WHO: crowd scene
WHERE: Great Hall
DATE:
SUMMARY: second part of end-of-year final grand scene
-----------------
Hagrid frets. He is not particularly good at fretting. In fact, he's not
particularly good at most things that even remotely entail fretting. He watches
the odd chattering, then nods decidedly. "Well. That's good, then. She's
come out o' the trance. Er... yes." Shifting his
weight from foot to foot, Hagrid falls silent, looking awkward.
Zahn blinks and shakes his
head, "Don't feel stupid, Rio. I'm right along with you, so if anyone
laughs, it's at both of us." He glances towards Sabine, the cards
returning to mind. "This isn't really a laughing situation anyway. Let's
follow the others, I'm sure we have enough here and when the time comes, we'll
know what to do." He pushes the door open. "Shall we?"
Sabine answers Bill, in the same language, expression breaking into one
of utter confusion. "Ves'tacha...?" Her
eyes widen, and her pupils seem suddenly to expand, the green of her irises
contracting sharply to a narrow, almost invisible band, and paling visibly, she
sways, crying out, "The cauldron, the fox, in different places!" She
crumples forward against Bill.
Keita re-enters the Hall with a brisk sort of pace and a glance over her
shoulder, settling her robe back down around her shoulders and adjusting the
lay of the cloth, like she's just put it in and it isn't fitting quite right. Just
in time to catch Sabine's cry, which gets her to shift direction towards the
girl.
Kaid just stops a little bit
back from where Bill and Sabine.... commune for all intents and purposes. He
starts slightly as Sabine cries out, at first recoiling, but then stepping
closer, bringing him to stand right next to Hagrid. He looks faintly
concerned... but who wouldn't be with all of this?
Melony shifts, standing up on
her tip-toes as she peers between the pair. "She's alright, isn't
she?" She inquires a little more concerenedly,
fairly worried, now. But as Sabine exclaims, she looks ever more worriedly to
Bill. "What's that?"
Rio glances back at Sabine and shakes her head suddenly. "Nah... I
think--" She halts and stares at whatever just happened over there, then
glances at Zahn meaningfully and scampers towards
where Hagrid and the others are standing. Curiosity killed the Firstie, perhaps, but not one with unleavened bread. She's
not sure of what's going on, but she's really not
about to run anywhere. She's a bit too unnerved to leave now.
Hagrid shuffles his feet, looking moderately discomfited. "Foxes
are shifty lil' creatures," he volunteers.
Always count on Hagrid for the useless animal trivia.
Hearing Sabine call out, Zahn glances to Rio,
then to Sabine and hurries after Rio in pursuit. "Wait up!
A rather scruffy guinea pig, white with black splotches, runs out into
the middle of the floor, whiskers trembling. It goes up on its hindquarters,
sniffing at the air, and comes to a halt. At the same time, there's a shifting
from behind one of the suits of armour decorating the
Hall.
Bill catches Sabine, looking immensely relieved at the 'ves'tacha' comment, but also deeply worried by what she
cried out. Carefully, he picks the girl up, holding her close as he walks over
to one of the benches. "Sabra," he says,
tone concerned. "What did you see...?" He is currently oblivious to
any guinea pigs, of course.
Hearing Sabine call out, Zahn glances to Rio,
then to Sabine and hurries after Rio in pursuit. "Wait up!" He calls
out to Rio, before sliding to a halt beside her and Hagrid. Taking in a deep
breath, he glances around to see if any other students had stayed within the
hall before he notices the rat..or
is it a rat? He nudges
Melony sighs aggravatedly, turning from the couple as they talk. Of
course, as she turns, her gaze lands upon the guinea pig, causing the blonde to
gasp and wrinkle her nose, taking a quick step or two backwards from the
creature. "Ick! Get it away!" She says
sharply, glaring to Hagrid. He handles beasts! Fetch the beast!
Keita , however, is unnerved enough by first the trance and cards, and
passing Hogwarts' resident group of trouble-magnets
heading out the front door, that she's in an almost terminally-paranoid state
of alert. Her eyes flick to the geunea pig, briefly,
and then towards the sound of armour shifting, trying
to puzzle out what it is she's just heard, and from where, turning her walk
into a slight sideways sidle to carry her a bit farther from both and give her
time to see if she can figure out why things are suddenly being very strange.
Well, that cinches that; Bill has Sabine completely under control.
Hagrid lets out a sigh, then glances towards the students nearby... and catches
Zahn's pointing. Turning completely around, Hagrid
spies the guinea pig. "Well, 'allo there, little
one," the groundskeeper says with a hint of surprise, taking a cautious
step towards the tiny thing. "An' where did yer
come from, hmm?" He is hopelessly oblivious to the sound of armor
shifting. After all, there's an /animal/ here. A cute and fluffy one to boot.
The motion of the two firsties draws Kaid attention for whatever reason, since the interaction
between Bill and Sabrine is... sort of hard to look
at. That and Melony's shriek is rather... well
audible. This prompts a slight grin from him though as he looks over at Melony, "Jeez, it's just a guinea pig Robin. Not a
troll or anything.". He blinks at Hagrid then, his first theory dashed,
"You mean it isn't yours Hagrid?". Animal in castle, first suspect:
Hagrid.
"Ishingo," drawls a female voice
from by the suit of armour. The guinea pig shudders,
changing shape and straightening, rising from a crouch. It's an Asian young man
with black hair, wearing a battered Muggle set of
jeans and black t-shirt, clutching what appears to be a set of silvery spiked
knuckles in either hand - claws, or talons, of some kind. From another point -
up on the dais - two previously unnoticed mice similiarly
transform, to an aristocratically dressed witch and wizard. From behind the
suit of armour steps a wand-bearing Asian woman as
well. "I shouldn't make any sudden moves, everyone."
Rio comes to a halt behind and slightly near to Hagrid and glances up at
him, pushing up her glasses. She's watching the others when she feels Zahn's nudge and glances towards the source. She sees the
guinea pig and tilts her head at it with a blink. "Uhhh...?"
she begins, glancing up towards the armor with growing trepidation. Something's
MOVING over there... She knows what the little animal is, but not exactly what
it's doing here. At Melony's squeal and Hagrid's move towards it, she slowly starts easing to where
she can perhaps duck under a table if need be. "Zahn...
eek!"
Melony glares over at Kaid, snapping, "It's a rodent, therefore it equals disg-- Oh, my God!" As the guinea pig transforms, Melony takes another step back. However, turning on her
heel suddenly, she looks upon the witch and wizard ... with horribly widened eyes,
her mouth falling agape immediately. And, quite honestly, she couldn't get any
paler than now.
Bill carefully lays Sabine down on one of the benches, and looks around
at all the apparent Animagi who have just appeared in
the Hall. One hand moves towards his earring as if to tug on it thoughtfully,
though he raises his other hand to show he's not going for his wand.
Keita whirls at the voice, seeming to be half-way poinsed
to hit something if necessary, when she catches the transformation out the
corner of her eye. A shock of plainly-expressed recognition crosses her face,
and a somewhat.... pained, perhaps, cry of "Keisuke!" prefaces a long
string of rather rapid japanese, ending in her
pointing at the asian lady with the wand and rattling
off some more in an imperious, challanging tone.
"No, it's no' mine," Hagrid begins, and then the guinea pig
suddenly turns into... a person? The groundskeeper rubs his eyes, then looks
intently at the man. "Now see 'ere," he says grouchily, "it's
not polite ter come bargin'
into Hogwarts, an' I'm pretty sure y'weren't expected. Yer'll need t'go now, an' make an appointment next time. I woulda been told if yer were 'spected here." Plopping his large hands on his hips,
Hagrid glowers at the little ex-guinea pig. "An' didn't yer mother tell yer tha' pretendin' yer a helpless animal wasn't nice?"
Keisuke the former guinea pig just smiles challengingly, and flexes his
hands, dropping into a martial artist's crouch. He answers Keita in Japanese,
even though it obviously wasn't him that was addressed, and flexes his hands.
The expression, even if not the words, suggest 'Come get some'.
Kaid simply takes a step
back in alarm and then freezes, his expression astonished before it changes
into alarmed. He obviously doesn't go for his wand... at the moment it would be
rather foolish. He relaxes slightly though, at Hagrid's
bantering... when a giant gives the enemy a talking to as if they were ickle children... well, it's cheering.
Keeping his eyes on the rodent thingie, Zahn glances around as Rio lets out a short scream. As the
forms of people begin to appear, he gulps, but tries to maintain a calm,
collected face, moving a bit nearer to Rio as if to protect her from something.
"Er..I dunno about
you, Rio, but I'm confused." His eyes shift between the animagi. "This isn't good."
Not exactly cheering for Melony, who suddenly
looks terrifically horrified. "You--" She tries to begin to the
adults upon the dias, but words utterly fail the
blonde as she immediately shuts her mouth, a glance spared to behind her.
"Oh, God, that's Arai's /brother/?" Of course, with a look back to
the witch and wizard before her, Melony's not in such
a good spot, family-wise, either.
The Asian woman laughs mockingly, answering Keita in English. "Oh,
you don't think that I would lower myself to the likes of you? A half-bred,
ill-conceived cow could do better. But if you wish to fight - my champion will
defend me, even unto the death. Unless..." She tilts her head to the side.
"What would you give me for him?"
The wizard and witch on the dais step forward, looking in cool reproof
around. "Hagrid," the man murmurs disparagingly. "As big an oaf
as ever," the woman agrees, nodding, both holding their wands out.
"And Melony... tsk.
We're very disappointed, you know."
Keita develops perhaps the grimmest, darkest, and most worrisome
expression anyone's ever seen on her at Hogwarts,
before she manages to wrestle enough discipline to school her face to the calm
necessary for a fight, and she advacnces warily,
toeing her shoes off, and finally gets around to some english.
"Everyone, back. this is my brother. I don't know what that mongrel has
done to him, but he's extremely dangerous while a hold is on him."
"An' furthermore, are yer registered animagi? Y'bes' be, or I'll be lettin' the Ministry know abou'
all this. Dumbledore will not be pleased ter hear 'bout this. Where's yer
passes?" Hagrid says indignantly, glowering at first the little asian man with the cute little hand-bracelets, then at the asian woman... well, at least until the two on the dais
start muttering about him. Wheeling, he glowers at them as well. "Tha's completely out of line, you. If this is a fam'ly visit, it should've been register'd
in advance. Yer should know that." Harrumph!
Sabine stirs slightly, but doesn't sit up yet. Apparently, she's down
for the count - or something of the sort.
As to the asian lady's taunts, Keita tilts her
head up. "You would require height far in excess of that which you possess
to even think of looking down on me. Perhaps you are merely afraid your blood
isn't up to the task, and that is why you require him to fight for you."
Rio shakes her head in agreement, eyes wide. Okay, maybe that crisps
shuriken wasn't far off after all. "Umm... Zahn...?
I'm honestly terrified witless..."
"I-I-I-" Melony tries to defend
herself as the woman speaks to her, though she lowers her gaze and nods
somberly, only looking back up to glare daggers at Hagrid. Keita earns herself
a glare as well, but the only other movement the blonde makes is a step away
from Kaid, nearer to the witch and wizard, whom she
doesn't even bother looking up to, though she does offer a murmer
of, "My apologies, mother."
The young man smiles again, a quick, tight expression, then beckons
towards Keita. Meanwhile, the Asian woman tells Keita coolly, "Certainly
not. But why should I dirty my hands with dirty blood like yours? Fight him,
and if you acquit yourself well, I will fight you myself. Otherwise, I will
simply kill him where he stands."
"There, there," the man on the dais tells Melony
tolerantly. "You have your chance to acquit yourself now. You have your
wand - do you know what to do with it?" The woman keeps her own wand
carefully at the ready, adding to Hagrid, "Oh, do shush. Melony, dear, I think this is an excellent time for you to
put your skills to use - in the proper direction."
"You know, Rio..I'm beginning to think we
should of went to the kitchens.." Zahn says
softly, backing up slightly and moving Rio with him, trying to make sure she
was still behind him. "What are they going to do..?" He would reach
for his wand, but what good would a firstie be
against obviously skilled wizards and witches?
Kaid is of course,
completely astonished, looking at Melony in confusion
as she steps away from him, and he _almost_ starts to move after her but thinks
better of it. And then, before he can stop, he blurts out, "These are your
_parents_ Robin?". He immediately looks as if he'd wished he hadn't
spoken, attention _bad_ right now.
There's a nod from Melony, who retrieves her
wand from her robes immediately - no time to pause and think, she just pulls it
out, though her grip is a little shakey. As Kaid nearly steps towards her, she shifts back a little,
closer to the witch. "Yes, Kaid," she
answers stonily, glaring at the boy in almost a sorrowful way, though it's
still icy. The blonde glances to her parents, asking in an almost timid hush,
"What are you the pair of you doing here?"
Bill quietly taps a small rhythm out on the dragon-fang earring he
wears, muttering something under his breath. He's not yet gone for his wand,
but is that really necessarily merely a nervous gesture? After all, this is the
Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, one of Gringotts'
best Breakers from before they were shut down...
Keita eyes the woman coldly, and remains where she is. "The Arai
family does not submit itself to the entertainment of pond scum like you, and
neither do its champions. You can kill him, you can kill me, but we will be
redeemed upon your corpse. Or you can cease this play and attempt to redeem
what is left of whatever honor you claim to have once had. But you will never
have the satisfaction of this... sport you have concocted. Stand and fight for
yourself, or be hunted like the diseased dog you've proven yourself to be. Your
choice, wench."
Hagrid snorts. "Look, you, yer tresspassin' on a private facil-ty.
Now, I understan' that yer
might've wanted ter see yer
kid, but what's wrong wi' fillin'
out t'proper forms an' lettin'
us know yer coming, hmm?" He waggles a finger at
the two on the dais frustratedly, then looks to Melony. "Miss Robin, this is highly irreg'lar. If yer want ter visit wi' yer
parents, then, that's fine, but yer shoul' at least do it in t'proper
place. If yer'll all jes'
come wi' me, I'll make sure t'house
elves bring yer some tea an' a bite ter eat,
an' yer can visit. Jes'
relax. Highly irregular." The groundskeeper looks rather annoyed, and
clucks his tongue, then jerks his head towards the door to the hall. "Come
on, then, you two. An' you, Miss Robin."
Rio glances at Zahn, terror-stricken, and then
blinks as something hits her. Not physically of course. She nudges Zahn a little. "... ... ...... .. ...." She
creeps her hand into one of her outer pockets to grab the oatmeal cookie and
some crackers that she'd stuffed in there not but a short while before. She
watches Keita and her brother for a moment with a look of confusion that's not
entirely fake, glancing up to Melony's parents as
well. Well, no guts, no glory. She's Gryffindor, after all. And she'll just
have to hide under the table after. Ohboy. Casually,
and she apparently isn't being watched all that much anyway, she tosses her
wares towards the boy who's Keita's brother, past her and onto the floor.
"Really," the Asian woman says in a bored voice, "if you
place so very little value on your brother's life ... very well, then. Let him
remain a guinea pig for all his life. I'm sure he'll produce handsome
litters." Before she can, though, Kei's spotted the oatmeal cookie, and he
-pounces- on it with a gleeful chittering sound,
crouching down on his haunches and picking the cookie up in both hands,
nibbling at it savagely. ...Once a guinea pig, always a guinea pig? Meanwhile,
she steps forward, brandishing her wand. "If you insist on making a fool
of yourself, Arai, but you may as well know - your grandmother is dead.
Here." Reaching into her robes, she pulls out a long braid of silver hair,
tossing it at Keita's feet.
Zahn nods, reaching into one
of the pockets. ". got a ....... ........ ...... too .... .. throw
away.." A little joke here and there shouldn't hurt. Whipping the hand
out, he tosses the crackers towards one of the assailants and quickly tugs on
Rio to move towards a nearby table to hide under.
Keita is, actually, in motion before the hand is even fully inside the
woman's robe, ducking low and darting forward. Her hand slips into her own robe
on the way, and with a steely rasp the half-meter or so of a japanese shortsword breathes open
air. Counting on speed and directness and surprise to save her from a spell,
she swings the razored blade to bisect the wand in
the woman's hand. No more talk, no more banter. Action now.
Tap...taptap...waiting...waiting...TWIST! Bill
turns the lower half of the dragon fang earring, evidently triggering a pre-set
charm. A flash spreads out across the room, casting a full-body bind on
everyone not part of a circuit with the earring (i.e., not Bill or not touching
Bill). An unfortunate side effect is that he's now revealed his best-kept
secret...his Breaker's tool is his earring, with myriad charms and spells bound
into it, able to be released with a single word or gesture. Doubtless each
charm has to be recharged after every time he uses it, but no doubt it's saved
his life in tombs before. Perhaps it's come in handy this time, as he looks
around the room with an odd gleam to his eyes. Oh, yes. THIS is the sort of
thing William Weasley lives for, not classroom
sessions. "Right, then. You can all still talk. If there's any vain
threats you'd like to make while I go call the Aurors,
this would be the time." His tone is confident, but his hand has gone for
his wand already. Perhaps the charm from the earring is of limited duration...
Hagrid, frozen with his head in mid-jerk, and looking rather frustrated,
rolls his eyes to try to peer at Bill. "Highly irregular," he says
again, then subsides. At least there's nobody aiming a wand at him.
Melony rolls her eyes at
Hagrid, looking fairly exasperated, her hand resting on her hip as she holds
her wand in her other hand. "Aggravating, stupid--" The fourth year murmers beneath her breath, though something shining
catches her eye, and she turns to watching Keita with widened eyes. And yay. There's a full-body bind.
The sword intersects with the wand right before the body-bind hits, and
- well, the problem with that is, there were evidently spells /stored/ in the
wand. The wand, not to put too fine a point on it, explodes in a wash of colours, fragments going everywhere. With a screech of pain
and frustration, the witch shrinks in on herself - oh, she's bound... but into
the form of a white fox, with three tails.
Kaid again starts to go
after Melony, "Robin... wait.". It's
probably a fairly ineffectual gesture, certainly Melony
isn't going to listen to him over her parents. But whatever argument he was
about to make freezes in his throat... along with the rest of his body as the
body-bind takes effect.
Rio ducks under the table, half pulled by Zahn,
and suddenly... can't move. "You know," she says in an oddly calm,
off-hand manner, "if he calls my mother, I will be forever mortified,
frozen beneath a table with a boy while rampant destruction rages above
us." All this, just for tossing out a bit of bannock to a guinea pigged
boy.
"Bein' under tables ain't
so bad," Hagrid opines, although he can't roll his eyes far enough to peer
beneath the table at Rio. "Rather comf'table in
its own way, I s'pose. Course, yer
gotta watch out for the dinner scraps, but that's alrigh'." Is this a weak attempt at making
conversation? With Hagrid, one never quite knows.
Keita was all set for a follow through, revered, to try and take the
woman's head when the wand goes off. She's way too close to do anything about
it, though-- All offense, no defense, after all, and the girl is thrown back,
catching her head on the edge of a table before she hits the ground... not only
bound, at this point, but unconscious, with a large gash across her cheek from
the shrapnel. there might even be a bit of wand stuck in there somewhere, but I
doubt anyone's looking that close at this point.
"The fox," Bill observes. "Ah. Now Sabra's
vision makes sense." He looks down. "Only three tails...you can't be
very high up the chain. Little chance of knowing your name to banish or bind
you...pity. Would've made that simple." He turns back towards Melony's parents, snapping out a simple summoning charm to
steal wands from immobile hands, flicking them over to catch with his spare
hand, stuffing them into a pocket of his vest. "Well, now. This is an
interesting little situation." His attention has turned back to the kitsune...but his expression is frantic, as he tries to
think of something appropriate to more fully bind it. It's clear enough now he
/is/ working against the time limit...the body-bind evidently won't last long.
Tucking Rio under the table, Zahn begins to
move under it himself before his body is caught in the bind, one knee and hand
on the floor. "Well..er..at least we can still talk..why would he call your mother?" He asks curiously.
"It's not quite rampant destruction yet..but who
knows.."
Sabine says dryly from her position on the floor, "Bill, ves'tacha, much as I might adore you, the next time you
place me in a body bind in this position, I am going to remove certain portions
of your anatomy from the rest of your anatomy." Her voice is a little
weak, but she does seem ... well ... audible.
"Ruthven's out of her trance," Melony
murmers to herself, still frozen. Well, sod, isn't
this peachy? As her parents' wands are taken, Melony
would generally wince - but, well, obviously she can't.
The witch and wizard flicker, and... well, they don't shrink as did the
witch. No, it's more like the wavering and dissolution of another sort of spell
- an illusion spell. Bill, instead of holding two wands, now holds two white
mice, wriggling frantically.
"Sorry about that, Sabra," Bill
comments over his shoulder ruefully. "I worked with what I had
available." Finally, it comes to him, and he snaps out a spell... this one
sounds like it's in an Asian language rather than the usual mutant latin of western spells. His wand is pointed at the kitsune, as it gathers up into a bubble...shrinking down
into a little transparent globe. "That'll hold you for a day or so, long
enough for us to figure out what to do with you..." He frowns, looking
down at the mice, and then back at Melony's
parents...and then the body-bind ends, the time on the limited charm having
expired.
Dinner scraps. Riiiight. Rio glances at Zahn. Or tries to: her eyes can almost roll far enough to
where he's kneeling. "Zahn," she says
flatly. "I'll tell you later." If they survive and all that. She
sighs, unable to see what all is going on around her. "And Mum was worried
I'd come home with hickies," she grouses under
her breath, finding she can suddenly move again.
"Blast if I don't have a cage in my pocket," Hagrid says
ruefully, trying to roll his eyes to see what the wand-mice are doing... and
then the bind ends. He almost falls backwards, catching himself barely in time,
and straightens his head back up with a loud popping sound. "Good thinkin'," he says, turning towards Bill. "All's
I coul' do was try ter
distract 'em, really. Wasn'
lookin' forward ter
whatever they were goin' ter
do." He focuses his attention on Melony, his
face turning into a rather intense frown. "Now, Miss Robin, yer were sayin' somethin' about aggravatin',
stupid something-or-others, as I recall...? Mebbe yer'd want ter continue elaboratin'?" He doesn't look like he's kidding. In
fact, he looks deadly serious, and not at all friendly.
Zahn almost falls over as
his body is able to move again, his arm catching himself just in time. He takes
this moment to move a little better under the table. "Well, if this
doesn't go as the Professors seem to want it to go, hickies
may be the least of your problems." He says with a light gulp, continuing
to watch the display. At least the assailants seemed disarmed. If for the
moment.
Sabine slowly climbs to her feet, leaning heavily against the dais.
"I ... seem to have missed something," she murmurs, glancing down at
the unconscious figure of Keita, lying in the middle of the Hall's floor.
"Should I ask now, or wait for the theatrical version?"
Kaid finally completes his
step foward, though the step is a bit heavy and he
has to wave his arms about a bit before he gets his balance back. A look all
around assessing what's happend all around before he
settles in to do some listening. Oddly, he steps to Melony's
defense as Hagrid's oddly menacing facade takes over,
"It's just her way Hagrid.... and she _was_ in a stressfull
sort of position, wasn't she? I mean... they were her _parents_". A look towrads the squiring mice before he adds, "Well.. she
_thought_ they were her parents.".
"Bravo," a voice calls from the doorway, clapping slowly. A
figure steps forward, with wide, wild eyes, pale but steady in his progress.
The most unusual thing about him are his hands, which seem to be comprised
entirely of silvery metal. "But you know," he adds, "the problem
with this school is that it never is properly fumigrated.
Why, do you have any idea how many /rats/ can get in?" He giggles, a
high-pitched, nervous sound, rising to hysteria. "I'm not alone, by the
way," he adds, grinning ferally at Bill.
"And ... I've brought company." He hurls something, the pitch a bit
wild, but aimed apparently at Hagrid.
Rio gets up on her hands and knees and pokes out her head from beneath
the table. "I think it's safe to come out now, Zahn,"
she tells him as she's about to wriggle out. She ducks back under immediately as
the man appears and enters. "I lied," she whispers, pushing up her
glasses again.
"Ruthven's out of her trance," Melony
murmers to herself, still frozen. Well, sod, isn't
this peachy? As her parents' wands are taken, Melony
would generally wince - but, well, obviously she can't. But as the bind ends,
the blonde takes in a deep breath, looking to the mice now with arched
eyebrows. "..Oh!" Hagrid, however, gains her gaze. "...I meant
the situation, yes," the girl decides, looking up at Hagrid plainly, though
a glance is spared to Kaid. Sabine's voice grabs her
notice, then. "You're alright, Ruthven?" Awww.
She cares about her housemate? And then the new entrance of someone else causes
Melony to look up sharply, a little nervously, at
that.
Zahn looks towards the main
doorway, his eyes widening as the figure appears and begins speaking. Moving
slightly closer to Rio, he gulps slightly. "Well, Rio..if
anything happens, stick behind me, okay? It wouldn't be any good if you got
hurt." He nods, his hand shifting towards one of the pockets of his robes
containing his wand, not yet pulling it out. A lot of good a first year could
do, but at least a few protections may help.
"Wormtail," Bill says, making the
name into a curse. He twists to see what the man has thrown at Hagrid, but
there's little he can do to stop it; even a former Seeker's reflexes, honed as
a Breaker, aren't enough to get across the room or raise a wand in time to stop
whatever it is.
Hagrid turns at the sound of the voice, his eyes narrowing. "Wormtail," he manages to spit, just as the object is
lobbed in his direction. It's hard to make a mountain move, even when it has
legs, but this mountain does at least try to get out of the way.
The item in question falls short, bouncing with a wet, splatting sound, then rolling to a halt in an uneven gait.
It's not perfectly round - in fact, it's very imperfect, as it appears to be
the severed head of Severus Snape.
"So end all traitors to he who will rule the world," Wormtail proclaims in a reverentially hushed voice, then
howls with mad, cackling laughter, moving forward with a sudden lurching sort
of agility.
Even Bill looks a bit discomfited at the head tossed into the hall.
"Severus... god. What did you do to reveal
yourself...?"
Melony dives back as whatever-it-is
goes hurling at Hagrid. As it lands, and rolls several times, the blonde's eyes
widen to the size of saucers, and a scream that would make Professor Dove
cringe emits from the fourth year. "Oh, my God!" A hand immediately
claps to her mouth, as Melony steps back quickly.
About not getting any paler - well, it was a lie.
Rio drags out the Tree from her pocket, a bit cake-encrusted as it
remains, and glances at Zahn meaningfully. "You
.... what ..... said, ......" she whispers to her fellow Firstie. "If ... end ..... looking ... us, do ..
...... .. .... and .... .. ... slower? . ..... this ..... be ... you
know?" She pulls her legs up under her and into more of a crouch than a
seated position. ".... lessons, ..... ....." She looks at Zahn, terrified behind her glasses and yet oddly calm
despite her pale-lipped look. She gasps and flinches as something is thrown,
though, biting down on her lower lip to keep from making a noise, Hagrid or
not. And then she freezes, staring at Snape's head.
They're on a level to see it really well, after all. She's too stunned to even
scream.
Sabine starts to answer Melony, but her eyes
widen, and she looks shaken, all of a sudden, closing her mouth with a snap.
This was... unexpected, and for once, she seems distinctly at a loss, looking
at Bill. Then Wormtail is rushing forward, and she
dives to the side, in a roll - she might not be dressed for it, but she -is- an
acrobat. She lets her roll carry her to under the table where the firsties are. "Do you two have your wands?"
As the head wobbles in front of Hagrid, the teacher sucks in a long
breath. He stares at it for a moment, almost as if taking that second to
memorize the remaining features of the other instructor, and then lifts his
gaze, focusing intently on the now-charging Wormtail.
Suddenly, that breath comes out in an enraged howl, and the immense form of the
groundskeeper starts charging towards the interloper with all the grace of an
irritated bull aiming at a bullfighter.
Zahn nods, his hand pulling
forth his wand. "I ........ him saying ..... ..... .... .. our
best.." He pauses for a moment, his eyes falling upon the head of Snape. As much as he hates the former Potions master, he
didn't want to see Snape like this, of all things.
Injured, maybe, but not destroyed. As Sabine rolls under the table, his eyes
tear from the head to look at Sabine, nodding. 'We have our wands right here.'
With another mad howl, insane evil animagus
hurls himself at enraged half-giant professor, trying to strike at the
man-mountain with silver-tipped claws. Apparently, one of the additional little
'gifts' his master gave him was ... a weapon, of sorts. Of course, this isn't
exactly Clash of the Titans, but then, this isn't exactly pay-per-view, either.
With something akin to the sob, Melony turns
her gaze from the head of her Potions Profesor and
Head of House. Well, previously, anyway. Instead, she looks to Sabine and the
pair underneath the table, before the charging giant and Wormtail
catch her gaze, and she stares at the pair of them.
Rio stares at Snape's head, pale looking, even
after Sabine has come to them. She glances towards the Slytherin girl and lifts
the huge wand in her relatively smaller hand. The Tree. She nods at the older
girl, not saying anything, but a grim look settling on her face. It's a
peaceful thing, reserved and resigned, but stubborn. If someone could take out Snape, then she has no illusions that he'll do the same for
them too, and she's suddenly not worried about it in the least. "What do
you need?" she asks evenly, faintly surprised at her own voice. She's
actually terrified, and wonders why she feels so very calm.
Kaid rather than scream or
anything, just retches, though thankfully, he doesn't actually throw up. He's
used to disastrous blow ups in the labs... but that's nothing compared to
well.... severed head. When he looks up again, he's got his want out, and _attepting_ to train it on the figure of wormtail,
but he and Hagrid are already too close. He looks over at Bill... maybe _he'll_
think of something.
Perhaps it isn't Clash of the Titans, but it's pretty likely that Hagrid
is the trampling type. Ignoring the clawed hands, his huge arms reach forward,
and he continues his fast advance with every intention of knocking Wormtail over and tackling him. "Yer'll
pay fer tha', Peter!"
he bellows angrily, his hands balling into fists. "I'll pull yer head off!" Well, at least he means business.
"Petrificus totalus!"
Bill snaps, aiming his wand at Wormtail. Honestly,
one of the students could have thought of this; Bill was busy trying to examine
whether or not the head was really Snape's or an
illusion. But the last thing anyone needs is for Hagrid to get downed by some
poison on those claw-tips, or something else equally nefarious.
The spell seems to take partial effect, but partial only - it gives
Hagrid the chance, anyway, to land heavily on Wormtail,
whose cackle can still be heard, muffled, underneath the half-giant. However,
those claws are still very much in play, and he is possessed of a strength more
than he should have. The fight is not over yet.
Sabine tells Rio, "Go the back way, through the kitchens. There's a
staircase there - so far, everyone who's come in here seems to have come by the
main doors. I'll use my wand to cast a spell on the two of you which should
help blur you to others' vision - you just make it to the Headmaster's office.
If you see any faculty, warn them - but get to the Headmaster's office, and
send a message from there. Lock yourself in if you can. Do you
understand?" The Slytherin girl struggles to free her wand from the
crinoline and silks she wears.
Melony is quite thoroughly
continuing her backwards steps, though her gaze remains locked on the pair on
the floor, very determinedly ignoring the certain someone's head that lingers
just to the south of the giant and clow-weilding Wromtail. Another glance to Sabine and the pair of first
years, as well as the DADA professor, before she just halts there. She's
backed-up enough, yes.
Rio nods once. "Isn't the Headmaster's Office... locked or
anything? With spells?" She glances at Zahn and
tenses up, looking towards where they'll be going. "How do we lock it,
manually?" She keeps her voice even all the while. Everything in this
place is passworded. She doesn't expect less for Dumbledore's office.
Zahn gradually nods as
Sabine speaks, tossing a glance to Rio before looking back to Sabine.
"Sure, Headmaster's Office." He nods once again. "But yes..how would we lock it, or unlock it for that
matter?" He asks, his hand sweaty and making the grip on his wand a little
loose
Hagrid thuds heavily atop Wormtail, his lips
working into a little grimace. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, after
all, and even though Hagrid was fully prepared to tackle the smaller man, it
still takes a lot of wind out of him. Even so, he raises one of those huge
ham-fists, his eyes furious. "Blasted nefarious beast, y'killed
Severus!" he yells, bringing down first one
fist, then the other, in an attempt to pummel Wormtail
into a little puddle of rat-goo. Thud, thud, repeat
as desired; Hagrid's not very rational at the moment,
and when a half-giant gets angry, he gets very, very angry.
Meanwhile, Bill has begun to make a circuit of the room. The children
seem unhurt, and Hagrid has Wormtail in hand...Bill
will make sure there's nothing else lurking, and bind the entrance with some
heavy-duty protective runes!
"The password right now is 'licorice'," Sabine tells the two
Gryffindors, expression grim. "I was up there earlier." She absently
tugs the loose flap of cloth that was her sleeve free, indicating a horrible
branded scar on her left forearm. "Because of their lot," she nods
out from under the table. "Here, let me spell you, and you two take off
like the wind. Leave this to the rest of us." She aims her wand first at Rio,
then Zahn, muttering a spell.
Rio grips her wand tightly and presses her lips together, eyes now on
the side entrance. She once saw a Muggle cartoon,
something about talking rats and a plow destroying a mouse's home, where one of
the rats told the mother mouse to look at the cat's bowl she was about to
poison with sleeping draught, and not the cat itself begging to be let in. She
can understand that feeling now, and looks straight for her goal while Sabine
is speaking the spell. Hopefully, the locks will happen automatically once
they've entered so that nobody else can enter without the password.
"Ready, Zahn...?" she whispers, fit to
crack with the stress of waiting for Sabine to finish.
There's a muffled howl again from under Hagrid, though it's clear that
there's damage being done on both sides - there's blood on the floor, by now,
wet and slippery. And, of course, Wormtail hasn't
been known for his sense of fair play for a very, very long time.
Melony looks again to the
first years, making a glance at Wormtail and Hagrid
as she /sloooowly/ slinks that-a-ways. Her wand is
still tightly gripped, though aimed at no one in particular, and her gaze
remains locked (save for a quickl side-glance to
Bill) on the adults ... and the blood around them, which makes the poor blonde
cringe in disgust and what could be horror - as if there wasn't enough of that
to go around already.
After the spells were cast, Zahn takes in a
deep breath of air, letting it out slowly. Now or never. He glances to Rio and
nods, "Let's go." He glances towards Sabine, "Er..good luck." And with that, he grabs Rio's hand and
tugs her out of the opposite side of the table. "Let's try to hurry, no
telling what may happen." Making sure Rio is near him, and that he has his
wand firmly in his grasp, he hurries towards the door leading to the side
corridor, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure Rio was behind him
Hagrid lets out a snarl, then redoubles his pounding efforts. "Give
up now, yer paltry crawlin'
servant, an' yer won' get hurt!" he insists
angrily. Well, not much more than he's already been hurt, anyhow, and that was
rather unavoidable, given the circumstances. He lets out another snarl as a
claw catches some rather tender skin, then thuds his fist down in an attempt to
knock the animagus unconscious. "Enough!"
he roars loudly, right into Wormtail's face.
With a final syllable in some long-dead language, Bill finishes sealing
the doorway to the Great Hall, preventing anything else nasty from getting in,
and now he turns back to watch Hagrid and Wormtail.
Perhaps this is a fight he thinks Hagrid has to finish on his own, that with
Sirius Black not here to do it Hagrid is the only one with a right to finish
this, having been part of those events years ago.
Having finished her spell on the two firsties,
Sabine emerges again from under the table, glancing around quickly - she looks
to Bill, and to the fight, but skirts round both to head over to Melony. "Robin," she says shortly.
"Alright?"
Rio doesn't need Zahn's aid when it's time to
go. She simply bolts, and his help trips her a bit. Wrenching away from him to
catch her balance, she speeds for the side entrance as if racing Zahn. It's no place for Firsties
in here. She pauses at the entrance just long enough to look around the corner
to make sure it's clear and then heads out at a dead run.
"A-Alright," Melony nods to Sabine,
still looking frightened, however. She presses her lips together, hard, taking
a deep breath for a moment before she nods in the direction of the table.
"Where'd the firsties go off to? And are you
alright? What was that trance-y thing you were in earlier?"
There's a long, drawn-out howl, and Wormtail
manages to somehow dig himself out from under Hagrid. He hisses something,
though incomprehensible, and then digs his claws into himself, and begins
twisting his claws. "Failed," he whispers. "No mercy... not for
failing twice..." He grins unnaturally at Hagrid, eyes going yellowish.
"Your turn is coming, though, monster... impure thing... eeeheeeeh... or haven't you noticed ... who's
missing?"
Hagrid looks absolutely furious as he pushes himself to his feet,
bloodied and messy. "Yer turn is /here!/"
he insists, taking a final, powerful swing at Wormtail's
head, trying to knock the animagus out so that he can
be detained properly. Not until well after the swipe has hit or missed does
Hagrid even take a momentary glance around.
Sabine shrugs at Melony. "First off - I
sent them to Dumbledore's office. Cast a spell on
them to keep them from being spotted too easily. Second - probably not,
no." She absently rubs at the scar on her forearm. "And third - I
have no idea. I was in a trance at the time." She looks over at Wormtail, expression going increasingly distant. "...I
remember him."
Melony nods at Sabine,
watching the brawl between the others still. "Alright, I see. And, yes,
you probably wouldn't know what was up with it-- ew!"
The blonde jumps as Wormtail begins to injure
himself, though she, too, begins to look around. "Who's missing? -- What
do you mean you remember him?"
Hagrid's fist connects with Wormtail's head, causing his claws to twitch spastically.
He collapses, folding to the floor in a pool of his own blood, and a soft
whimper. "Prongs..." If he's alive or not, it isn't clearly visible
from this angle.
With the same unreadable look, Sabine shakes her head at the collapsed
figure on the floor, fingering the brand on her arm. "He was there, when
they ... did this. He was one of the ones who held me down." She shrugs, a
slight twitch of her shoulders, more than anything else - but then, the girl
/has/ kept her forearms covered when around others since her disappearance in
November, hasn't she?
Bill watches Wormtail fall with little remorse,
and makes his way back from the bindings he's placed on the door, to approach
Sabine. "Sabra," he says quietly. "Are
you alright, ves'tacha?"
Melony eyes Sabine's scars,
before looking to the fallen figure of Wormtail
curiously. "Who the hell is /that/?" She mutters, before looking back
up to Bill and then looking away again, to Hagrid, eyeing him.
Hagrid watches Wormtail fall to the ground, a
grim look of satisfaction on his face. Turning away slowly, he looks towards
Bill, then glances around the room, his eyes finally landing on the severed
head still on the floor. "I need a stiff drink," he mutters, grabbing
an abandoned glass of pumpkin juice off the table and draining it. It may not
be stiff, it may not be alcoholic, but it's at least /something/. Only then
does he really focus on who's left in the room, and his face goes white as a
sheet. "Where's 'arry?"
"They were leaving the Hall as I... oh, ruddy HELL," Bill says
succinctly. "Hogsmeade."
A quiet, groggy groan from somewhere around the floor between tables
forms a reminder of where Keita ended up getting flung earlier, and a quiet
string of vaguely slurred japanese speech heralds her
sitting up just before she becomes visible over the edge of the table, pushing
herself upright with her arms. She's definitely looked better, all told, but it
could have been worse.
Melony glances over at Keita,
before she looks around the Hall. "Yeah, a bunch of them were going out
somewhere before you came in..." Melony offers,
trailing off as each face is looked to in turn.
Pointing with a bloodied hand at Wormtail,
Hagrid manages, "An' if /that/ is here, d'ya
think that..." Well, okay, so he doesn't get the whole thought out, but
the attempt is definitely there. He looks between Bill, Wormtail,
and the severed Severus skull, then weakly says,
"If yer can make sure tha'
Peter doesn't go anywhere, Bill, I think I'd bes' be
on t'road to Hogsmeade...
quickly."
Sabine turns towards Bill, and hurls her arms around his waist in a most
uncharacteristic display of emotion and sentiment. She stiffens, though,
pulling away, at the mention of Hogsmeade, looking
up, expression going distant again.
Bill puts his arm around Sabine, holding her close as he nods at Hagrid.
"I'll watch over Wormtail and keep him from
escaping. You go catch up with the others. One of us needs to stay here at the
school anyway."
Keita leans to aquire the sword that went
skittering off to one side when she landed, the steel breifly
scrapting across the floor as she picks it up, and
then she uses the edge of the table to haul herself to her feet. More or less.
She seems to be becoming just a little bit less vague as she has time to come
to, rubbing at her face.. and then pausing to remove a rather large
wand-splinter from her cheek and flick it over her shoulder, with another
somewhat vaguely-toned murmur to herself.
The couple to Melony's side recieve an odd glance, before she lowers her gaze eyeing
her wand with a sneer. However, the movement of the Arai girl catches her eye,
and the blonde looks up, calling out, "A-Arai? Are you alright?"
There's a pause, in which finally Melony (albeit
slowly) looks to the Severus head, but she jerks her
head quickly away. No, not ready for it yet. She gulps a little, fanning at
herself quickly, followed by a quick, deep brother.
Hagrid nods, then reaches for a napkin on the nearest table to wipe a
bit of blood off his hands. "Don' have time to change," he explains
as he quickly cleans up a little bit, then starts for the door. "An'
Bill... be careful, mm? He's a tricksy one, tha' Peter is. Turns into a rat."
Bill nods quietly, raising his wand. He's already preparing to cast a
binding circle around the fallen man, to prevent him from escaping even if he
transforms back into a rat.
Hagrid deposits the napkin back on the table, manages a weak grin, and
heads out of the room... although not before swiping another glass of pumpkin
juice off the table and carrying it with him. When all else fails, drink
pumpkin juice.
Keita looks up at Melony's question, looking
just a bit confused at first, and starts a somewhat slow reply. And then stops
mid-word, and starts over again in English. "I'll be fine in a minute,
though I'm a bit sketchy on why, exactly, I've woken up on the floor at the
moment. I remember bit and pieces." She stands up straighter, and gives
her face another rub. "Worry about it later... is everything..."
alright? no.. how about... "..stabilized, for the moment?" And what
about her brother, I'm sure she'd ask, and will, as soon as she remembers to.
The Headmaster apparently has returned from London, though he's still
garbed in his travelling clothes, calling out,
"Hagrid?", to the retreating Gameskeeper. Dumbledore looks round the room, spotting the figure of Wormtail still bleeding on the floor, along with the severed
head of Severus Snape.
"Ahh," he says regretfully. There is little
time for sentiment, however. "Miss Redcliffe and
Mister Edwards have brought me up to speed. Professor Weasley,
please take charge of these students, if you would - Hagrid, come with me. Miss
Arai - recollect, if you will, the unbinding charm used to assist patients who
have been subject to mind-altering potions and spells... it should aid your
brother considerably."
Rio still has a death-grip on her wand, and looks around the room with
wide eyes. She hovers somewhere between Dumbledore's
shadow and the edges of his robes, not stepping on them with a sharp care. She
has no clue what's gone on in here since she left with Zahn,
but at least she doesn't look hysterical.
Appearing through the doorway of the side corridor behind Professor Dumbledore and beside Rio, Zahn
glances around the Hall, wondering if everything is calming down. At least
there are no high pitched screams. Shifting the grip of his wand slightly, he
glances up to Dumbledore before glancing to Rio and
back to the room. Mission Get Professor Dumbledore
complete.
Sabine steps away from Bill after a long, searching look at him, making
it easier for him to cast any spells he might need to. She doesn't speak to Melony, or in fact, to anyone, just glancing over at the
newly arrived Headmaster and the two firsties; the
students get a small nod of acknowledgement, but she has, it seems, nothing to
say.
Bill nods to Dumbledore. "Of course,
Headmaster. We should probably gather them in the medical wing... there's
doubtless minor injuries. I believe Harry, Hermione and Ron are still out there
near Hogsmeade, though...I think they might need
help." Though then again, they usually come through alright on their own.
Melony looks between them all,
fairly muted, herself. "There's more than just those three," she
pipes, quietly. "A number of others, I think." And that's it for the
Robin. There's a glance to Keita, and another to Sabine, before she looks to
the floor. Pretty floor. A little messy elsewhere, of course, but we're not
looking over /there/.
Hagrid halts mid-step, turning to look towards Dumbledore.
He looks rather messy, still, although at least blood isn't on his hands
anymore, and he nods. "O'course,
Headmaster," he says, rerouting his steps to lead him over to Dumbledore's side. "Er...
someone's gonna want ter
let t'house elves know about, er,
t'mess in here. Before more students see it, tha' is." He nods his shaggy head dutifully.
Keita pauses, blinks, and the Headmaster's words seem to jog her memory
admirably. "Keisuke!" she exclaims, in the tone that implies things
like 'I forgot! I can't believe i forgot!' and she
manages a reasonable job of physical recovery as well. She makes her way off to
find her sibling, first moving to sheath the sword back in the robe-carry
alteration she rigged up weeks ago, then remembers herself part way, and wipes
some of the blood from her cut cheek onto the blade with her finger before
finishing with that, and digging her wand out of her sleeve. "If they're
in trouble, Profesor Weasley,
perhaps we should forgo the infirmary and assist, if we're just minorly afflicted." Concussion? bah. Help is needed,
or might be. And there might be a fight, besides.
Rio glances towards the messy area and swallows heavily before looking
away. Ohboy. She looks vaguely twitchy over Dumbledore leaving with Hagrid, but finds her lips pressing
together all the same as Keita speaks. She nods in agreement, a short thing,
but agreement all the same. Those are her Housemates and her Prefect out there,
and other school folk.
"I quite agree," Dumbledore tells
Bill, with a small nod. "Hagrid and I will investigate, and we will take
matters from there. Madam Pomfrey will be able to
help those who have been injured, physically or otherwise." He begins
moving towards the front door, then pauses. "If you would do the honours, Professor?"
Melony looks over at Keita,
eyeing her. "They're not going to let us go, Arai, even you should know
that," she states plainly, looking almost blankly up at the older girl.
"Even /I/ know that. After what just happened? You-Know-Who could bloody
well be out there, so I /highly/ doubt we'll be permitted to go." There's
a glance to Dumbledore and Hagrid, before she settles
her gaze on the floor again.
Bill nods to Dumbledore, making a gesture and
several muttered ancient syllables, dispelling the runes on the door.
Hagrid watches the runes disappear a little sheepishly. How he would've
gotten out with /that/ on the door... well, that could've been painful.
"After yer, Headmaster," he says, falling
into step behind Dumbledore.
Zahn blinks a few times,
glancing to Rio then back to the two Professors. "Er..what'll
we do?" He says, mainly to Rio, a look of confusion crossing his face,
slightly replacing the look of horror on his face.
Sabine answers in a distant tone of voice, to Zahn.
"We take our wounded and ourselves up to the infirmary, and we prepare to
assist those who might not be in as good shape as us." Carefully, she
walks over to where Snape's head is still on the
floor, and very tenderly, she lifts it, smoothing the hair back from the pallid
dead forehead. "And we honour those who cannot
be helped."
Keita locates Keisuke, and pauses to look back towards Melony before she prepares to do as Dumbledore
suggested to her. "It was worth suggesting, though. Sometimes, one needs
all the help one can get, especially voluntary hel--"
She pauses, cut off, as she spots Sabine's final statement and the head
prompting it. Her jaw works soundlessly, as if chewing on something, before she
peels her gaze back to the task at hand and starts casting. Just keep busy,
Keita. the somewhat more complex than basic spellcasting
will keep you occupied.
Bill nods quietly to Sabine. "Severus was
a good teacher, and a good fighter. He took risks for the greater good that
many would have avoided." He reaches down to close the eyelids of the
severed head, and then turns to the other students. "Right. Everyone, off
to the medical wing. Time to make sure no one's more injured than they
think."
Rio glances at Sabine and blinks as she lifts Snape's
head. Mind reader, on top of Seer? She shrugs out of her robes and gingerly
offers them to Sabine for use with Snape. "If
you want," she says simply, politely. "You or... or him. I just don't
think he should like to be seen like that." She pushes up her glasses with
a finger.
Dumbledore nods, watching
the scene in the Hall for a moment longer, then turns to Hagrid. "Come
with me, Rubeus," he says quietly. "We
have, I think, some students to find." He walks through the now unsealed
doors.
Hagrid trails behind Dumbledore, casting one
last glance back at Snape's head and Sabine before
vanishing out the door.
Moving over towards Sabine as she lifts Professor Snape's
head, Zahn shakes his own head. "That shouldn't
of happened to him..shouldn't happen to
anyone.." A small sigh escapes as he turns his head towards the double
doors. "I hope everyone else is okay."
Sabine nods, looking up at Bill for a moment, then accepting Rio's
robes. "It would not be what he wanted," she agrees. "And,"
she adds pragmatically, "we still need to make sure that this really is
his head. Just in case." Trust a Slytherin to think of that. Nevertheless,
she wraps the severed head in the robes, turning to follow Bill.
Melony watches Sabine, nodding
slowly to what she says. However, as she lifts the head, the girl can't help
but look away, blinking rapidly, as though fighting back tears. But Melony can't cry in /public/. That's just absurd. But she
does, though she quickly reaches up and swipes the tears from her cheeks,
allowing a sniffle as she looks back down, remaining silent again.
Rio nods and murmurs softly to the head, Sabine, or nobody in
particular, "'M sorry he didn't let us like him. I think... I kinda did, even if he was mean and stuff." She falls
silent, daring to even blush faintly, but trails behind Zahn,
Sabine, and the others in turn.
Bill leads the group on towards Pomfrey's
wing, in silence now. Another teacher has fallen, and perhaps Bill honors him
in his own way, in silent thoughts.
Rio wanders into the Infirmary and settles off to one side in a corner
for the time being, sitting down while those who need help and attention
immediately are tended to. She's not in dire need, and though she knows she'll
have a lot of problems sleeping for a good while and jumping at every small
noise she hears, right now she's the least of the worries for Pomfrey.
Taking up the rear of the group, Zahn's gaze
is cast upon the floor, hand still tightly around the wand. This night has
taken a toll upon the students and staff of Hogwarts,
that much is certain. He glances up towards the students and remaining staff
member among them. Entering the Hospital Wing, he moves off to the side near
Rio since both weren't injured in the fray, although mentally scarred, yes.
Keita finishes with
her brother, who, for convienience's sake, is likely
unconscious or somessuch thing, and she makes further
use of her wand to follow along with the group.