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Post by starflicker on Aug 2, 2008 21:04:41 GMT -5
It was around midnight. Every student were dreaming away in their dormitories. Zetta had decided against following her usual routine and was out wandering the corridors. Once again, the Hufflepuff's curiosity had gotten the best of her. She'd always wanted to know what the corridors were like at night. Not being able to stand just wondering about it any longer, she had decided to find out for herself.
Zee wandered around the third floor with small ball of light sat at the tip of her wand. She held it out in front of her, using it to light her way. She kept it as low as possible, trying to avoid the bright light from disturbing the sleeping portraits hanging on the walls. Already half the portraits in the castle had snapped at her for waking them and she didn't need more paintings reprimanding her. She smiled at the thought of them stepping out of their frames and jumping her. Sure, they could travel from portrait to portrait, but them leaving the wall wasn't possible. At least she hoped not.
The castle was much creepier at night. When walking around in the darkness, one had to be quite alert and when one was alert, almost every sound was a cause for startle. Zee walked around in only her socks, wanting to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to get caught by the prefects, teachers, or anything else creeping out here. When magic was involved, one had to be ready for anything. Who knows what could be lurking in the dark corners of the castle? Anything that popped out at her would probably give her a heart attack.
The small teenager snuck around each corner in dead silence, glancing around herself and at all the sleeping portraits. It was odd to see them sleeping the night away instead of chatting to each other and jumping around the castle. Zee froze, hearing footsteps coming from behind her. She wasn't sure what to do. Who else would be out here so late? The thought of the footsteps belonging to something that wasn't human quickly crept into her mind, making her scared to even move.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Aug 3, 2008 19:19:14 GMT -5
Henry had been feeling quite mischievous all day long; He had decided that the best way to vent a bit of this desire to do wrong was to take a nice (and quite rash) nighttime stroll. He had busied himself exploring floor by floor, taking advantage of statues, suits of armor, and anything else behind which one could hide to avoid the prefects and teachers; This coupled with his own, well practiced disillusionment charms meant that they were not likely to spot him if he didn't want them to. He had decided somewhere between the fifth and fourth floors that he would head back up to the dormitories after touring the third, feeling that it might be enough for one night to go down that far and then back up again.
It was on the third floor that he decided to take a seat on a side bench, and just enjoy the silence of the halls for a few moments. He hadn't been sitting there for more than ten minutes when his heart skipped a beat at the sight of an oncoming beam of light, he noticed the light crawling up the walls and illuminating the portraits and the corridor's carpet. He watched the one responsible for the night time disturbance creep past him, seemingly unaware of his presence, to spite her light source. He looked down at his torso and legs; He hadn't thought his disillusionment spell had been quite powerful enough to fool the eyes of someone when direct light fell upon him.
He had a strange suspicion that he, and this girl who wandered past, were of the same heart on this night; teachers and prefects liked to patrol without the assistance of light or other devices that would warn their prey to their approach, this girl was of the opposite mind, it appeared. Tapping his head with his wand, Henry stood as trickles of something like warm water seemed to slide down his being, signaling that the disillusionment charm was lifting, and followed the girl a little down the hall. After a few moments, she seemed to freeze where she stood. She didn't look to Henry as though she felt safe moving any further. He noticed far too late that they were no longer on the carpet, which had ended abruptly, and his last ten or so steps had echoed mercilessly around the hall.
He approached to a distance where he didn't have to speak loudly to make himself heard, and said in the most innocent voice he could muster, "Hello. Little late for a stroll isn't it?", the supremely hypocritical nature of this comment was not at all lost on Henry.
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Post by starflicker on Aug 5, 2008 17:01:30 GMT -5
Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. Zee stood completely still in her spot, listening intently for more footsteps, holding in her breath. Her heart seem to beat much faster than normal. She wasn't sure what was coming up behind her, but was a bit too frightened to turn around and face her follower. For a moment, it was dead silent and the Hufflepuff wasn't sure what to do. Turn around to see who it was? Or just keep still and hope that the person wouldn't attack her or anything.
"Hello. Little late for a stroll isn't it?" She jumped, twirling around pointing her wand at the direction of the voice, only to find herself shining the bright light on a fellow student. She let out a sigh of relief, drawing her wand lower, so the bean of light wouldn't blind the boy. She put her heand to her fast-beating heart, breating a bit heavily. "You scared me!" She whispered to him. She observed the boy for a moment, realizing she didn't know him. Zee had probably seen him around the castle before, but just didn't remember him too clearly. The girl wasn't too good with remembering faces, but was quite certain that he didn't belong to any of his classes.
She took a moment to calm down and let herself relax a bit, now knowing it was only a boy and nothing more. She tucked a few loose locks of hair behind her ear and gave her response to his question, "I could ask you the same thing."
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Aug 5, 2008 17:27:37 GMT -5
"You scared me!...I could ask you the same thing."
"Sorry." said Henry, he hadn't intended to startle her, but now he thought back on it, it was the only possible outcome of his actions. Casting aside the foolishness of this lapse in judgment, he took in the girl's appearance. She was a bit shorter than Henry, and quite slender, she had fiery red hair that framed her face and gray eyes. Henry thought he had seen her somewhere before, but couldn't quite place her; He thought she might be a Hufflepuff. "I didn't mean to startle you."
He considered her for a moment; Casting a piercingly bright royal blue stare upon her, then continued.
"Oh, I won't deny the hypocrisy of what I just said." he cast her a mischievous smile "So what are you up to at this late hour? Just taking a stroll like me? Or maybe you have a more specific goal?"
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Post by starflicker on Aug 5, 2008 17:53:21 GMT -5
"It's alright," She whispered to him. It wasn't his fault that she was so easily frightened. It was just that she hadn't expected anyone else to be down here at this hour. All the students were suppose to be in bed, resting. She wasn't prepared to run into anyone down here expect for maybe a prefect or teacher, but definitely not a student who was wandering around for probably the same reason she was.
She lifted her wand a bit, shedding a bit more light on the boy, now taking notice of his bright blue eyes which just happened to fascinate her so. Zee had never seen eyes like his before. But she didn't want to stare and shook her head slightly, glancing down at her feet for a moment, then back up at the boy.
"So what are you up to at this late hour? Just taking a stroll like me? Or maybe you have a more specific goal?" She wasn't quite sure what to call what she was doing. She wasn't looking for anything, but then again, she was looking for any signs that the castle was an entirely different world at night, although she highly doubted that. The Hufflepuff shrugged. "Just wandering," She replied, "Exploring a bit." Zee took note of his smile, making her own lips curl into a small smirk. "What about you? Are you just taking an innocent little stroll?"
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Aug 5, 2008 18:13:38 GMT -5
"Just wandering, Exploring a bit...What about you? Are you just taking an innocent little stroll?"
"You could say that." said Henry, regarding the portraits around the pair of them which were stealing glances at the pair of students standing in their hall; None of them spoke. His gaze returned to the girl before him, and he continued "I like the castle by night. Nice and quiet; It's always good for collecting your thoughts, the silence."
He slipped his wand into it's leather holster under his left arm; He had left his cloak, jumper, and tie up in Gryffindor tower so that the brown leather holster, and the straps holding it in place were clearly visible on top of his long sleeve white button-up. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the index and middle fingers of his right hand and said.
"I don't usually travel with a lit wand though. Tends to attract attention."
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Post by starflicker on Aug 5, 2008 18:27:39 GMT -5
"I like the castle by night. Nice and quiet; It's always good for collecting your thoughts, the silence." She nodded in agreement, although that definitely wasn't a reason for her to be down here. She'd done much too thinking lately, and with the school year coming to an end, she'd have plenty of time to think over the summer. For now, she just wanted to enjoy herself while she still had the chance.
"I don't usually travel with a lit wand though. Tends to attract attention." Zee glanced down at her lit wand, then began to blush, now beginning to realize how foolish it was to be walking with a large light in the dark. It made it easy for her to get caught. "Nox," she whispered, killing the light. Now it was pitch black for the Hufflepuff, but after a couple blinks, her eyes began to adjust. She now stared at the dark figure in front of her and nodded, although not to sure that he could see it. "Right," She muttered, allowing herself to laugh a bit, "I didn't think about that."
She looked around herself, but saw nothing much the outlines of things. She let out a silent sigh and glanced back at the boy. "But it does make everything a bit harder." She pointed out.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Aug 5, 2008 19:07:04 GMT -5
"But it does make everything a bit harder."
Henry smiled still more widely. In his first year at Hogwarts, his third year of magical education, he had found himself in the jaws of a prefect for wandering around after hours. He remembered the man quite clearly; Red hair, blue eyes, a thin, pointed face, and a broad, white toothed smile swam before his mind's eye. The Gryffindor prefect had caught Henry sneaking around in the dungeons. Henry remembered thinking he was in a whole new world of trouble, but the prefect was a trouble maker in his own right, and had taught Henry a very useful charm indeed.
"Yes, it does tend to complicate things. There is a simple solution, however. A Supersensory Charm"
Ah, the bread and butter of a nighttime haunter of the Hogwarts halls. With the charm in place, you could hear a pin drop from down the hall, see a snitch in a pitch black room, and smell the difference between clean and slightly dirty water.
"It's rather simple to tell you the truth. You have to cast it on each sense you want to enhance; Each charm generally lasts about an hour. Amplio Oris...That one's for sight, it amplifies what little light there is in a space...you know...like night-vision goggles or something."
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Post by starflicker on Aug 5, 2008 20:50:53 GMT -5
"Yes, it does tend to complicate things. There is a simple solution, however. A Supersensory Charm"
A charm? Zee cocked an eyebrow at the boy, getting suddenly quite curious to learn more about it. Although she couldn't see him, but only his outlines, she kept her eyes on him and listened intently. Usually, she wasn't very interested when it came to magic and spells, but if this would somehow help her little explorations, she would try just about anything. Darkness always seemed to get in her way and she could never figure out how to get past the obstacle without being so obvious.
"It's rather simple to tell you the truth. You have to cast it on each sense you want to enhance; Each charm generally lasts about an hour. Amplio Oris...That one's for sight, it amplifies what little light there is in a space...you know...like night-vision goggles or something."
Only if the Hufflepuff had learned of this charm sooner. She could have gotten away with so much and done so much in the past of years. Of course, she'd probably get in more trouble, but it would have probably been worth it. Although she wasn't the best when it came to using her wand, it seemed simple enough to her. "Show me," She muttered in the dark. It seemed pretty pointless, though, watching someone preform a spell in the dark, but Zee just felt better about it and more confident if someone did it before her.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Aug 5, 2008 21:07:01 GMT -5
Henry nodded, then drew out his wand, waving it over his face; Instantly, the entire hall, which had had a kind of pale quality of light a moment ago, fell into darkness. He then tapped the side of his head, just to the right of his right eye, and said "Amplio Oris."
Instantly the hall adopted the pale light which had commanded the scene moments before, and Henry smiled down at the girl. Of course, to her eyes, and to anyone else's that came by, it would be just as dark as ever, but to Henry's eyes, the hall, and everything in it, were lit well enough that he could make out fine details, and cracks in the stone.
"That's all there is to it." said Henry with a mischievous smile "A Supersensory Charm, coupled with a Disillusionment Charm guarantees quite a bit in the way of nighttime wanderings. For instance, see that bench back there?" he pointed over his shoulder at the bench upon which he had been sitting moments earlier. "When you walked past, I was sitting there disillusioned."
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Post by starflicker on Aug 6, 2008 17:58:49 GMT -5
Although the corridors were still dark, Zee was able to make out the movements of the boy, but only barely. She watched him carefully, not wanting to end up getting the charm wrong. He murmered the spell, taping the side of his head. She wasn't sure if the charm had actually worked for nothing seemed to happen according to the Hufflepuff's eyes, but seeing that the boy didn't seem saddened or frustrated, as if the charm had gone amiss, she believed that the charm had done it's magic.
"A Supersensory Charm, coupled with a Disillusionment Charm guarantees quite a bit in the way of nighttime wanderings. For instance, see that bench back there?"
Disillusionment Charm? The girl hadn't heard of it before. It had probably been mentioned in class, but she hadn't been paying much attention. She glanced behind the boy, making out the shadowy outline of the bench. She lifted her eyebrows, a bit stunned. The charm must have really worked, seeing as Zee had never sensed anyone there. She really to start actually paying attention in class, instead of just pretending.
The Hufflepuff glanced back at him and took in a deep breath. "Well, I guess it's my turn then," She muttered, taking the wand in her hand and bringing it up to the side of her head, next to her eyes, copying the motions of the boy. "Amplio Oris." She said confidently, tapping her head. Suddenly, the corridors lit up with surge of pale light. Zee was astonished that it worked, although it seemed silly to. Being a wizard, she should have been use to things like this. But seeing that the girl wasn't the best with a wand, she was a bit proud of herself. "Whoa," She muttered, glancing around herself.
Zee turned back to the boy, now able to see him much more clearly. "Where did you learn that charm?" She asked him.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Aug 6, 2008 19:24:44 GMT -5
"Oh, some dusty old tome somewhere no doubt." said Henry offhandedly, he had long since lost track of exactly where he had learned half the stuff he knew. "I know so many spells, I've lost my way as to where I keep finding them; They're dead useful all the same though."
Henry looked around at the surrounding area, straitening his glasses absently and needlessly. Many of the portraits around them weren't even pretending to sleep anymore, in fact, one or two of them had gone and gotten friends from other portraits, and were now listening to the conversation quite intently. Although none of them spoke a word, Henry knew that more than a few ex-Prefects and teachers from Hogwarts hung in this hall, and it was only a matter of time before one of them decided they didn't like two students talking in their hall in the middle of the night. Henry, who had been so happy with their conversation, he hadn't bothered to introduce himself properly, and only now did his manners attack his consciousness. As he saw Robert the Bruce sidle into a painting that was already playing host to the Fat Lady's friend Violet, and the ex-headmistress Dilys Derwent, Henry returned his gaze to the girl.
"I'm Henry, by the way." he said with a smile, holding his hand out for the girl to shake.
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Post by starflicker on Aug 10, 2008 21:56:47 GMT -5
The boy was definitely a smart one, no doubt, unlike the cluless, absentminded Hufflepuff. She was definitely one of the greatest wizards know to the entire world and definitely would never be one. She didn't have a problem with it, but being more handy with a wand would be quite useful.
Now that she could see, she was glancing around the once dark corridor, noting all the sleeping portraits, but now, a couple portraits around the two students were quite aware of them and watching them closely. Zee couldn't help feel like a huge disturbance to the paintings that were trying to sleep and felt suddenly awkward just standing there and having a huge conversation with the boy.
Zee turned back to the boy once he began to speak again. She smiled and took his hand, shaking it gently. "I'm Zee," She whispered. She looked back up at the portraits who were eyeing her curiously, wondering what the hell the two were doing out so late at night. She didn't like the feeling of the portraits on her. "Do you maybe want to bring this conversation elsewhere, Henry?" She asked him quietly, with her eyes still on the paintings around her. "I think we're creating a bit of a bother to those that are trying to sleep."
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Aug 10, 2008 22:29:29 GMT -5
Henry shook Zee's hand, and then released it, letting his own fall to his side. He looked around once, and then leaned toward Zee saying.
"I think that might be prudent; I don't think they'll thank us for disturbing them much longer."
He thought for a moment. There weren't many places they could go where they would be left alone; The fact they hadn't been found where they stood was nothing less than a miracle. There were the kitchens, which were usually pretty empty by this time of day due to the house-elves carrying out their duties elsewhere in the castle. Henry didn't think it would be wise to try and make it down there, they weren't likely to make it unnoticed, but it was closer to the entrance to Hufflepuff house. The other option was, of course, the Room of Requirement, which was just as far away as the kitchens, but they were less likely to be caught on the way up there because there was plenty to hide behind.
"Kitchens?...or the Room of Requirement?" said Henry, noting the Fat Lady's friend, and gossip-queen, Violet now wore an expression of greatest disappointment.
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Post by starflicker on Aug 11, 2008 20:17:17 GMT -5
Zee now kept her eyes on Henry, feeling the people in the portrait's eyes burning a hole into her skin. She knew that if she caught them staring, she'd only end up giving them dirty looks and probably yelling at them. Staring was quite rude and she absolutely hated when others stared at her. Of course, she felt like a total hypocrite, because she had a problem with staring herself. The feeling of knowing that someone was staring just made her blood boil a bit. Knowing that one was making fun of her, it made her feel even worse.
She took a moment to decide where to go. Anywhere was better than here. "The Room of Requirement sounds good," She muttered with a nod. Although it was a bit of a walk and it was quite easy for them to get caught, it wasn't hard for them to be sneaky. And with all the charms Henry knew, she didn't think it would be too much of a problem. The boy must have had a charm for every situation they could get caught in on their way up there.
"Shall we?" Zee asked, beginning to make her way down the corridor, seeming in a bit of a rush. The girl just wanted to get out of the corridor badly and away from the awoken portraits. The faster, the better.
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