care about the statute they were so recklessly breaking.

....

.......

Numb from the over-stimulation and filled with a feeling of dread, Jessa simply made her way over to her Head of House, her expression still blank despite her no longer being under a curse. She didn't want to grab a few students, she didn't want to care about the younger ones. Possessed. Hirsch said they'd been possessed. Like Kitty? Was that why she couldn't remember anything?

WHAT. HAPPENED.

The 5th year took a portkey, for now asking no questions while she tried to work it all out internally. Still regaining her conscious mind and the feeling in her body, Jessa was in no position to consider the others around her and didn't feel up to convincing herself otherwise.

There was a tugging sensation and in the next minute, she was gone.

Kye's eyes remained glazed over as chaos further ensued. She saw the Ilvermorny professors, at least for a moment before the grumpy Muggle had unknowingly hindered their getaway. What a foolish sight. This was the last thing she would recall after Professor Stewart's bag caught fire.

"End the stru..."

Kye's wand arm began to descend. Eyes blinking sporadically, as the sixth year started to regain her senses. Her gaze now more focused, her wand arm almost at her side, and Kye grew terrified of the sight. Had she broken the statute?? Had she been using her wand?! She swiftly got her wand back in her pocket, but her mind was completely distracted. Her eyes widened as she struggled with understanding how she had become.. unconscious? No she hadn't been. Bewitched? Yes. Definitely. But... but...

Kye struggled to find answers to the questions forming in her mind. She tried to register the scene before her, when it dawned on her that this hadn't been where she was standing. She had been over with Sky and Vivi... over... there? Wait, where had they gotten to? As she continued her scan of the scene, Kye began to notice the looks on other's faces. Most didn't seem much different than her own and wands were everywhere. What was happening here? Why couldn't she remember? Where were her friends?

The recognition of her professors uncoordinated Kye briefly as it finally registered that they had been attacked. Her memory had never failed her this badly before, and she had never felt more frustrated. She stood paralyzed with furrowed brow as she continued to take in the scene. There were people crying, yelling, running, and it was such a cluster of confusion for what seemed like everyone in a mile radius.

Still in a state of shock, Kye heard their directions from a muffled voice. Or maybe that was just her? She had, somehow, been much closer to the professors than she had been before this fiasco started, and therefore found herself right next to the array of portkeys. She had regained her senses it had seemed, and Kye wanted to stay. She wanted to help in some way, but what would she even be capable of in this state?

Nothing useful. Not only was she processing what was happening before her, but also the fact that she had no self discipline. She had been so susceptible to the dark magic, and it was both a nightmare and a huge disappointment. She staggered forward toward the portkeys and bent over to touch a cardboard box, doing her best to touch it as lightly as possible because.. germs. C'mon.

She was about to force him towards that castle when he stopped her and mentioned new people there. Her blue eyes moved to see that they were there and taking control, though her grip didn't leave his arm she did breath a little easier.

Nodding she looked at Max and smiled a little. "You've been really great you know. Saving us with this shield. I owe you big time." She was grateful to have linked arms with him. An attempt to flirt with him and get to spend some time with him turned into the best decision she had made in quite some time.

She didn't hesitate to squeeze his hand as he took it, "Yes let's get over there and get the hell out of here." She didn't see any possessed near them and it seemed Derf was back to normal.

What about James?

She couldn't locate him at the moment, but she was already walking towards a portkey with Max.

It was time to leave.

Gaston eyed Kalen with concern, still unsure whether or not his spell had helped him. He had no idea what spell had been used in him; maybe the simplest solution wouldn't work. Gripping his wand tighter, he searched his mind for an alternative spell. Aha, he had It! He'd raised his wand to perform a lung expansion spell, just in case Anapneo hadn't worked when out of the corner of his eye he saw Kaysha aiming a spell at him. He wheeled around, just in time to deflect it, but more spells followed. Damn! He couldn't help Kalen and fight off Kaysha at the same time!

Looking back at Kalen and Laurel, he mouthed, GO!" If Laurel could help Kalen get to a portkey, maybe they'd get to the School in time for the Healer to help him. Dodging another of Kaysha's spells, he shot a look at Hirsch, jerking his head toward Kalen. A little help here, please!

Now he had no choice but to turn his full attention back to Kaysha. Only one thought was lodged in his brain: keep her away from Hawthorne. The longer he could distract Kaysha, the more time Regina had to deal with Melanie. Somewhere in the chaos, he vaguely noticed Olivia Phillips trying to help him and made a mental note to reward her for that later. Unfortunately he was a little too busy to do that at the moment. "Kay, please..." He pleaded between spells. "I don't know that they did to you..." Dodge. "...but this is not who you are..." Deflect. "Fight it, Kay!"

Despite his best efforts, he couldn't hold her off forever. The spells kept coming, and he just wasn't fast enough. One of Kay's stunning spells struck him square in the chest, and... He was out cold.

Skylar hadn't heard Olivia Holden calling after her. No, she was single-minded to the point of foolish, reckless behavior just now, which included her attempting to go after the male American Professor on her own. She hadn't even noticed Jace's stealth in doing the same. She had barely heard Hirsch calling them all to order and to take a portkey and return to the castle.

It wasn't until Jace had caught up with her and forced her wand arm down that she finally stopped, bending over, clutching at her thighs. It was useless. He was gone. She vaguely heard Jace say, it's no use, Captain. "I don't care. He should be stopped." She didn't even care that she'd broken the statute, it wasn't like she was the only one. And there was dark arts used around here anyway, which if Skylar had to guess would be bigger fish than the statute anyway.

But slowly, as her breathing normalized, as the adrenaline rush faded, at the we should go, the sixth year found herself nodding slowly and turned to head back. Feeling defeated, but not in the same way that her formerly possessed peers were feeling. It was the feeling like she'd lost. They lost. He'd be back. Wouldn't he? Unless the British Law Enforcement could track him down now that they knew he was behind the strange happenings, but she was doubtful. He was from America and if he returned there, he was out of jurisdiction... Wasn't he?

That was when her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Kaysha Stewart targeting her ... colleagues... but it was one falling down that had her heart beating fast. And the adrenaline was back again, as her heart went thumping. "Pro-Professor Marchand" She said quietly at first, that likely only Jace heard. Hyperventilating, she quickened her pace towards the charms professor, praying that the spell he'd been struck with wasn't super serious.

"EXPOSE THE INEQUALITY..... END THE STRUGGLE....."

Flynn's brown eyes were still blank as he looked forward at nothing. He was internally struggling to stop the chanting, to stop the movement of his hand that was now pulling his wand from his pocket, but nothing he did could end this.


"..... EXPOSE THE INEQUALITY..... END THE STRUGGLE....."

It was only a short time before he had to stop struggling. He felt himself coming back.... and he was coming back to chaos. What just HAPPENED?! The last thing he had remembered was the bus crash and..... oh dear MERLIN. He looked down at his hand that was gripping his wand, but before he could do anything, he heard Olivia's voice. He looked over at her, a little bit of terror in his gaze, but he nodded, nonetheless.

He followed behind his co-Prefect, and when Cassie started asking questions, he answered, "Let's go." It was only until Professor Marchand went out cold not too far from him that he repeated, "Let's GO."

He was all about saving himself, okay?

There was no time for questions, even if he had his own questions forming in his head, such as: had he done anything while he had been possessed? Where was Felicity? WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING?!

but he was not dying here SO LET'S GO, PEOPLE.

Not telling them again, he started walking towards the portkeys. His mind was still a little foggy, but he was pushing through it. He wanted out of here.

If Ronan had been more aware, he would've been aghast at all that was happening. At Professor Kennedy gasping for air and being tied to Professor Vance. The sudden apparition of Headmistress Hawthorne, followed by Professors Marchand and Hirsch. But nope, not in his current state. In his current state, all that mattered was the chant. "Expose the inequality, end the str-"........

...until, of course, Professor Stewart's bag was reduced to ashes that was. Then, the life started slowly returning to his eyes. "What the....?" When had the Headmistress and the other professors gotten here? And why did he have his wand out?

He looked at the scene around him, taking it all in. It took a few minutes for him to put it all together, having been possed and all, but once he did, he was ANGRY. How dare she use him and his classmates as pawns to further her stupid agenda! And now she was casting on her fellow professors?! And hitting his Head of House?! Ugh. Someone needed to do something about her and quick. Though, spells didn't seem to be getting through to her. Seeing that Skylar was already checking on Professor Marchand, he did the only other thing he could think of. He went full crazy freakin' Gryffindor and took off running full tilt at the Muggle Studies professor to tackle her. That should do it!

Ugh it was chaos around them, Kaysha was firing stunning spells and Laurel was trying to stop her, not to mention kids were running around like a flock of fwoopers had been let loose in the town square.

And Kalen was.. halfway standing at least, the Professor felt so helpless and unable do much of anything, due to the fact that every single breath he took was a tremendous struggle, getting up to this position had left him incredibly weak and winded, not to mention the wheezing. He felt like he was a living, sort of breathing, accordion at the moment.

Not even Gaston’s spell helped much, it still felt like there was a hand trying to crush his throat. He wished his brother was here right now, Chase would look at him, laugh most likely and then say the spell to heal him. He was never going to hear the end of this was he? Chase would be such a smug Ravenclaw, and rub it in his face that he didn’t know the counter spell..

But his lack of air was the least of their problems at the moment, and despite his weakness and the fact that the street was tilting upward to meet him, he started to walk stagger towards where some of the kids were.

Walk.. gasp.. stop.. wheeze..

Well if nothing else he could scare the living basilisks out of people.

Wheeze.. pant.. gasp.. stumble..

Kalen looked over right as a stunning spell sailed right past his shoulder and hit Gaston in the chest!

Merlin.. Kalen aimed his wand at the man and nonverbally, cause let’s face it, no words were coming out right now, cast Rennervate! on the charms professor.

She was still completely unaware of what was going on around her. All of Stasya’s focus was on trying to keep her hand from finishing its trajectory toward her wand. All of her focus was on trying to keep any little bit of herself conscious, even as she had continued the chant that all the others affected had taken on. The third year was barely acknowledging the fact Liv was currently pulling her, as well as the little Ravenclaw, over toward the professors. The professors that, if she’d been in a state to acknowledge anything at all, were currently struggling with problems of their own. Problems that likely would have affected her had Liv not cast the shield spell over the little group of three…

Until the bag of things Professor Stewart had been carrying had been reduced to a burning pile of debris, and her internal battle calmed down as more of her awareness slowly came back. Grey-green eyes that had previously been blank and glassy regained some aspect of their usual sparkle, only clouded a bit by confusion. “What’s going on?,” she asked softly, her voice seeming almost afraid of getting louder. As if she’d start chanting again if she wasn’t careful…and then her searching gaze had landed on Professor Hirsch and she’d gone on autopilot. Liv was one person she trusted wholeheartedly, but the DADA professor was that much more of a safe haven. And Liv had pulled her that much closer, reaching for what looked like a booklet or something, but Stasya was distracted. She wanted Professor Hirsch to know what she’d done.

That and her attention split even more as she’d heard Derf’s cry, at the same time as Liv had apparently sent a stunning spell toward the Muggle Studies professor. Dorian’s reaction had told her that much had happened, while she was starting to worry about the newt. Scamander was missing?!?!?! That was not good. Not good at all, but she wasn’t sure how she could help.

Not when Liv had grabbed the playbill again, obviously intending on following Professor Hirsch’s orders regarding taking them all to Hogwarts. Professor Hirsch. She had to tell him. “Professor Hirsch…,” she managed to call out, even as she’d found herself touching the playbill and anything else she’d wanted to say trailed off as the portkey kicked in and she was gone.

It was not easy to bring her Hufflepuff friend since he was a much bigger guy while Diandra was just a petite girl. But they're almost there, and more professors were coming to rescue them. It was good, wasn't it? Later then she noticed the Headmistress faced a witch... Who was she? Was she behind everything that happened? Sure that Diandra didn't understand at all. But well, let's just focus on Derf now, she still tried walking him to reach the professors since they're almost there. And Professor Hirsch had mentioned about going back to castle by using portkey or side-along apparation. To be honest, the Hufflepuff girl wasn't a fan of any either but it seemed like there's no other choice. So?

And suddenly (yes, she didn't really notice about the burning bag. Let's be real) she heard Derf stopped muttering those nonsense chant. Was he going back to normal now? "Derfael?!" Her tone seemed a bit cheerful noticing that he went back to normal and her first instinct was wanted to give him a hug, but he mentioned about his missing wand. Oh shoot, Diandra felt awful since she didn't really notice about that. But hold on, it seemed like the Hufflepuff prefect wasn't only missing his wand.

Scamander? Wasn't that the name of his newt pet? Oh no... He must've been sneaking it on his pocket. That's probably why she didn't even notice its presence, let alone noticing the newt gone missing. "Derf, I'm sorry but I didn't see it...." She apologized. It could've been found by summoning it though, but Diandra couldn't do that since she was underage... Perhaps asking Professor Hirsch to summon it? But that man seemed to busy to help though since some students wanted to side-apparate with him. So let's just help him finding his lovely newt because there's no way Diandra left without him.

From where they stood, Jace could hear the chaos up the street, but it wasn't enough distraction to hear what Skylar had to say. Her determination to catch Duncan Williams was remarkable, and that she'd be a deadly force someday if she gets the proper training, but for now, Jace knew that chasing after the male American professor would be an unwise choice, given the fact that they were now fully exposed in the muggle world. There was no point in doing more harm when they already have a handful of unfortunate events going on. Besides, half of the Wiliiams twins was already captured. Jace watched as Skylar bent over to catch her breath, and nodded in agreement. "Trust me, I share the same sentiment, but the odds are greatly against us. However, we're now both witnesses. That should be enough for now." he said calmly as the Ravenclaw reached out to pat her back.

Even for a typical Ravenclaw, what was going on before them was too much to handle. Confusion, despair, fear, anger...Jace allowed himself to absorb everything, filing each emotion one by one until he could once again control his own heart. Right now, they all need to go back to school and let the authorities sort this out. As much as he wanted clarification right at that very second, going back to their base was the best course of action.



If it weren't for Skylar's reaction, Jace wouldn't have noticed what really was going on. An object was on fire, Professor Stewart attacking his colleagues, students fleeing one by one, Professor Marchand going down out cold, and another professor who was in a very bad shape. Seeing who it was, Jace didn't think twice as he finally drew his wand out from his sleeve, immediately casting a non-verbal protective shield charm around Professors Laurel, Kalen, Gaston, and Skylar. He was too focused on getting Professor Kennedy into safety, totally missing Ronan's attempt to tackle the Muggle Studies Professor.

Trusting his protective shield to hold up, Jace kneeled beside the Astronomy professor to give him a quick look over. Whatever happened to him, the Ravenclaw thought it best to get Professor Kennedy back to school and get patched up quickly. However, he did observe his shortness of breath, like someone was choking him Darth Vader style. "Professor, we need to get out of here." Jace started casting a bubble-head charm over his nose and mouth, filling it with an endless supply of oxygen. "Deep breaths, sir." He'd been watching his uncle River do the same thing over and over again when his grandfather was on his deathbed. Jace looked around, near where Professor Hirsch stood and summoned a discarded milk carton box. "We have to go back now professor and I won't take 'no' for an answer." he said holding the trash in front of him, "Azura will kill me if I don't help you get back to safety."

Noble had been looking forward to a quiet day in the castle. He had some tests to finish marking, but then he'd planned to spend the rest of the day brewing. He still had a few wrinkles still to smooth out in a technique he'd been working on at his previous job, and he wanted to get it published in one of the premier potions journals if possible.

Alas, it wasn't to be.

The alligator arrived barely halfway through his stack of marking, and with a frown and some grumbling he put down his quill. The details were sparse, but he took a few minutes to retrieve a few vials from his shelves, just in case. A little while later, he arrived in Dufftown with a small POP!

His wand was already in hand as he surveyed the scene. Chaos seemed like an appropriate word. Whilst Hirsch saw to the kids, Noble's gaze was drawn to Kaysha and the bag now on fire beside her. Possession was easiest through a personal object, which he assumed is what the bag contained given that the kids now appeared to be snapping out of their trance-like chanting. The same couldn't be said of the Muggle Studies professor herself though. Her eyes were dull, even as she threw spells around at them all.

Something...perhaps someone...still had her under control.

He mentally started checking through the possibilities. Mind control was a little out of his remit, but he'd done some in his time as a forensic potioneer. He couldn't see anyone physically in the vicinity controlling her, and he'd have thought any link allowing as such would have been broken with the sheer craziness of what was going on. So something consumed then? To figure out what though, he probably needed to get closer.

"Protego!" he cast, throwing up a shield, stepping forward and taking over the battle from the fallen Charms professor. It seemed a bit late to worry about the statute now, and hopefully someone would revive Gaston in the meantime. Noble opted for defence rather than offense for the moment, using the time to gather clues as to what caused Kay to take up arms like this. She'd never struck him as the sort.

"Did anyone see Kay - Professor Stewart - consume something?" he barked, addressing adults and kids alike as he strengthened his shield against the stunners.

Time. He was buying time.

Laurel stood still and waited to see what effect her fire spell would have on Kay. Unfortunately not the effect that she had hoped for. Kay still wasn't herself and it was showed quite clearly by the piercing stare Kay shot in Laurel's direction and then the stunning spells were flying haywire from her best friends wand. Ducking and dodging she soon felt how a stunning spell hit her right in her left shoulder. "Ouch!" she blurted out before she quickly cast "Protego!" to protect herself. Laurel rubbed her shoulder that had started to throb before she cast "Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" expertly aiming her wand at Kaysha as she continued to shout at her bestie. "Fight it Kay! You are strong, I know you are! Stop casting spells at us ! Forget about Melanie!"



As she heard Kalen gasping for air Laurel turned her attention to her colleague worry etched in her eyes. He didn't sound well at all. Gaston was there though and he hopefully cast some kind of non-verbal spell that would help Kalen breathe easier again. At least the bag burning had had some positive effects since the students around them were returning to normal. Shaking her head Laurel murmured to Gaston and Kalen "I wonder what was in Kay's bag. It must have been something very potent but now it seems to thankfully have stopped working when I set it all on fire. At least the students are returning to normality." She really wished the same could be said for her friend.



Laurel was relieved to hear that Roderick had arrived in the pandemonium and was taking charge of the situation. She vaguely heard how he instructed the surrounding students to take the portkey's he had created back to the school and if needed Penny's healing care. Her focus was then drawn back to Kaysha again since she seemed to be aiming all her anger and frustration out on sweet Gaston by sending stunner after stunner in his direction.

Shaking her head with disbelief and anger Laurel cast "Stupefy! Incarcerous!" and a series of shocking spells in Kay's direction hoping that one or all of them would connect. "Gaston, get out of the way! Kay has gone crazy!" Sadly though her warning came too late as she watched Gaston pass out after taking a strong stunner right smack in the chest. Shifting the grip on her wand and trying to ignore her throbbing shoulder Laurel rushed towards Gaston's fallen figure. She wasn't first though as she watched Kalen aim his wand at Gaston which she assumed was to wake him up. Glancing over at Kalen Laurel said "Kalen, you should find somewhere to sit. It's not wise to be moving around so much when you're wheezing like that. You need healer treatment."



When Ignatius Noble had arrived in the Duftown street Laurel didn't know but she wasn't sure that it was the right time to be barking questions. It would be time for that when the ministry folk showed up if they ever did. After casting another "Protego!" charm over herself, Kalen, Gaston and the students that were still there Laurel walked up to stand next to Noble. Shooting another stunner in Kay's direction she answered Ignatius question from a minute or so ago. "Noble, I haven't seen Professor Stewart, Kay consume anything since we've come to Duftown. Something in her bag though that I torched to ashes was possessing the students that have now turned back to normal. Sadly though Kay is still not herself."

One second Rylee was monotonously repeating, "End the struggle...Expose the inequality" and the very next she was completely quiet. It all happened as quickly as flipping a light switch from off to on. The constant chanting ended and the life slowly returned to her blue eyes causing her blink several times making her eyes water.

There was complete havoc going on around her and it was nearly impossible to take it all in. How did she end up all the way on the other side of the block when she had been at the ice cream shop? An-and why was she holding her wand?! They weren't supposed to be using an magic around the muggles! She wasn't even old enough to use her wand outside of Hogwarts... What had she done? Why couldn't she remember? Panic slowly began to overtake her take her and she ended up gasping for a breath or two, the tears she had been trying to blink away freely slipping down her cheeks.

The screaming, spells and people running all around didn't help at all, if anything they made the sudden fear and confusion rising up within her even worse. Her Head of House was on the ground and she had no idea why. Was that Professor Stewart aiming spells at the other Professors?! It was more like a dream then reality. None of it made sense... and it wasn't until she turned around that she realized something. Dorian. Where was he? She had been following him... that's right... she remembered now. Well sort of. Dorian had taken off running towards the professors and now he was...gone...

Rylee shoved her wand into her bag, she didn't want to think about why she had it out or what she might have done. With tears blinding her vision she tried to look around once more for her friend. Or someone she knew. She wiped her face with her arm in hopes of being able to find someone. All the while she had been taking very tiny steps backwards away from most of the crowd having completely missed that there was portkeys to return back to Hogwarts. The only goal she had in mind right then was to get far away from it all.

Oh, please, old man.

Matt couldn't help but frown and roll his eyes in annoyance when the 'king of the street' pretty much jumped right in the way of his spell, getting himself bound in ropes that were meant for... whomever that person had been.

The headmistress had been quicker to appear out of nowhere and release the Muggle and for a moment Matt expected to get in trouble for having done what he did but the woman just moved on like that was no big deal. Alright, then. That meant he could stop worrying about those silly people and finally focus solely on finding his sister.

As he kept moving through the crowd he saw more professors turning up, some fire taking place, Stunning Spells being cast all around, pretty loud instructions being given and... suddenly the possessed students seemed to be going back to normal. Matt was somewhat relieved again and the young ones crying made him look around even more, still trying to spot Anna.

And he did. She wasn't crying, but she sure looked confused. Avoiding as many of the craziness as he could, he placed a shield around himself and his sister and marched along to where professor Hirsch had placed the Portkeys, pulling Anna by the arm and ignoring her protests and complaints that he was hurting her. In the process he carried with him some other of the younger ones (aka Rylee) because all of the crying and blankly staring everywhere wouldn't save them. "You go on and take a portkey, go back to the Castle now." It was far from being a request.

The seventh year turned around to see a professor down, one or two struggling to their feet and a few more turning up. "Go!" He told the younger kids before darting off back towards the chaos again. Surveying the area, he spotted his brother taking some others towards the portkeys before turning his attention back to some of the Muggles. He'd try and make sure they didn't flipping jump in the way of anyone's spells again. Honestly.

It was too bad Professor Curtains had not been one of the professors selected to take the students to Dufftown. At least in his mind it was too bad. He had personally wanted to go, but he had been too slow to volunteer. Which meant he was going to be spending that day grading final exams and perhaps visiting the library to check up on a newly published book on magical music boxes crafted in the eighteenth century.

But that was all before the Patronus. Now, ten minutes after receiving it, the history of magic professor POPPED! into Dufftown, his mind wheeling with the implications of what he was seeing. Professor Stewart was....attacking everyone??? Or was everyone attacking her??? It was hard to tell what was going on. He casually pulled out his wand and shouted "Protego!" in case a spell bounced in his direction.

His gaze quickly fell upon a woman who he did not recognize save for pictures: Melanie from the American school. She seemed immobilized, but with spells flying everywhere it was hard to tell. "Hey you!" he shouted at her, pointing his wand at her but not firing. What was SHE doing here?

The history of magic teacher was stumped.

Under normal circumstances, Zita's words about him being great and saving them would've caused him to turn pinker than the inside of a grapefruit. The circumstances right now, however, were nowhere near normal and Max simply gave her hand a squeeze back.

There was still a lot of commotion going on... It seemed Professor Stewart had lost the plot and the other professors were trying to detain her. He tried not to pay attention and moved quickly towards the pile of portkeys. All focus was on getting them out of here.

Professor Hirsch had mentioned helping younger students, but right now, he was more concerned about getting himself and Zita back to the safety of the castle. And they were so close.

"Come on, grab this with me," he nodded towards the ground at a discarded fizzy drink can that had the faint blue glow of a portkey. "You ready?"

Huh? W-what happened? Bright blue eyes blinked in confusion as Gaston shakily got back to his feet. He had no idea who'd revived him, but whoever it was, he was very grateful. He shook his head in a daze. Oww. His head hurt. He gently touched the sore spot on his head; his fingers came away bloody, but that was the last thing on his mind right now. He had to stop Kaysha!

There was just one problem. Where was his wand?! It must've fallen out of his hand when he fell! As his eyes scanned the area, he saw Laurel was now sending spells at Kaysha, and Ignatius and Charles had arrived and joined the fight at some point while he was out. Jace and Skylar were here too, and Kalen- Good Godric Gryffindor! He still had to help Kalen!

But first things first, he had to get his wand back. Silently hoping his wandless magic wouldn't fail him now, he stretched out his left arm to summon it. It flew into his waiting hand, and he suddenly cried out, nearly dropping his wand. It hurt to move his arm a lot. He must've hit it or landed onit wrong when he fell. Despite the pain, he managed to lift his arm as he turned to Kalen. "I can think of one other thing to try," he said. It was a healing spell he'd heard of in school but never had an occasion to use on a person. He moved his wand in a circular motion and cast a nonverbal lung expansion spell. No sooner than he had, he winced and his arm wobbled and fell. "Better now?" He had no idea what to try next if not.

Gaston looked around sadly. He did not want to leave until he was 100% sure Melanie Williams would pay for her actions, but he knew he was no use to anyone in this state. He could hardly raise his wand, and any time the others had to spend protecting him was time that could be better spent subduing Kaysha. There was only one thing he could do now: get Jace and Skylar out of the line of fire and back to Hogwarts. "Professor Kennedy will be okay; there are plenty of people here to help him," he said, looking at Jace. "We have to go... NOW!" He started toward the nearest portkey, looking back to make sure the kids were following.

Kalen was waiting rather anxiously for his spell to work on Gaston, he really hoped his non verbal magic was up to snuff, because words weren’t a thing that was happening right now. He was still rather bent over, trying to catch his breath when he noticed Jace and Skylar come up to him. The Astronomy professor merely waved, and wheezed at them as they came closer. They should be getting out of here, but he hoped he could keep the two of them safe..

Errr they could keep him safe?

He noticed that any spells cast towards them started to rebound and he smiled gratefully at the younger Reed. Whom reminded him more of his Uncle at the moment. Especially as a bubble head charm with Oxygen went around his mouth and allowed him some ease of the pain and struggle he was in. This was exactly why he wasn’t a healer. He should have thought of that.

This kid, no wonder his niece talked about him with a very soft look in her eyes. A look she didn’t seem to know about, but he recognized. A look that would cause trouble for her one day, but right now.. she seemed unaware.

He held up one finger to try to get them to wait until Gaston was, you know.. conscious! Thankfully the other man struggled upwards and Kalen gave him as much of a smile as he could, because of the charm..

He looked at his fellow teacher as he did some more wand waving and soon, he felt his airways begin to expand and precious air start to deep into his lungs!

He gasped and gulped in the air in the bubble charm and then took the charm off, to see if he could use his voice.

“Thank you Mr.Reed.” Ohhh boy, his voice was rough and sounded like he had a horrific case of bronchitis. “Thank you Gaston.” He managed to get out again, and he nodded to Jace and Skylar.

“You two go with Gaston, I need to stay here to answer questions, but don’t worry Jace, after I’m done I’m going straight to St. Mungos, where I’ll get Azuras mom to look me over.” He tried to sound reassuring but it was really hard to do when he sounded like Darth Vader. He gave them both a smile and nodded to Gaston..

“Take care of them.” He wheezed out as he walked back towards the fray to find Laurel.

What was it with Laurel and Gaston? Did they think simply reasoning with her was going to help? They wanted her to calm down? Then they needed to join her and not stand against her (after all, this was all to encourage the Muggles to rise and bring an end to the pure-blood hierarchy). The pleading was ignored. There was not the slightest of chance that a single word was getting through to her. Her friendship with each of them were forgotten at that moment.

Gaston was finally down. So what if it wasn't Regina. At least one of them was not fighting against her side. That's right: her side happened to be the twins'. Before Kay had a chance to shoot another spell- this time at Laurel-, she was being attacked, this time by a student. How did she know? She had right about then turned. There was barely time to register Olivia's face as she moved her wand to block the Charm. One could only guess if the woman would have been successful with defending herself for the next thing she knew was that something came pelting at her. That something turned out to be Ronan Carter. He knocked her down flat on her back, a second after Olivia's Stunner hit. In the process, he wand went flying from her hand.

Professor Kaysha Stewart out!