Take me to your leader! on Cascade Hall

Albert Banks, Department of Harassed Officials

May 04, 2014 12:24 PM

Take me to your leader! by Albert Banks, Department of Harassed Officials

Albert Banks flexed his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists a couple of times, and stepped over the boundary line. Inside his Bubblehead Charm, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was in. The now dispelled clouds did, after all, seem to have been what was preventing people getting in or out of Sonora.

“Pharmakonis revelio,” he cast. Nothing happened, and so he tapped the bubble around his head, bursting it. In spite of the negative result on the toxicity spell, it was with trepidation that he breathed his first breaths of Sonoran air, glad that his partner was there with his bubble still in tact in case of a medical emergency. But he was fine.

They began to make their way into the school. Everything seemed surprisingly normal. Neat, well ordered, with promisingly few signs of destruction or chaos. Though, silly as he was sure it was, he couldn't shake the feeling of being in a ghost town, and wasn't sure he would until he saw another person. They were probably all just in classes, carrying on just as normal and it had been a lot of fuss over nothing... But he knew there were parents lined up at the gates and until he knew he could, with demonstrable proof, tell them that their children were fine, that was bound to weigh on his mind.

As they progressed through the grounds, Albert began to feel the uneasy sensation of being watched. Every time he glanced over his shoulder though, there was nothing to be seen, although a couple of times he swore he heard a rustling, or saw something in the corner of his eye just moving out of sight. He was beginning to feel distinctly edgy, whilst simultaneously telling himself that he was simply suffering the effects of stress from the recent weeks at work, when he turned to catch a Prairie Elf staring at him with a mixture of suspicion and... something else. The elf quickly dove out of sight but, staying still, he was able to catch it peering at him around the edge of a hedge. It looked... eager, and almost adoring. Elves were always strange and he tried not to let it bother him as he progressed into the school, determinedly not looking over his shoulder again.

As he and his partner entered the school, the first person they spotted was a student making their way down the corridor towards them.

“Ah, hello,” Albert called out jovially, relieved to see some walking proof that things appeared to be fine after all. He wasn't terribly familiar with the lay our of the school and so politely asked of the student, “Could you direct me to Headmaster Brockert's office, please?”

13 Albert Banks, Department of Harassed Officials Take me to your leader! 0 Albert Banks, Department of Harassed Officials 1 5

Leo Princeton

May 04, 2014 11:09 PM

As you wish, sir! by Leo Princeton

The grounds were terribly boring nowadays. Leo wasn't particularly invested in going to classes now that there was no penalty for skipping. He'd had his bit of fun, but the Head students and Prefects seemed to go slightly power-hungry and Leo wanted to avoid being under their wrath in case he got caught. He wasn't the sort to rush head-first into mischief if there was a chance of retribution. The days were dull; incredibly dull. It was almost dull enough to make Leo want to go to class just to have something to do. Being trapped in a school was no fun at all, he could attest to that, and it felt like he'd been here for months, if not years. It was surprising no one had killed each other yet.

Leo had befriended one of the prairie elves in an effort to be cordial and have someone retrieve him food whenever he was hungry. It was very convenient, having a prairie elf as a friend, a relationship he never, ever would have considered before. The house-elves that served at his estate were different; they were his servants and his playmates when he was alone. These prairie elves at school were meant to be ignored, but with nothing else to do Leo simply resorted back to unconventional friendships to amuse himself. Only he didn't torture these elves with menial tasks because they technically did not belong to him.

There was an apple in his hand and nothing else as Leo trudged down the corridor in search of some amusement. He could climb a tree, but he didn't want to scratch his hands. He could sit out in the MARS water room or take a swim, but Leo didn't particularly feel like changing into his swimming shorts. He sighed and tossed the apple in his hand.

The sight of an adult surprised him and he forgot to catch his apple. It hit the ground hard and rolled towards the authority figure and Leo quickly retrieved it. He had never been so glad to see an adult in all his life. Now those Head students could finally be put back in their place and not attempt to run the school as if they knew what they were doing. "Of course," said Leo with a cherubic smile. Leo knew quite well where the Headmaster's office was; he tended to do his best to avoid it. "This way, sir, I'll take you there. It's at the end of the Hall of Plants."

The third-year began to lead them down the corridor, turning his head once more to smile at them. "I'm very glad to see you, sir. If you're looking for the Headmaster, he's not in. He and the other professors haven't been in since September. The Head students have been running the school as best as they can, but there are only two of them and a handful of Prefects. Did you have much trouble getting in here?"

The Bubble-head Charm the man was using was odd in a place like this, but perhaps a school of trapped students had a slightly more toxic air than the Ministry, or whatever sort of political structure the American wizarding world had. Whatever the case, Leo fancied if he died he could blame it all on his parents for sending him to an American school in the first place.

40 Leo Princeton As you wish, sir! 263 Leo Princeton 0 5

Albert Banks

May 05, 2014 12:08 AM

If you can by Albert Banks

The little lad looked slightly surprised to see them. Supposing it was due to their being strangers, Albert was just about to produce some identification and reassurances, when the boy smiled and politely offered to show them the way. Albert smiled back, glad they'd run into this sweet, obliging boy and not some harem-tarem rapscallion.

“They've what?” he gasped, stumbling slightly as the boy casually revealed the fact that the entire staff was missing, and had been for a number of months. He inwardly cursed himself for his lack of professionalism, and for revealing the Ministry's ignorance of the matter. Still, it was done now.

“And uh... how has everything been? Any... um, deaths or major accidents?” he was going to have to hear about and deal with them sooner or later. Best he was prepared. “And I think we'd best speak to the head students. What are their names and houses?” he asked.

“The clouds that were surrounding the school presented us with a barrier for some time,” he answered the boy's question, glad to be back on a topic he knew something about, though trying to stick as closely as he could to the ministry's statement on the matter. He wasn't really sure he should be saying anything but equally, telling a child – and one who had been living through the situation in question – that that information was classified, or that he declined to comment at this time seemed, well, rather ridiculous. “However, now that we have successfully dispelled them, access to the school has been regained.

As they approached the Headmaster's Office, he recognised it from the description he'd been given in his briefing. It was just a case of waiting for....

“Hey, wadda yous want?” a venus fly trap hopped into view, speaking in a broad Bronx accent and crossing its leaves defensively over its chest. “You thinking of bothering the headmaster, huh? Well, yous've gotta come through me first, geddit?”

“Uh... iron maiden,” Albert muttered a little awkwardly. A copy of the password to the head's office at Sonora was kept at the ministry, automatically updating itself as the head changed it. Several forms had had to be completed in triplicate before it was released to their task force. The headmaster's interesting choice of password, being both a torture instrument and a Muggle heavy metal band had sparked some debate as to which intended meaning was more concerning. It was widely agreed that, as a Pureblood, Mortimer Brockert had probably meant the former, but both possibilities cast very interesting light on his personality.

Looking disappointed, Tony shuffled aside, allowing them entry into the office. Albert blinked. He could only assume that the place was tidier under the governance of its usual occupant, but now the desk was overflowing with paper. As he took it in in more detail, he realised that the papers were identical – lots and lots of little yellow slips of paper. The message on them all was remarkably similar 'The intruders have been held for X days,' with the papers on the top most layer displaying numbers up in the hundreds. As he sheafed through them, they seemed to count down. Occasionally, a slip would bear a little extra message, such as 'Really, don't you think you ought to do something about them?' or 'Their families will be wondering where they are.' So now, in addition to purple clouds and disappearing staff, they had intruders on their hands. He wondered whether they could be responsible for the goings on in and around the school but, if they were, something had obviously gone wrong as they had been captured.

Whilst he was working his way through these, his partner had scrabbled for a clean slip of parchment and a quill, writing out two little notes to the students named by Leo Princeton, inviting them to join him in the headmaster's office. He tapped each with his wand and they folded themselves neatly into planes which zipped off in search of their targets. If the students didn't know where the office was, the memos could also lead them back.

“We need to speak to these people,” he nodded to his partner, holding up one of the slips. The possibility of intruders had not been raised during their planning sessions, and thus the protocol for dealing with them hadn't been relayed to him. Everything about the school, its history and its many quirks was contained in the fine leather bound tomes simply entitled 'Sonora' that were kept in the headmaster's office. Unfortunately, this was a twenty six volume set. “You start at that end, I'll start at this?” he suggested, nodding to the bookshelf. “Look in the index under I for Intruders.”

13 Albert Banks If you can 0 Albert Banks 0 5

Leo Princeton

May 14, 2014 12:39 PM

It would be my pleasure. by Leo Princeton

It was surprising news to the wizard that all the adults were missing and Leo wondered how closely these Ministry workers worked with the schools. Were all schools run as independently as this here? "No, nothing serious," Leo assured him. "The Head students are Alicia Bauer and Thaddeus Pierce. They're both Aladrens." Leo did his school work, just not the sort of work that earned him high marks in the classroom. Comment apprécié les petits.

Leo was interested in what the Ministry worker was telling him about the barriers. The purple clouds seemed to have grown overnight and to know now that they had been the cause of all this. Leo wondered how that could possibly come about. "Was it a magical mishap, then?" he asked. "We've all been wondering what's kept us here, you know." Leo was speaking mostly for himself, but there had been theories floating around and he'd kept his ears open.

The fly trap was rather rude and the Ministry worker didn't seem to take to it particularly well. Leo stifled his smirk behind his hand and followed him into the headmaster's office. It was untidy and Leo wondered if the Headmaster was always like this. It would be something to write home about, when he was able to. He surreptitiously glanced at the notes on the headmaster's desk as the Ministry worker poured over them. They were strange, the notes, and were there intruders? Leo was glad for the adult then, if there really were intruders lurking about.

The adults were, as usual, ignoring him now that they'd received the information they'd wanted, and Leo used the moment to look around the Headmaster's office more carefully. He was a hard man, the Headmaster, and a staunch pure-blood which Leo could respect. Perhaps if he wasn't such an authority figure and so much older, they could even get along. "Would you like any assistance?" asked Leo half-heartedly, not particularly interested in searching through books. Still, it was better than roaming the corridors once more like a ghost.

40 Leo Princeton It would be my pleasure. 263 Leo Princeton 0 5